“Seriously Glory, what happened?” She pleaded as she followed me to the front room where I collapsed on the couch. “First you run out of the concert after being there for a whopping three minutes, then that delicious piece of man flesh Collin Finlay ran out, but then came back to play the rest of the concert, which was excellent, but there was clearly something wrong with Collin because every once in a while he’d have to close his eyes and take a deep breath like he was having heart problems, and then when I got home you weren’t even here and you weren’t answering your phone and I was afraid you were dead or something!”
I rubbed my forehead. I didn’t really want to talk about it, but I thought that maybe telling someone would make me feel better. Plus, I knew Piper wouldn’t let it rest until I did. So I told her the whole story. I told her about the boy I had written through school and college, how I had confessed my feelings to him, and how he had never written me back after that. I told her about the past two weeks with “Clayton,” about how I felt so free and comfortable and excited withhim, how I was falling head over heels for him until I found out who he was. I told her how her favorite song was actually about me. I told her how he had chased after me with apologies but no real explanations. Then I told her about how I had driven around for three hours crying my eyes out.
When I finished, Piper was speechless, which was an event that rarely occurred. After a few seconds of uncharacteristic silence, she squinted at me.
“That is crazy,” she said, accentuating every word. “And it doesn’t make sense.” She grabbed her laptop and pulled up a picture of Collin, which made me cringe a little. “So, you’re saying that this guy writes you faithfully for years, then ghosts you when you tell him you want to have a relationship, then years later he comes and tracks you down and spends all this time getting romantic with you? Why?”
I shrugged. “Maybe it was all a twisted joke for him. He thought he’d come find the girl he used to write and toy with my emotions and break my heart again.
Piper shook her head. “No, that just doesn’t add up.”
I groaned. “Can you just forget that you have a huge crush on this guy for a minute and take my side?”
She folded her arms. “Come on, Glory, what exactly did he do that’s making you so angry? So he lied about who he was. Okay, I’ll admit that’s weird, but he must have had a valid reason. Did you let him explain why?”
I opened my mouth and then closed it. I guess I had been so enraged the night before that I hadn’t really let him do much talking. Perhaps Ihadjumped to conclusions.
“Okay, I’ll take that as a no,” Piper said. “And then there’s the issue of the song. Sure, he crossed some boundaries there, but have you even listened to the whole thing? It’s like a desperate, musical, love letter. To you, apparently.”
Some of the numbness in my heart started to dissipate, but just then there was a knock on the door. Piper jumped up to answer it, and as soon as she opened the door, her cousin Tara came rushing into the room.
“Glory, I have to tell you something!” She exclaimed, sitting down next to me on the couch.
“Well, it’s nice to see you too, Tara,” Piper said, rolling her eyes and sitting on the floor. It’s not like I just spent multiple days helping you move.”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” Tara said dismissively, then turned back to me. “Glory, I have to apologize to you for a couple things, but hopefully I’m about to make it up to you right now.”
“Okay,” I said dubiously.
“So, first of all, the other day when I was trying to pack stuff up, this extremely hot guy came looking for you, and I was so annoyed because when I first moved into the that place it seemed like there would be guys coming by every week to ask if you were there, and having another guy come asking for you right when I was about to move out was like a slap in the face, so I was totally rude to him and pretended like I didn’t know where you lived.”
“Yeah, that was probably...”
Tara snapped and held up a finger. “Wait until I’m finished,” she commanded. I sat back and let her go on, not in the mood to argue. “So, this morning I was going through some random boxes,” she continued, “and I found one with a bunch of your old mail in it. I mean, I was pretty good at bringing over your mail when it came, but sometimes I forgot. And I was about to throw it all away, but then I noticed this letter from Collin Finlay, and I realized that that was the guy who had been looking for you, so of course I read it, and I’m sorry about that, but how could I not? It was justso juicy that a guy who had written to you seven years ago was suddenly looking for you. So anyway, I read it, and let me tell you, it made me want to cry.”
She pulled the weathered envelope out of her pocket and I snatched it out of her hand. I stood up and struggled to open it, my hands trembling with anticipation. Piper and Tara both came up to read it over my shoulder, but I didn’t care.
May 6, 2015
Dear Glory,
I don’t think I’ve been able to stop smiling since I got your last letter. Seriously, I must have the strongest smiling muscles of anyone on the planet because I’ve been exercising them so much. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write you back, but honestly, I haven’t been able to adequately put my feelings into words. I must have started a dozen letters to you and then thrown them away because I couldn’t get the words just right. I even considered just coming down to Phoenix to find you and tell you everything in person, but I didn’t want to be too forward and freak you out.
Basically, I also can’t imagine a future without you in it. I’ll even go a step further and say that I love you, Glory Parker. I have loved you for years. Somewhere in between you thinking boys were gross and you making out with Michael Dunford, I fell in love with you. You have been a silent, beautiful presence in my subconscious and not a day goes by that I don’t find you in some thought or dream. So with all ofthatsaid and confessed, yes, I definitely think we should meet. You tell me when and where and I will be there. I am so excited for our worlds to finally collide.
Love,
Collin
I slowly folded the letter, took a few steadying breaths, then looked back at Tara. I didn’t know if I wanted to hug her or punch her in the face. But the elation starting to pump through me caused me to go with the first option. I hugged her tightly, squealing like a schoolgirl, then I turned and hugged Piper.
“Do you know what this means?” I exclaimed. “He actually loves me! He’s not a jerk!” In the next moment I was filled with horror. “Do you know what this means?” I gasped. “It meansI’mthe jerk! I might have just screwed everything up!”
I sank back down on the couch, and Piper and Tara sat down on either side of me.
“You’ve got to go find him,” Piper urged. “You can explain everything. I’m sure he’ll understand.”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding slowly, “I’ll just call him...”
