Page 9

She folded her arms. “Guys. Come on.”

“We didn’t do it, Miss C, we swear,” said Ciara, her oboe clutched to her chest.

Gloria made her way through the room, scanning each band member like she was a human lie detector.

Kelsey narrowed her eyes at the balloons, then froze. “Um…Miss C?”

Shelly exhaled audibly. “Yes?”

“I think these are for you.”

Frowning, she made her way to where Kelsey stood. The balloon in front of her had a small cream envelope tied to it, with two words written on the front.

My Shelly

Her heart leapt into her throat. “Oh god,” she whispered.

“Is that a love letter?” Kelsey squealed.

Shelly didn’t respond, her hands clammy as she held the unopened envelope, her mind racing at how any of this could be happening.

She coughed, clearing her throat. “It’s…well…”

“Oh my god that is so romantic,” Kelsey said. “Open it, open it, open it.”

Shelly could feel bodies crowd around her, and anxiety spiked in her chest. She untied the letter and carefully ripped it open. There was a single piece of paper in it, and on that paper were two simple lines.

I hear oysters are best in the winter.

Tomorrow. Salt & Shell. 8 p.m.

She flushed, then stuffed the letter in the pocket of her dress, composing herself. “Everyone, feel free to take some balloons home. Great job tonight!”

There were a few disappointed awwws and no fairs, but she did not need her students to know about her love life. Or…whatever this was between her and Jake.

She made her way to her office and closed the door. After one long breath, she reached for the paper and scanned the text over and over, her mind back on the words she hadn’t stopped thinking about the entire week.

Please let yourself be happy.

Please be mine.

Things may not always work out the way she wanted them to, like what’d gone down with Cory. But tonight, she watched her students light up with that feeling of rightness after the concert, that feeling of success after working hard and craving more of it. She wanted to see that spark in them since starting her job two years earlier, and for a while there, she’d convinced herself that it would never happen.

Things didn’t always work out…but sometimes, like tonight, they did. And she wondered if the same would be true with Jake.

She folded the letter and placed it back in her pocket as she made her decision.

jake

Jake knew it was a terrible idea. And yet, here he was, standing in the freezing cold outside of Salt & Shell, wondering if he’d made a complete fool of himself by dropping his heart so willingly into the hands of a girl he never in his life thought he would have a shot with.

The sea breeze was biting as he waited for her. Minutes ticked by at such a sluggish rate, he wondered if time was actually slowing down just to spite him. To make him see how much of an idiot he was for thinking this could work in any universe.

But writing to Shelly had changed something fundamentally in his heart. Somehow, through her cursive writing and the small hearts she doodled by her name, he found himself again. She reminded him of the boy he once was, who lived life so carefree and happy. A boy who thought nothing bad in the world could touch him. Who thought his mom would live forever. Who thought he could handle anything with his best friends by his side. The kind of boy who’d reach for a girl’s hand on a band bus and remember it as the single best night of his life.

He hoped tonight would outrank it. But now, he wondered if he was simply a fool.

His phone buzzed in the pocket of his jeans. He snatched it fast, bracing himself for it to be her, calling to let him down easy. He sucked in a breath and flipped the phone over, ready for the disappointment. But then he relaxed at the name on the screen and swiped it open, tapping on the speakerphone as he took a seat on the bench overlooking the midnight-blue sea.