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She grins, setting my phone down. “I plan to.”
It's not until a few hours later when we've showered, dressed, and are about to leave to get some food that I remember my phone. I trek down the hallway to get it, turning it on. Immediately, it alerts me of six missed calls. And they aren't from work, like I thought. They're from my mom.
“Hold on a sec, Eva,” I say as I return to the living room. “It was my mom who called. Six times,” I add with a frown. Something must be wrong. I sit down, propping my elbows on my knees, and running a hand through my hair, grabbing a handful because I'm already stressed. Mom answers on the first ring.
“Where have you been?” she answers, sounding as stressed as I feel. “I've been trying to get up with you. I need you to come home.” She pauses and then says, “And bring Eva.”
This is the first she's called since the shit went down with Luke. “What's wrong? Is this about what happened with Luke?”
“No, it's not. I need you home, Emerson, so come as soon as you can.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Just come home,” she answers with finality. Whatever is happening, Mom won't tell me until I'm there.
“Okay. We're on our way.” I hang up and glance at Eva. “We need to go see my parents.”
“Is everything okay?” she asks, repeating my own question.
“I don't know. She said she needed me to come home and to bring you.” My gut churns. “Something bad has happened.” I can feel it.
“Then let's go.”
The drive seems to last all day. I'm sick to my stomach over the ominous news waiting for me at home. Has something happened to my dad? My brothers? Someone else in the family? Thirty minutes into the drive, Eva scoots over to the middle seat and rests a hand on my thigh. I'm grateful that for whatever I'm about to face, she's going to be standing next to me.
The closer we get, the worse I feel. By the time I'm parking in my parents' driveway, there's vomit in the base of my throat, waiting for me to lose whatever's in my stomach. Eva slides out behind me and I take her hand, clutching it too tight probably. We walk to the front door and inside.
Mom and Dad both are sitting on the couch. The rim of Mom's eyes are wet and she's clutching a tissue in her hand. Even Dad's eyes look glassy and I've never seen him shed a tear. This has to be extremely bad.
“What happened?” I force myself to ask.
Mom rushes over to me and hugs me tightly. She doesn't answer my question. I'm about to open my mouth again when she grabs two envelopes from the coffee table and turns to us. “I'm supposed to give these to you. Then, you should understand.”
“Understand wh—” My words are cut off as I see my name on the envelope written in Kelly's handwriting. She would pass me notes in class all the time, so I can easily recognize her handwriting.
Mom hands one to me and one to Eva. “I don't know what they say, but I'm supposed to give these to you.”
We take them. Eva glances at me before we both open our envelopes. I'm assaulted by the view of Kelly's girly handwriting full of exaggerated loops and perfect circles over the i's instead of just dots. I want to ask what this is for, but I don't. I begin to read.
Emerson,
You are the love of my life. I could go on and tell you how much, or the exact moment I knew, or discuss our time together, but I won't. You know our history as well as I do. I know you didn't agree with my decisions, but I'm hoping to explain them if you're willing to listen.
In short, I asked for a break because I knew there was no way you'd accept a break up without an explanation. I wasn't ready to explain and I knew I could convince you to a break at the very least. It wasn't fair of me, I know, but I've always been a little weak when it comes to you.
I wanted you to have time without me. To see other people so you'd know you could be happy without me. Based on what you said in our last call, my mission was successful. You've fallen in love with her, haven't you? Even though you said you could love her and be happy with her, I knew then that it was already true. I hope she's as perfect for you as you said. I hope you two live long and happily together and if things end with her, I hope you can fall in love again.
My intentions were to never call. But things here were looking gloomy and I missed you so much. I had to know how you were doing. I had to hear your voice. I had to know if you had moved on. I had to know if you were truly happy.
You were.
And I'm so, so happy for you, Emerson. It makes writing this letter easier. I asked for a break because...
Eva,
I'm assuming you know about me, who I am, because Emerson has never been one to lie or keep secrets. If everything has finally happened, Emerson is there with you, reading a letter too. I wanted to explain myself to him and to you because this is going to hit him hard.
My goal was to give Emerson space away from me. Space that gave him the chance of meeting someone like you and falling in love. He needed to know he could be happy without me because I knew I didn't have a future with him.
