Chapter 6
I was taught to not trust any guy, especially the ones who are good at saying pretty things. -Reina
Reina
Another piece of junk mail. Another political advertisement. Geez, what’s the point in mail anymore? I mean, anything useful is sent by email or DM or something electronic anyway.
I toss most of it in the trash can next to my small mailbox at the university until I see an envelope with unusual writing. My heart rate speeds up as I read the sender’s name: Sergeant Brian Richards.
I look around anxiously, wondering for some unknown reason if someone can see the excitement on my face. The hottie actually did it. He wrote me a real, honest to goodness, no emoji letter.
I hastily throw the rest of the mail in the trash and haul my heavy bookbag further up my shoulder. I hold the letter apart from me as if it’s precious cargo.
My stomach jitters as I look around the quad for the perfect place to read my gift. I want to tear apart the envelope to get a peek at the words inside, but I don’t. It feels like I need to do this somewhere special.
I finally sit down on a bench under my favorite tree. It’s the spot where I can see the hot athletes coming from their practices at the field. I can also enjoy the natural beauty of our campus. Ah, who am I kidding? It’s more the hot guys that attract me to this place.
My hands are shaky as I hold the letter up and look at the words again. Reina Anderson, it says right in the center. Shit, who thought I would get so worked up and giddy over a freakin’ letter? I can’t seem to help myself though. Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of friends except my neighbor Amit, and he never had to write me a letter. We still hop over to each other’s houses when we’re on break. Sophie is my first girlfriend. For a moment, a lump of guilt settles in my stomach. Should I be communicating with her brother without her knowing? What would she think if she found out?
The knot loosens as I examine the letter again. Aw hell, might as well read it.
I open the envelope carefully, like a ticking time bomb and read each word carefully.
Dear Reina,
See, I told you so. Probably not the best way to start a letter when I really want the girl to like me, but it has to be said.
I just saw you yesterday, and here I am writing you. I know you’re probably receiving this a few days later, but it’s the first chance I’ve had to mail it. I’m on base now, doing practice exercises for our deployment.
Is it okay if I don’t talk too much about what I’m doing here? I’m at a base in North Carolina, for now, but soon we’ll be deployed to somewhere I can’t tell you about. I imagine you wouldn’t want to hear too much about what I have to do for my job anyway. Most of it is boring, and the parts that aren’t are difficult to talk about, to say the least.
I don’t know what happened to me the first time I saw you, Reina. You quite simply took my breath away. There you were, just flipping through a magazine on your bed in the dorm room, and it was like my heart left my body and came back again. I know that probably sounds like some stupid shit a guy would say to get into your pants, but it’s the truth, I promise. I never believed I could feel that way.
My beautiful Reina, I want to know all about you. My sister says you’re a science major and you’re going to study medicine. What made you want to be a doctor? I’d kill to be that smart. Sometimes, I feel so dumb when I’m around my smartypants sister. I’m so damn proud of her, but it’s not easy being the one who doesn’t exactly soar academically. I admire you for your persistence to your goal. I know med school won’t be easy. Beautiful and smart, you’re a catch. I knew that from the first moment I saw you.
Anyway, I’ll write as often as I can, and I hope you will too. Tell me about your hobbies and dreams. I notice you have a sketchbook you carry around a lot. What kind of pictures do you draw? Would you send me a drawing sometime? I would love to see anything you create.
I know right now I’m a stranger to you, or just your roommate’s goofy brother, but I really do want more. Sophie keeps teasing me about my crush on you, but I can’t find it in myself to care. Because Reina, my sweet girl, I do have a crush. It sounds immature to call it that, but it’s how I feel. Actually, crush doesn’t even suffice, but I’m sure I’ll scare you away with what I really feel.
I hope you’ll indulge me and write me back. It gets lonely here, and I can’t imagine someone I would want to hear from more. Maybe I shouldn’t lay everything out there. Maybe I’m being really dumb in telling you how I feel, but I can’t seem to help myself. If you don’t feel the same, that’s perfectly fine. I would love to have you as my writing buddy though.
Anyway, my buddy is ribbing me to get up from my bunk and meet with the other guys for lunch, so I guess I should go. Hope to hear from you soon.
You’ll be in my thoughts and definitely in my dreams, Reina.
-Brian
P.S. You said you want me to tell you the real stuff, not just pretty words. I’ll try my best sweetheart. How’s this for starters? Sometimes I miss home so much it physically hurts. And now I’ve got one more reason to miss home- You. (Shit, I still slipped in sweet nothings, didn’t I? Face palm).
I re-read the letter over and over again. I bring my fingers to my lips. A goofy smile as formed on my lips. Shit, when did that happen?
I shouldn’t write him back. I should just let this be it. I mean, what good would it possibly do to encourage him? I picture my mom’s rage if she found out. She has certain expectations of me, and I know for sure one of them isn’t getting attached to a soldier that’s far, far away. Yeah, she wouldn’t be happy about this. Not at all.
I fold the letter up and put it in my backpack, meticulously making sure that no corners are damaged, and it isn’t crushed by the heavy weight of my books.
I sit there for a moment, unable to wipe the silly grin from my face.
Oh hell, I never was very good at making my mom happy anyways.