Chapter Thirteen
LEE
19 years earlier
It’s my birthday today; I just turned seventeen. Steff and Ryan took me out to King Bowl tonight to meet up with Chris and Sarah. When we walked up, I saw a couple of kids making out on the stone wall by the parking lot.
I flashbacked.
It was me and Ellie.
And thirty questions.
I haven’t talked to Ellie in four months. We promised we would write or call still … unless one of us was dating someone. She must have a boyfriend. The last letter I got from her was from the middle of summer and she was in summer school when she wrote it. It was just a quick note to say that summer school sucked, and she couldn’t wait to jump in the pool later. She told me she got a new bathing suit and that she was trying out for the cheerleading squad again. I told her she would make the cutest cheerleader in my letter back. I wrote her a whole page, front and back. I asked her if she was living in California, would she want to be my girlfriend.
I was hoping she would answer that question in her next letter. But the next letter never came.
I tried to keep myself busy by hanging out with a group of friends from school. My best friend, Dane, told me about this new thing out now on the internet; it’s called Instant Messenger. We don’t have a computer at home, so I go up to the coffee shop sometimes to use the public computers. I was there yesterday, and I created an account, then I decided to search for Ellie using the screen name I knew she would pick.
I found her!
I clicked “Add Friend”.
I waited for the ding.
She didn’t get online the whole time I was there waiting. I couldn’t take up the machine anymore after an hour since there were people starting to form a line. I logged off and figured I would try again later.
On Christmas Eve, the next day, we went to my grandma’s house; the whole family was there, and spending time with them took my mind off of Ellie. Until I saw that Grandma had a new computer in the den and I asked her if I could use it for a bit while dinner was being prepared. Her eyes got big, and she smiled, saying it was a good idea to stay out of the kitchen anyways, the old women would kick me out if I was in the way. She was always trying to make me laugh.
As soon as she disappeared around the corner, I flipped the red power switch on and waited for an eternity while the computer booted up, then I connected to the internet and launched Instant Messenger.
The second I logged into my account, a window popped up saying that Ellie was online, and my heart jumped. I clicked on her screenname and typed out a message.
“Hi.”
Three dots appeared showing that she was typing a response.
“Hi. Who is this?”
“It’s me, Lee.”
“Leebie!?”
“Ellie Belly!”
“OMG I can’t believe it’s you!”
“=)”
“I tried to call you the other day”
she wrote.
“You did? No one told me.”
“Oh.”
“I would have called you back if they told me.” I said.
Three dots again then they disappeared and reappeared.
“I wrote you a letter. Did you get it?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“I wish I could see your reaction right now. This kinda sucks.”
I told her, a little hurt by her short response.
“You don’t want to talk to me?”
She asked.
“I do. But. Did you get my letter?”
I asked again.
“I said yeah.”
“Oh well I never got one back so…”
“Sorry. I didn’t write back yet. =(”
“Are you dating someone right now?”
and then “You seem hella mean.”
“No.”
and “I’m not mean!”
“You just sound like you don’t want to talk to me right now.”
I told her.
“I do. Can I call you instead?”
she asked.
“I’m at my grandma’s right now. I’ll be home tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
“Ellie Belly”
“Yeah”
“I wish I could see you”
“Me too”
There was no typing for a few seconds, and this just seemed far worse than phone silence.
“Is something wrong?”
“Did you have a girlfriend this summer?”
“No. I told you I didn’t want another girlfriend, remember.”
“I know.”
And then “Would you be mad if I told you I had a boyfriend?”
“Right now?” I asked.
“No. Before. We broke up.”
She told me.
“Did some jerk dump you. Tell me who he is I’ll go beat him up.”
“Haha”
and then “No I broke up with him.”
“Oh. Good then”
I told her, and I smiled to myself.
“You’re so silly =P”
“I know. It’s why you like me isn’t it?” I joked.
“Yeah, that’s the reason I like you.”
“So you do still like me then huh?”
“Of course I do!”
“=)”
“I have to go my dad needs to use the phone.”
“Ok Bye”
“Bye <3”
Before I closed the window, I saw the little heart that she typed next to her message, and I think maybe she’s back in my life again.