The Abroad
Copyright© 2008 by Ella Robbins
Chapter 7
The first week back at school was full of me learning to cope.
Throughout that week, I had to get used to a lot. From people showing me postcards from Kyle from various places in Sydney, to dealing with new classes, to letters from Kyle.
I got letters from Kyle almost every day. It was odd.
I never once read any of them.
My life was rocky. I was constantly trying to put Kyle out of my thoughts, but remembering how I would be spending three months in Sydney just did not permit that to happen.
I knew what were in Kyle's letters before I even looked at the envelope.
I will always remember the date.
It was a day when a letter from Kyle did not come.
It was February 10.
I had started crying, like a baby.
Adam got really worried, so he told Mom and Dad.
I sent the picture, making sure it would get to him on Valentine's Day.
I wrote his name and address on the front with a black pen, and used a plain old envelope. I made sure to get stamps and envelopes that stuck by themselves, without the help of my licking them.
I made sure it was impersonal, or so it would seem.
I put the picture in, and mailed it.
Only the picture.
I knew he would understand.
Boy, did he ever.
Kyle had checked the mail box every day, but he knew she would never write, not after what he did to her.
Then on Valentine's Day, he got the envelope he had been waiting for. Not really.
He opened it to find a single photograph inside. Nothing else, no writing, or anything.
The typed envelope. The self-adhesive. Everything was impersonal, except for the picture.
It was taken in the car, on the way to their cabin.
He took it inside, and hung it on the refrigerator. Then changed his mind.
He had copies made, and put them in various places.
He never wrote again.
At times, he would just sit there, and stare at the picture. When he was doing homework, trying to fall asleep, or anything, he would pause, and look at the picture.
The picture of the girl who changed his life.
His letters stopped coming.
