Love Letter

Lynne:

Knowing Kelly, she thought I was nervous and took off so I wouldn't get hurt but ironically, I was hurt more than I had ever been. I had only known him for a short time, but he did more damage than I thought was possible. It sucked to admit it, but I was falling harder than I knew I was. So I was not ready to deal with Kelly, who would pry and pry and would not stop me from moving on from that part of my life. I asked Fred and Zach what time she was getting in to sneak out ahead of time and hopefully miss her visit.

"You know she is going to be mad if you don't see her," Zach says to me before I shut my bedroom door. I waited for the twins to leave before I went and used the restroom to get ready for the day. I had no interviews, but I was not planning on spending another whole day in the apartment moping. I was just lacing up my boots when there was a knock on the door.

"Anyone home?" I could hear the door opening and knew that Kelly was early. Very early... I thought of using the fire escape to escape from her but knew that she would just catch me trying to escape, which would anger the beast even more. When I step out of the room, instead of seeing my sister's brunette hair, I come to face with blonde hair.

"Excuse me?" I say, and when the lady turns around, I see Amanda. Ian's sister.

"Lynne, hi," she says, smiling a little, and I can tell she was expecting someone else.

"What are you doing here?" I ask with all niceties thrown out of the window. I should have escaped just like I wanted to.

"I'm meeting Kelly here," she says like it is obvious. I had assumed that when the holidays were over, so would Kelly and Amanda's relationship. I didn't even think they had enough of a friendship to continue it outside of the holidays. Still, apparently, I was wrong once again. I had tried to quit imagining Ian's face every time I went to bed, but staring eye to eye with his sister did not help this since I realized how similar they looked like one another. From the blue eyes to the cheekbones. His cheekbones were like movie stars. This... having her here was not good for me.

"Feel free to make yourself at home. I have an appointment to get to," I say, heading toward the door.

"I know what happened, Lynne," she says, stopping me in my tracks.

"Nothing happened," I say, but I am losing all confidence, and tears are starting to form in my eyes. "I have to go," I say, this time not stopping until I reach the door.

"Lynne. Where are you going?" my sister Kelly says while opening the door at the same time as I am.

"I have an appointment," I say.

"No, you don't. The twins called and said if I wanted to catch you, I better get her sooner rather than later," she says, stepping in front of me. Busted. Why the hell couldn't she have been on time instead of showing up early? I would need to talk to the boys about having my backs now if we were roommates.

"What do you want, Kelly?" I ask.

"I wanted to see you. You left without saying goodbye. You haven't called mom since you have been here. You haven't taken any of my phone calls or replied back to my text messages, so what the hell is going on?" she demands, pushing me back inside and shutting the door. I knew the missed phone calls and text messages would piss her off, but I really did not feel like talking to her. I had been doing just fine the last three and a half years with spread-out visits and phone calls from her. And as far as mom went, she could call me too if she wanted to. That was a revolving door for both of us. Just because she had apologized and we had a few hearts to hearts didn't mean she could just quit on the both of us and think everything would be fixed. There was a lot of resentment with her that I still had to get over.

"Nothing is going on, Kelle. I just have a lot going on," I say, hoping that calling her Kelle will help out.

"Don't you start your "Kelle" shit on me... People who answer my phone calls and text messages can call me "Kelle" sis" she paused. I note to myself never to call her Kelle again. Ever...

Amanda appears from the side room. "Kelly, you are here. I was just using the restroom. They have a nice apartment here."

I would whisper thank you to Amanda if it hadn't been so awkward.

"Amanda! I didn't know you were here!" my sister turns to her, going from pissed-off bitch mode to sweet friend mode. "It has been too long," my sister says to her. I want to gruff that it has only been a month or so, but I know that would only be poking the beast. "I was thinking we could all get lunch together," my sister says. Aha, so that was what Amanda was doing here; my sister was hoping if I was around Amanda, I would probably remember how much I miss Ian and stop being stubborn. My sister could be so dumb. So small-minded. I was partly to blame for her scheme being poorly planned out. Why didn't I just call her and tell her what had happened? I guess it was because I was embarrassed. After all, it was humiliating. Take your pick...

We end up at a café a block or so from the apartment. "The twins did a good job picking out the apartment," my sister says after a few quiet moments after being placed at a corner booth.

"Yeah, I have a feeling Victor helped them find it," I say since I knew Victor had lived in New York for most of his life until he had met my mother. He was also the one to help me find an apartment when I had fled from Light Falls last time. I never thought I would have to escape from Light Falls like I had the first time, but I was very wrong.

"Very nice," Amanda says, and I can tell I am not the only one that doesn't want to be at this lunch. Did she really know what happened? With how she was looking at me, you would think I was the one who was lying to her brother that I was the one being a snake.

"So, Amanda, how is your brother? Is he still at the cabin, or is he back in NYC?" Kelly asks, and I have to stop a strong urge not to kick her under the table.

Amanda looks over at me before talking, "He is still at the cabin.... I don't know when he will come back to the city."

"I thought you were going to stay at the cabin for a few months too?" my sister says, and I really wish she would quit talking. I could grab the knife closest to me and cut her tongue out...

"He didn't really want the company," Amanda says, shrugging and focusing on the menu in front of her. For the rest of the lunch, I sit there acting like I am listening but am confused why Ian would boot his sister back to the city.... It was apparent to see that Ian and his sister were very close. After lunch, Kelly tries to drag me along to go shopping, but I insist that I have some work I have to get done. I made my way to the apartment, so I could think in silence, and I was happy to be away from Amanda's glaring eye. At least since Kelly did not have enough downtime with me, she could not push the issue of Ian.

When Zach and Fred appear later that night, I slam my door closed behind me, and they look up and know I am pissed.

"Look, she kept calling...." Fred starts off but stops knowing what to say.

"You know what Kelly can be like when she wants something," Zach finishes.

I kind of yell at them. "A heads up would have been nice. You gave her a heads up that I was going to take off, but you couldn't have helped me out by not making me see her today?"

"You need to talk to someone Lynne. You barely eat; since we have been back from the holidays and you don't go out ever. Besides for interviews...." Fred says.

"Is this how you have been living the last three years, or is it because of him?" Zach asks.

"Just forget it," I say, storming back into my room to grab my coat and purse.