Umbrella (girl x girl)

The Heartbreak

Willow leaned against the cool side of the phone booth, mindlessly watching the grey water droplets run down the glass. Outside, the blurry silhouette of Sawyer was bobbing around beside the truck. Even though it was sheltered from the rain, the air in the booth was just as chilly as it would be beyond the walls of glass and metal.

"And Sawyer didn't say what was up with her, exactly?" Jordan's voice buzzed through the phone's earpiece.

Even though she clearly knew her long-distance boyfriend couldn't see her, Willow still shook her head.

"No," She replied, "The whole thing was really strange,"

"Well by the way you described it, everything out there is strange compared to how we do things here in the city,"

"I'll get used to it," Willow said with a sigh.

Jordan let out a bored sigh of his own.

"I can't wait until you come back home," He told her, "Things are gonna be so hard with you so far away,"

"You can always come out and visit me..."

"And spend all that money on a nine hour bus ride?" Jordan said, "Willow, you know I get carsick,"

"I know," She replied, "I just miss you,"

Jordan didn't say anything to this. The only sound was the heavy tapping of raindrops on the phone booth's metal roof. After a little while, Willow sucked in a slow breath.

"I should go," She said finally, "I'll write to you again tonight, okay?"

"Yep..." Jordan answered.

"I love you,"

"I love you too,"

Jordan hung up first. When Willow went to hook the telephone back onto its receiver, her movements were slow, almost hesitant. But the call was over and Jordan's voice was gone, so there was nothing else she could do other than slip silently out of the booth, her head hanging down slightly.

"That was fast." Sawyer helped Willow up into the truck, "Ah well, you can't expect young love to stick around all the time. C'mon, let's get home and make some dinner."

Willow just nodded silently beneath the roar of the starting engine.

...

Several days went by. And Willow finished each one off by writing a letter to Jordan. They weren't love letters, exactly, but they were the best that Willow could manage. Each was filled with updates about life in the countryside and the sweet words designed to be passed between distant lovers. And each was sent without receiving a reply.

The one she wrote on her second night at the Homestead went something along the lines of: Sorry I was in such a rush today. Hopefully I'll be able to call you again before you get this letter. Things have just been so different lately, I'm just a little stressed about it all...

After a few more days, she wrote: I think I'm adapting to the farm lifestyle by now. Sawyer even taught me how to plant seeds yesterday! Of course I still miss you and the city. Tell your mom hello from me?

A week passed: It's been raining like crazy since Wednesday. The bad weather here must be keeping the mail truck behind. I haven't heard anything from you since our phone call. Are you getting my letters okay?

Then two more weeks went by, and Jordan never once wrote a letter in response. Each letter Willow sent was a mixed blur of "I love you" and "I miss you" all blended together in a swirling ether of paper, but there wasn't even a single telegram sent back for her in the mail. The weather was bad, but it couldn't be that bad. And after some time, the tone of Willow's letters gradually started to change.