My Secret Valentine

Chapter 3 - To Write, Or, Not To Write

         The entire day was bizarre! From the moment I received the anonymous letter to my peculiar interaction with Alicia. It was hard to distinguish the falsehood of my imagination from actual reality. Nothing had made any sense to me, and now I was sitting at dinner with my family as if today didn't occur. As much as I anxiously wanted to end my "search" and attach Alicia's name to these two letters, there wasn't any official concrete evidence pointing to her. No one saw her do it, so she had to be ruled out until further notice.

      However, she was a person of interest.

      I picked over my dinner, stabbing and scooting the food around my plate as I let out a muffled sigh. My sister continued to discuss her day in school, however, I tuned everyone's voices out until I heard my mom's voice. It took her a few more calls before I responded as I was in somewhat of a daze, "yes," I answered while she gave me a look of concern. I assured her I was fine and there wasn't anything troubling me, yet she questioned me again. I contemplated whether I should be truthful or tell a lie, or I should disregard my mother's question altogether – "It's nothing," I assured her.

       She nodded but I knew it wouldn't be the last of her questioning my sudden behavior change. My dad attempted to do a follow-up and was met with the same answers as my mom. My sister was slightly annoyed by my mood especially since she was mid-sentence and interrupted by our parents' concern for me. Eventually, their conversation resumed and I chimed in periodically to take my mind off my current dilemma. I ate as much as I could and then offered to clean the dining area and kitchen for the evening.

      My sister went on into her bedroom while our dad collected the trash to take out for the night. Mom decided she would help me straighten the kitchen area, and she took this opportunity to resume her questions. Shortly, I gave in to her and shared my actively strange day with her – maybe I would be able to get some solid advice from her. I thought maybe she would be able to help relieve my overly stimulated mind. This had no reason to be a stressor, yet it was.

       Mom found it to be thrilling since I rarely – well – ever mentioned anything like this happening to me before. She was more excited than I was, the same as the excitement Trinity first shared with me. Was my social life that poor? I thought, even my mother rooted for me. This was truly insane and one for the books. "Does this someone have a name," she curiously asked me. "What does he look like?"

Mom, if only you knew. I shook my head and sighed deeply. "I'm not sure who it is,'' I paused. Before mom was able to I had interrupted her mid-question. "It was only a letter. No name. No face to attach it to either."

Puzzled, she also smirked as she said, "So, an admirer?" I nodded my head. She awed.

       When I heard the bottom knob of our front door rattle, I quickly told mom not to share this information with dad, but she had already spilled the beans. I usually hated whenever either of them did this because I dreaded their reaction. It wasn't anything bad, however, I wasn't ready for my dad to become emotional or territorial over a "boy" when I didn't even know who the person was anyway. My dad didn't hesitate to enter the kitchen she then questioned me the same way as mom did – I was annoyed. Couldn't I just have something private? I guess not.

      Surprisingly, my dad didn't make a thing out of it and was happy for me instead which shocked me. Of course, dad complimented me as he embraced me with a hug and gentle kiss on my forehead, I think he may have even shed a tear too. He worried I was growing up too fast for him, well I was since I was seventeen and graduating soon. Years had passed and I never had anyone expressing their liking for me, so it was well within my dad's right to feel the way he felt. My parent's reaction was the exact opposite of each other – I knew at some point their reaction would reverse.