Letters from the Heart

Chapter 8

Kyle’s POV

            Monday morning I got up at 6 a.m. to go out shooting before class. Probably wasn’t my best idea since Danny and I barely slept Saturday night—okay we didn’t sleep at all Saturday night, just a little Sunday morning. But hey, I got some great sunrise shots! By the time class started at 9, I was already longing for a nap. I sat at the back of the class doodling and kinda dozing. Class was almost over when there was a knock on the door. Everyone kind of looked around at each other as the prof went to see who was there.

            A guy in a green polo stood in the doorway holding a bouquet of red and yellow tulips. “Kyle?” he asked skeptically, thinking he was bringing flowers to a guy. I laughed. Wait, I’m Kyle. Fuck. I raised my hand and tried to smile at him. “You’re Kyle?”

            “That’s what everyone tells me, so yeah,” I said. He walked through the classroom to hand me the bouquet.

            “Well enjoy.” He smiled weakly at me before leaving. Well he just loves his job, doesn’t he? I set them down on the desk and looked back up at the chalkboard.

            “Sorry about that. I had no idea,” I told the prof. He just smiled at me and finished the lecture. Most of my classmates kept stealing glances at me to see my reaction to the flowers. I tried to ignore them—both my classmates and the flowers. When class ended, most of the girls came over to pry about the flowers. Sophie plucked the card from the bouquet, knowing that I wouldn’t.

            “’Kyle, watch for my letter, Love Russell,’” she read. “Wait, who’s Russell? I thought you said his name was Danny!”

            “Well whoever he is, he really likes you!” Claire said. I looked at her, a question on my face. “Red tulips mean a declaration of love and yellow mean hopelessly in love.” Everyone kind of oohed and ahhed and wanted more details from me.

            “How do you know that?” I asked Claire.

            “My mom owns a flower shop.”

            I stood up. “Gotcha. Well, I’m going for a walk,” I said and shoved the card in my back pocket. I shouldered my bag and Sophie handed me the flowers. “You coming?” I asked her. She nodded, grabbed her stuff, and we walked out of the room, leaving everyone else behind.

            “So who’s Russell?” she asked once we had walked away from the building a little and we knew no one could hear us. I laughed.

            “Danny. It was a joke from when we met.”

            “So apparently Danny really likes you.”

            “I doubt he actually paid attention to what the flowers mean.”

            “Seems like awful random flowers to choose if he wasn’t looking for meaning.”

            “I need a beer.”

            “It’s not even 11 yet, Kyle.”

            “Yeah well sometimes you just need a beer.” When we got back to the cottage, we had about 20 minutes before we had to be back in the classroom. I set the flowers on the table and opened a beer. Sophie grabbed a vase from the cabinet, filled it with water, and put the bouquet in it. She knew I didn’t want to talk about it, so she went into the living room and left me alone.

            I pulled the card out of my pocket and stared at it. I took another swig of beer. Why is Danny so nice? No guy has ever sent me flowers before. And why did Claire have to know what these stupid flowers mean? I’m positive Danny didn’t mean anything by choosing those ones, but what if he did know what they meant? My mind just wouldn’t let it go. Fuck.

            Just before we left I grabbed another beer and slipped the card back into my pocket. “You know you can’t take a beer to class, right?” Sophie asked on our way back.

            “I’ll have it gone by the time we get there.”

            When we got home from class on Tuesday, Sophie checked the mail. “Oh Kyle, you’ve got mail!” she sang as she wagged an envelope in my face. I snatched it from her and looked at it. There was no return address, but I guessed it was from Danny since I hadn’t posted the letter I wrote to Kenzi yet. “It’s from Danny, isn’t it?”

            “I don’t know yet,” I told her.

            “Or maybe it’s from that Russell guy,” Hope said. “Then again, I can’t keep your guys straight.”

            “Suck my dick, Hope.” I kinda wanted to smack her upside the head as I passed by her, but I knew she’d throw a bitch fit and I just didn’t want to hear that shit. I went up to my room, closed the door, and sat on my bed. Well, he actually wrote. It took me a minute to gather up the balls to rip open the envelope. Why the hell was I so afraid of this damn letter? Okay, afraid wasn’t quite right. Freaked out was more like it. I sighed and lifted the letter out of the envelope. Dang, the boy likes to write! There were two sheets of paper.

Hey Kyle,

            I hope you liked the flowers! I just wanted to do something to make you smile because you look so pretty when you do. And I know you’ll scoff when you read that, but it’s true. Though nothing can compare to how beautiful you looked in the rain. Thinking about that night makes me smile like crazy.

            How did the photos you took in Dublin turn out? We’re off to Scotland soon. I’d rather take the train part of the way coz I like seeing the scenery, but we have to fly or we won’t make the show. Speaking of trains, did you have a nice ride home?

            I don’t have a whole lot to say right now since I only just saw you a few hours ago (I took a nap!). I promise my next letter will be more interesting. It’ll also include your plane ticket for spring break. What airport is closest to you and is there a certain time that I should book it for? I got my manager to give me a schedule of where we’re staying for the rest of the tour so you’ll know where to write me. I look forward to hearing from you!

Danny

            Next to his name was a little heart. The other sheet of paper was the list of addresses. Well, I guess I should write back. But he asked how the photos turned out, so I’ll print him out a few first. I grabbed my computer and went down to the kitchen, where we had our printer. It’s a weird place for a printer, but it’s the only place we could find room for it.

            “So was it from Danny?” Sophie asked. I looked over at her and nodded. “You don’t have to look so serious about it! Aren’t you happy he wrote? He sounds great.”

            “He really is.”

            “Then what’s the problem?”

            “I just…I’m not used to nice. The kind of guys I usually see are jerks, assholes, and dicks. There’s always fighting and then great angry sex and makeup sex. But Danny doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who likes to fight.”

            “And how well have all those relationships with assholes turned out, Kyle? Maybe Danny’s the change of pace you need.”

            “I don’t like needing anything. And anyways, how will he and I work in real life? We had a great weekend together and we’re writing letters, but what’ll happen after I go home? We can’t just keep writing letters forever.”

            “Just give it a chance, okay? If it’s meant to be, something will work out.”

            “Nothing’s ‘meant to be,’ Sophie, no matter how much people hope.”

            “Fine, fine. But keep an open mind.”

            “Thanks, Soph.” She smiled at me and left me alone. Once I printed out the pictures, I went back up to my room to write to Danny. But what do I say?