Yours Lovingly, Mer(on hold)

Chapter 8

Jeremy walked quietly beside Meredith as they headed towards her father’s grave. He had already told her that his mother’s grave was next to her father’s, and all she said was “Oh, how nice. We can go together then.” Jeremy didn’t really like this, because he knew it meant that Mer had written another letter to her father. That also means he’d have to come back some other time and pick it up before someone else came and took it. But you see; the problem was that he was hanging out with Meredith most of the days, and it wasn’t that easy to keep things from her.

“What’s on your mind, Jerry? Why are you so quiet today?”

Jeremy didn’t respond. He was still worried about the letter. Should he tell her the truth about those letters? Or should he just shut up and keep things the way they are? It was scary enough when she walked away from him after the Patrick-thing. Telling her about the letters would probably reduce his chances to be with her even more. No, he had to be with her. He just had to. He was falling for her after all. Leaving her now will not only shatter him but will also kill Mer. He continued to walk quietly.

Meredith stopped walking and looked at the man beside her. He was obviously worried about something, but she didn’t have x-ray vision to figure what was troubling him. Jeremy, unaware that Mer had stopped walking, continued walking till something finally seemed to have snapped his concentration. He turned around but stopped midway.

“Mer...”

“Over here.”

“Why did you stop? Wanna go some other time?”

“No, not at all.”

“Okay then. Why are you standing there? Let’s go! You said you had to get home before Michael and his friends arrived to help your mum in the kitchen. Mer? Coming?”

Meredith sighed.

“Alright. Spill the beans. What is troubling you?? Ever since I told you to get someone who sees the different colours of the world, you’ve been as quiet as a dead body. What’s up Jeremy?”

“Honestly, Mer. I’m fine. Let’s just go, shall we?” he said, turning around and walking towards the cemetery.

“Okay.” She replied, quickening her pace to catch up with him. They arrived in a few seconds, and Meredith quickly made her way to her father’s grave. She stood in front of it for sometime silently, and then kneeled over to keep the letter.

“Why don’t you tell someone?” interrupted Jeremy.

“Tell someone what?”

“Whatever it is you write in your letters.”

“I can’t, Jeremy. It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

“It’s really not that simple, Jeremy. To understand what I write in these letters, you’d have to know a lot about me. Actually, you’d have to know everything about me. I’m a mess, honey. A tangled and completely lost mess. You’d really go crazy if you knew everything about me.”

Jeremy hesitated for a while before he could say anything.

“But what if someone already knows everything about you?”

“You mean like Betty, Mike and mum?”

“Maybe not your family. What about Betty? She seems nice.”

“You haven’t even met her. Besides, I can’t really talk to her. I mean, she’s brilliant and stuff. But she has a life of her own, Jeremy. She has people and fiends and I don’t know …. She has people. Me? I need to get a life. All I’ve done with my life is complicating it more and probably write one or two books. Nothing hardcore or mainstream.”