To Write Love On Her Arms

Chapter 11

                The warm tears glided down my cheeks as Ian’s arms tightly wrapped around me. I understood that I arrived too late. I couldn’t handle the fact that I had broken a promise to Jasey. Disappointment dispersed throughout my body and mind, continuing to let me release water from my eyes.

                “I’m sorry, Kiersten,” Ian sighed, rubbing his hand up and down my back.

                “We were so close,” I whispered into his chest, clenching my hands onto his shirt.

                “They’ll be back soon,” He determined. In my mind, it wouldn’t be soon enough. All I wanted was a letter from one of them addressed to her. I knew that if I had gotten that letter to her before everything, she wouldn’t have killed herself.

                “Excuse me, m’am. I couldn’t help but to notice a strange shrieking from all the way over here,” Immediately, I turned my head to see Alex Tasker approaching me with a sarcastic smile on his face. My eyes lit up and my body went into shock as he came only two feet away from me.

                “That would’ve been her,” Ian laughed, shifting my body around to face Alex. A grin sprung onto my face as he put out his hand for me to shake. Practically paralyzed, I shook his hand with a loose grip.

                “I see a lovely bracelet in your hand, did we miss you?” He asked, still shining his smile on his face.

                “I’m… a little late,” I stuttered. “We came all the way from Pennsylvania,”

                “Pennsylvania?” Alex questioned, rubbing his hand against his cheek. “To Florida? That’s quite a trip.” His expression changed from a face that just wanted to settle a fan down into an endearing heartfelt look.

                “I needed to see you,” I stammered, looking to Ian for help. In return to my gaze, he reached into his back pocket and took out a crumpled piece of lined paper and a pen. When I took my eyes off of Ian, I noticed Alex examining me.

                “Are those…” Alex showed confusion in his face from all the scars along my arms. I stared at him straight in the eye to justify my response.

                “For a while, I carved the word love into my arms and thighs, Alex,” I sucked my bottom lip in and waited for his reply, but he could not come up with words quickly enough.  I handed him the sheet of paper and the pen to continue the conversation.

                “What’s your name?” He asked as he sat down at the booth, seeming to be upset from the truth about my scars.

                “My name is Kiersten, but I need you to write a letter to my best friend. Her name is Jasey,” I described, starting to form a thin line of water under my eyes. His eyes lifted from the paper to catch a glimpse of mine.

                “Alright, just tell me what to write,” He said smiling, looking straight at me.

                “Could you just tell her to not kill herself?” I couldn’t contain myself anymore; I burst into tears. “And that she’ll leave me behind and that I’ll go insane without her. And that she does have a purpose, and it’s being my best friend. And that I love her,” My eyes were becoming red and irritated, but I could still see Alex’s distraught expression across his face.

                “Haven’t you said this to her?” He asked hopefully, concerned for me.

                “Yes, but maybe she’ll listen to you; she loves you and your band.  She got me to love you and your band too. She was named after your song Jasey Maria. That’s her name, Jasey Maria.” I continued to tremble with my words. “You handed her a guitar pick at the last concert you did in Pennsylvania,”