Summer Letters

Chapter 2

Lena felt relief every time she returned to campus in the fall. She loved her parents, but summer was rough with her sister still hating her. In the last few years boarding school felt more like home than her actual house. There were four dormitory towers for the high school students. The towers circled each other and the middle was the high school quad. Three other towers were located on the other side of campus and those were dedicated to the middle school students. The North side of campus was the high school and the south side of campus was the middle. A huge library was located directly in the middle of the campuses, but it was the only thing the two schools shared. Lena absolutely loved it at Burmingham School for Academics. It gave her the freedom to be herself and it gave her the responsibilities and the freedom to be independent. It was a school that dedicated itself to preparing students for the real world, physically and intellectually.

Her parents dropped her off early and helped her move her belongings into her new room. Because of her top grades and senior status the school gave her a private room on the top floor of the senior tower. Only the two top senior students got one. She unpacked her things before the rush. It left her time to relax in her room and read before the other students got there. Even in her previous years she told her parents to drop her off before the other students. She loved the sound of campus before everyone else got there.

The campus rush started at 10, an hour after Lena moved in her things. She put her book away and walked out of her room. As she locked her door she heard Jensen Porter calling her name. Truth be told, she had dreaded seeing him today.

A few weeks into summer break Jensen sent her an e-mail. It surprised her less when she read it. The e-mail was his idea of a joke, but it turned into more. They spent the summer exchanging e-mails nonstop. They learned different sides of each other. Before the e-mails Lena could not stand him. He annoyed her more than anyone else she ever met. They argued constantly, but dealt with each other because they had the same friends. Jensen, as annoyed as he was by Lena, also made his feelings for her obvious by asking her out every chance he got. Lena thought that was a joke at first too, but after talking with their friends she realized he truly did like her. Of course, that didn't stop her from telling him no every single time he asked her on a date. Their summer messages changed their relationship though. That's what Lena feared.

"Porter, what are you doing on the top floor? Stalking me again?" Lena decided that pretending to be annoyed was her best option. Maybe he wanted to forget about the messages too.

He seemed surprised by her remark. He expected her to act differently after their summer, but Lena hated change too much to acknowledge it. Pushing aside his own feelings, he kept up the act too. He could always talk to her about their summer later. "You didn't hear?" he grinned at her, "I'm your neighbor this year."

"Of all people, you're the second top student in our class?" Lena asked him.

"Actually Enders, I think we're tied. That is, if you want to be exact. Our friends are going to get a laugh out of this. I get to annoy you even more this year."

Lena smiled, "I'll be the one to annoy you, don't fool yourself. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to find our friends."

"Hey Lena?" Lena turned around, mostly in surprise. He rarely called her Lena. He only started to call her that over the summer.

"Yes?" she asked.

He gave her a genuine smile this time. Lena realized it was the only time he had done so. She grew so used to seeing his evil grin it felt refreshing to see an actual smile. He wanted her to know that he had not forgotten about their summer. He needed to prove that he meant every word he said. "Thanks for writing to me over the summer," Jensen told her. "It meant a lot to me. You were the only one that kept in constant contact."