Butterflies (Book 1)

2.

Barbara was walking down the street, smiling. She was holding her diary close to her chest. Her dark green dress was flowing in the wind. "Could this day get any better?"

She looked at her beautiful house. Even though she lived there for three years already, she was still stunned by the fact that she had her own house. Her small place in the universe.

She opened the door and ran straight to her bedroom. She realized there was a letter and a small message from her roommate, Julia on her desk, along with a twenty dollar bill. "I decided to take the letter. Don't worry, I didn't even think about opening it. I don't have any plans for dinner, so could you order pizza, please? 20 dollars should be enough. Have a nice day. Julia."
Barbara compeletelly ignored the second part of the message and opened the letter.
It was from Jamie.
She examined the room to see if she's alone and opened it, blushing.

"Dear Barbara,
I'm not even sure if this letter gets to You before I arrive, but You wanted to hear from me, so here it is. My last letter to You.
To be honest, I've never been so happy in my life. I don't expect You to feel sorry for me, but living in Germany, away from your friends, family and girlfriend really sucks. I feel like I told You about this like a million times at this point. As You can propably tell, I want my arrival at Washington to be somewhat special, mostly for Philip and Martha. I'm planning some surprises for You and them.
Leaving Germany is really hard, though. Not only in a personal way, but mostly in a formal way. Holy shit, I had to sign lots of papers to transfer to Your Academy, but it was worth it! At least I hope so...
There's one more thing to worry about... I don't think Martha is happy with the fact that I'm moving. Like, not at all. I called her yesterday and she kept claiming she is happy, but sounded nervous the whole time. I hope it's nothing big. Ugh, sorry, I just had to tell You, Philip acts exactly the same way... Except he's also... Agressive? Do You know what's going on?
Anyway, this letter is a huge clusterfuck of a mess, as Alex would call it, so I'm going to end there.
Best,
Jamie"

Barbara was confused to say the least. Is it possible that Jamie's picture perfect relationship with Martha is finally collapsing? "That'd be great...", she thought, but quickly started to feel guilty.
She wanted Jamie. Badly. But she also wanted him to be happy, and his happiness seemed to be spending a life with Martha. He was madly in love with her, and she... Well, she was Martha, it's possible she loved him as well.
Barbara collapsed onto the bed and started thinking about Jamie. They were friends ever since she moved to the US, but he never even noticed she had a thing for him. Like, a huge thing.
She looked at Julia's message again. She took her phone and ordered some pizza.
***
Barbara heard a knock on the door. She got up from the couch and started walking towards the door. Her ginger, curly hair was basically bouncing on her shoulders as she opened it.
Julia.
She could only see a silhouette, because of the sun setting behind the girl. It had to be Julia, though; the messy hair and the long coat gave away her identity.
- Hey, what's up? - asked Julia with a wide grin.
- Your pizza's cold already, where have you been?
- Ugh, sorry, I was at Jacob's place...
- Yeah, whatever. Come in.
The girl with messy hair came in, closing the door behind herself. She headed straight to the living room and sat on the couch. She took her pizza and put it in a microwave.
- So... How was your day, Babs? - she asked.
- Average...
- Average? - Julia almost burst out laughing. - But Jamie's moving to Washington tommorow!
- Yeah, but... Wait, how do you know!?
- Alex told me.
- Oh, really? - Barbara sighed. - Ugh, whatever. He's arriving tommorow, but I'm worried about his relationship with Miss Perfect.
- You mean Martha? Why is that? - Julia took her meal out of the microwave and sat on the couch next to Barbara.
- He said in the letter she's not very happy about him moving. He's really worried, and so am I.
- I got lost... You have a crush on him since like High School. You should be happy they're breaking up!
- But I'm not! I want him to be happy, okay?
- But he will be happy with you!
- How do you know?
Silence.
Barbara chuckled nervously and looked away.
- He loves her, okay? Sure, I want him, but... Deep down I know breaking up with Martha would destroy him. He is just so sensitive... - Barbara stared at Julia, who was looking down. - So, how's Jacob?
- Not so great... - Julia finally looked at Barbara. - He's not paying any attention to me!
- Girl, you're a senior, you both have lots of exams!
- Yes, but he's literally obsessed about his college.
- Maybe you should start thinking about it as well?
- I'm going to study on the Art Faculty at Alex's Academy.
- Good for you...
Barbara started to wash the dishes. The gloomy atmosphere started to fill the room as the moon rised. There were no stars tonight. Barbara decided to break the awkward silence.
- How is Alexandra doing?
- She argues with Philip and studies non-stop. She's always busy.
- Nothing has changed... - Barbara chuckled.
- Oh, why aren't you guys friends anymore?
- You should go to sleep.
- It's Friday!
- Go to sleep.
- You should get some sleep as well, you need to help Miss Perfect steal your love, again. - said Julia sarcastically.
- Can you stop already? I'm getting tired.
- I will never understand you.
- I thought it was simple. I won't risk his happiness.
As soon as Barbara finished the sentence Julia headed to her bedroom.
- Okay, just remember it's your choice, Babs. - she said, leaving the room.