Aaron and Kat (Wattys 2017)

Chapter 13

KAT Friday April 1st

It's been almost three weeks since Marie's accident but she's doing well. She has stayed home for a week after she was released from the hospital but for the past two weeks she has been coming back to school. Full time.

She has been sitting with me during lunch and we sit next to each other on the bus again. At first it was a little awkward but I can see that Marie is trying to distance herself from Carter, at least for a while. I haven't pushed her about it because it's clear that it's hard for her. She only talked about it to me once, on the first day she got back.

'I don't really know what to say to him.' She had said. 'I think we might not be as perfect for each other as I might have thought. He could have killed me, you know. I think we need a break for a little while. That might be good for us.' She had sighed and then started complimenting my nail polish and talking about a new kind of eyeshadow I should totally check out. It wasn't really an apology for her behaviour lately, but at least we were talking again and that was a step in the right direction, I guessed.

Stacy hasn't been in the picture anymore. I've seen her hang out with Sheila and the volleyball team but I know that she didn't even visit Marie when she was in the hospital.

'Wow, look.' Rich says, pulling me out of my train of thought. We just got home and he has emptied the mailbox. He holds up two letters and when I take a closer look, I see that they are addressed to Rich and me. The name and address are printed on a sticker, so there's no handwriting to recognize.

We quickly get inside and take of our shoes and coat and I rip open the envelope. The letter is handwritten and I immediately recognize the handwriting, even though I haven't seen it in ten years. It hasn't changed a single bit. I look at Rich's face and see from the set of his jaw that he has recognized it too. Nevertheless, he's still reading and I quickly start reading as well.

Dear Kat,

I know it has been a little over a month since your birthday and because I didn't get a chance to say happy birthday the other day, I'll say it now. I hope you still had a nice day, despite my rather unexpected visit.

I didn't mean to startle or anger any of you, I just wanted to see you. In this letter I want to write down my side of the story. You don't have to forgive me, but I hope it will make you understand me a little better.

Your father has probably told you about my affair with Ben. We had been seeing each other for about two years before I went away. I loved your father very much, but Ben could give me something that he couldn't, which is no one's fault.

It's true, my father had told us about Ben, but I had only really understood what it had all meant when I was older, since I had only been seven at the time.

I kept my affair a secret for a year and a half and when I told your father, he was devastated. We tried to make it work and I stopped seeing Ben for a while but I couldn't do it. I had to choose for myself, otherwise I would never be happy.

I hope you realize that leaving you and your brother was the hardest thing I've ever done. You're probably wondering why I didn't come back earlier, why it took me ten years to finally reach out again.

That was partly because it was so hard to leave you, I thought that if I saw you again, it would break me. So I stayed away, I chose the easy way out and I know that makes me a coward, but it's just the way it is.

I've been travelling a lot in the past few years and I've learned a lot things about life and the soul. I actually have run a small school where I teach people how to connect their body and soul, I would love to tell you all about it one day.