Her Grey Eyes

"So It's Real?"

    I heard a car pull up in the driveway, so I assumed it was Jake's dads. Everyone crouched behind something, but I remained standing.

  "Surprise!" Everyone, except for me, yelled as Jake and his dad walked into the house. Jake looked confused and uncomfortable as he greeted all of his cousins, aunts, and uncles. He got a hug from one of them and he looked at me for help, I pretended to not notice. I left and went to his room to look at my phone, Jake sneaked away soon after.

    "Why didn't you tell me about this?" He quietly exclaimed as soon as he closed the door. I laughed and replied,

  "Because I didn't know till today," I continued to laugh as he plopped down on his bed.

    "Do you have your phone?" He mumbled into his pillow.

  "Yup!"

     "Does it work?" He asked, lifting his head with a deadpan expression.

  "Uh-huh!" I smiled, knowing that I could have texted or called.

     "You still could have told me!" He laid back down, and I sat in his chair, playing on my phone. A knock was heard on the door, and then the door was opened. I quickly look up to see Jake's Aunt, Suzie. Jake hopped into a sitting position and Furrowed his eyebrows.

  "It's your Aunt Suzie. Just thought that you would want to open this one," She handed Jake a brown package with some writing on it. "It's from your grandpa. Found it while I was packing up; figured he was gonna give it to you someday," Aunt Suzie was sitting beside Jake now and I was still sitting at his desk. I didn't want to bother them, in case they were having a family moment.

    "Thanks," Jake gives his aunt a small smile and starts to unwrap the gift.  Aunt Suzie leaves the room and I take her place on the bed. Jake glanced at me as he tore the paper, but stayed focused on the task.

  "Complete Essays and Other Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, wow, now that's a book," I said as I saw the title of the book. Jake opened the book and read the handwritten dedication,

    "To Jake, and the worlds he has yet to discover," We remained silent as Jake flipped the pages, but something fell out of the middle of the book.

  "Is that a letter?" I asked him when he picked it up. He looked at the return address and his face fell. He thrust the letter at me and I gently took it. I too was shocked by the name on the letter. "Do you-you want me to open it?" I stuttered. He nodded, so I opened the letter and read it aloud. "My dearest Abe, I hope this card finds you well. The children and I yearn to hear your news. I do hope you'll visit us again soon. We should so love to see you. With admiration, Alma Peregrine," I looked from the letter to Jake, both of us were in shock. "So it's real?" I asked in a shaky voice.

    "I don't know what to think," Jake said, staring at the letter in my hands. I didn't either, but I wanted to know the truth, I want to know what's wrong with me.