Love Letters

Greetings to the holidays

Greetings to the holidays.

Sammy and I take a cab ride to our childhood neighborhood. I look at my watch around my left wrist, it's 5:07 P.M as we ride through the streets of my childhood.

"Sir we got to your destination," the driver tells Sammy as we stop at the second house on our street. Sammy hands the driver a hundred bucks and tells him to keep the change.

"I'll see you later babe," he kisses me on my cheek and waves as he grabs his bag from the trunk and I hear the trunk door slam behind me. The driver continues driving down to the end of the street as I wipe my cheek with disgust. The driver stops at a house with two white poles holding it up and the small porch with one step to get to the door. My eyes start to tear up as I get flashbacks of me as a kid. I can't wait to see my parents! I open the car door to get the house that built me. The driver sets my small suitcase on the porch of my home and waves goodbye. I nod and knock on the door with a big and proud smile on my face. My mom opens up and her face brightens up like the sun when it rises in the sky.

"Oh my goodness, honey!" She hugs me really tight as I wrap my arms around her holding her and the eyes she gave me and I store her into my heart.

"I missed you so much!" I cry.

"Oh dear, I did too," her voice cracks.

After a long hug, we pull away as I put my arm around her. I grab my bag off the ground and look back seeing Sammy watching us. I roll my eyes but I bet he couldn't see me from the street that is separating us.

I shower and get into my PJ's and sit at the neon green dining room. My mother has the food ready on the rosewood dinner table.

"So mom where's dad?" I ask with a smile on my face.

She sighs, "He isn't here."

"Where is he?" I ask.

"He is working on a trial in Australia, and I don't think he will make it for Christmas," she says. I shrug sadly. "But he'll make it before New Year's," she says trying to make it better.

I let out a long breath, "At least I get to see him," I mumble as she nods slightly.

"So I heard that Amanda is no longer with us," she says as I take a bite from my veggie casserole.

I break the eye contact with her and look down at my food, "I know she isn't with us physically but with me, she will always be spiritually," I say as I hold onto the necklace around my neck.

"Oh honey, I know how close you two were and now that she left─"

"Mom can we please not talk about this," I hardly say.

"Of course." She says as I lightly smile. "So how are things with Sammy?" She grins with excitement as she takes a spoonful of her salad.

"I'm not with Sammy anymore," I mumble.

"What? Why?"

"I found someone better," I say.

"When did this happen?"

I tell her everything, the whole cheating thing, Andrew being my savior and caring about me, I tell her about Sammy and him going crazy and not getting over me, Amanda's death and the letter she left, what happened on the plane and I tell her my plan to get back at Sammy.

"Dear since when were you getting revenge on your ex's? I've raised you right," she says.

"I know mom but Amanda said that he is trying to get back on me for not loving him enough. Like that doesn't even make sense," I explain. "I really did love him until he did what he did."

"Do whatever you want just don't bring trouble along."

After finishing dinner, I help clean the table and wash the dishes as my mom gets the ice cream ready in a bowl for us. I grab my laptop from my bedroom that has posters of singers and one of them is indeed Taylor Swift, hung up in my room. I walk back to the dining room where my mom is already seated so I sit right beside her and open up my laptop. I click on the FaceTime application and click on Andrews' name. My camera opens up and I'm just staring at my face until he answers, "Hey Emma," he starts as his face pops up in my screen. "How was your flight?" He asks.

I instantly remember earlier before when I was with Sammy and how he kissed me but I act as nothing happened, "It was good, how was yours?" I ask as my mom is beside me watching us talk.

"It was good but I was just thinking about you the whole entire flight," he says as I smile.

"So Andrew, I have someone I'd like to show you," I say as my mom comes into the picture.

"Oh hello Mrs. Evans," Andrew says.

"Hey Andrew, I've heard so much about you," my mom says as I take a spoonful of my ice cream and I get lost looking into Andrew's pixelated eyes. Then I get back to reality and I notice that I dripped some ice cream all over my penguin designed PJ top. My mom notices as well and Andrew laughs lightly.

"Oops," I start. "I'll go change my shirt, you two can talk," I say as I get up from my chair and walk down the hall that has framed pictures of me and my parents. I go to my room and take out a shirt from my suitcase and I change out of the now chocolate stained shirt. I look around my room and my eyes land on the polaroid picture of Amanda, Sammy and I. It was hung by its edge in the corner of my white stand up my mirror near my closet. We were teenagers, I remember this picture was taken at the airport when Amanda and her family had to move to New York. I was emotional and I look sad in the picture but Sammy is comforting me with his arm around me and so is Amanda. Oh, how time has changed. Amanda is dead, I don't love Sammy like I use to, and I need to let all of that in. The trio isn't so close like it was back then.

I walk back down the hall and into the dining room across from the living room. My mom looks at me looking very excited as I sit back on my seat as I did before.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Nothing, your boyfriend is just really sweet," I blush hearing the word "boyfriend," as Andrew's face shines with a smile through the screen.

"Andrew," a voice calls his name through the laptop. Andrew turns around and then looks back at the screen, "My dad is calling me, I'll talk to you later," Andrew says.

"Okay, bye," I wave at the camera.

"Bye, I love you," Andrew says.

"I love you too," I close the call blushing. I can't believe I finally said those words to him!

"Wow, I think he's the one," my mom mumbles.

"You also said that about Sammy but look at him now," I say.

"I said that because he treated you nice until now," she says.

"He changed, I don't know what the heck has gotten into him but I'm putting him to an end. I'm breaking his heart like he broke mine."

"Did you tell Andrew what happened on the plane or what you are planning to do to Sammy?" My mom asks.

"No," I puff.

"You need to tell him," Mom insists.

"I will, later."