North couldn't give you a concrete reason for his return to the sub-basement. One moment he was walking to the library to get a start on his English assignment. The next thing he knew, he was stumbling down a poorly lit staircase and breaking into school property. Much like the last time, locker 894 was a hassle to open. His sneaker slipped against the now polished metal front of the bottom locker and he almost gave up until the hinges squeaked free. No books rained down on him. No stench of energy drinks greeted him. Nor was there a shiny covered chemistry textbook waiting for him.
Instead, a purple highlighter rested on the bottom shelf and neon pink Hello Kitty post-it note glared at him, pasted to the edge of the top shelf. His eyes skimmed over the words, trying poorly to fight back the excitement at the sentences glaring back at him. The handwriting was as poor as he remembered, practically dripping off the page and smudged in the haste of their writer to get each thought down onto the page before their train of thought lost it forever. North took the highlighter back and plucked the note free, folding it into his pocket as he squatted down onto the ground. Shouldering his bag off, he ripped a clean sheet of grid paper from his math book and set it on the muscle of his trembling thigh, struggling to keep balance in his hover above the concrete floor. Uncapping the highlighter with his teeth, North set the top onto the page and started to write.
Dear Distracted Diary Dude,
North stopped, pressing the end of the highlighter to his chin as he worked out a response. A joke about fate bringing them together again seemed a little cheesy and flirty, which was not his intention. Telling the guy not to be embarrassed would just make things more awkward. Frowning to himself, North stared down at the blank squares and questioned if he should just walk away.
No.
He would kick himself if he didn't see where this went. He'd always wanted a pen-pal, this was potentially the next best thing.
I would be lying if I said I didn't regret having not read page 167.
North crossed the line out, groaning to himself.
"Stupid." He muttered, ripping the ruined part of the paper clean off. Tucking it into his jean's pocket he tried again.
Dear Distracted Diary Dude,
Not going to lie, coming eye-to-eye with Hello Kitty is not how I expected my afternoon to go. Here I was. Minding my own business. Hoping to read page 167. Instead, I'm assaulted by neon. Guess I learned my lesson on snooping. I'll stick to getting my books from the library. I'm partial to the Encyclopaedia section. Maybe I'll find my next best read there? Until then, I better head out. Floors to mop. Sinks to fix and all that.
With Fateful Interventions,
Captain Clean-Up.
Clicking the highlighter's cap on with finality, North reread his letter and deemed it passable. Folding the sheet in half twice he placed it on the bottom shelf and hoped his message would be received. The other boy had left him a note in response and seemed to want to keep in contact. North just hoped he hadn't scared the guy away.
Grabbing his backpack, he looped it back on slowly, eyes trained on the paper as though the moment he blinked it would disappear. To some degree that was true. The second he shut the locker he was sending his note out into the world, to be collected by a stranger and never returned again.
On a whim he snatched the paperback, taking out his phone and capturing a photo of it. A keepsake. Shutting the locker door, North rested his palm against the cold metal, taking longer than he expected to finally muster up the nerve to walk away.
YOU ARE READING
YOUR ONE LAST LINE |✔️|
Short Story*Watty's Shorts Winner, 2020* While cleaning out empty lockers during detention, North Kingsley comes across a battered textbook filled with off-beat and personal messages written in awful handwriting. On a whim he writes them a message back. Days...
