Love Letters Read Free Page A

by
exclaiming, “How can anyone NOT know?!”
    John laughed. “I
guess you’re right. And it’s strange how that works.”
    Once they got to
Lisa’s spot, John noticed that she was already working on Mr. Kallum’s writing assignment. Conscious about feeling rude,
Lisa offered the guy a cold beverage, again thanking him for taking care of the
situation. John accepted but didn’t spare the opportunity to comment on her
itinerary, which to him seemed wasteful.
    “So let me get this
straight – You’re missing out on holiday festivities because of school?”
    “Well, I’m not
expecting you to understand.”
    “No I don’t
understand. See, even Bill Gates got bored with school and dropped out.”
    “Well, I just
didn’t think it would help my situation if I procrastinated.”
    “Suit yourself. But
if you ever change your mind, we could hang out.”
    What?! Lisa thought. The
nerve! This is so inappropriate.
    Taking cue from the
lack of rebuttal, John slowly withdrew from the conversation and said, “Thanks for
the water. I’ll go ahead.”
    *            
*             *
    That was probably
the longest conversation Lisa had with John or with anyone from his social
circle. He was not the type of person she appreciated talking to. And it didn’t
seem as though he was fond of reaching out to people outside of his tribe
either. But what annoyed Lisa most about John was that he never seemed to be
one thing or another. One minute he was nice and the next he was an ass. And
then, there was the fact that he was good and bad in his academic performance.
If a guy was put together, he wouldn’t exhibit such irregularities in his
studies. But I guess, that could be explained by the distraction his
extracurricular activities put out. In any case, it still didn’t impress Lisa
that John would hit on her after their first real encounter. And it didn’t help
that his actions derailed her from the appropriate frame of thought.
    Thirty minutes in
and she still couldn’t come up with a decent page. And even though she had
tried to evoke inspiration by reading the Marquez book, nothing came through.
Nearing the hour mark, she finally thought about applying the techniques that
were found in the compilation. She thought they might just get her creative
juices flowing again. But when she opened it, she found an enveloped stuck on
the fly page with an “Irene” inscription. Feeling curious, bored and desperate,
she decided to open it up and see what surprises it had in store. In it she
found several origami pieces that unfolded to a series of letters penned by
someone named ‘Louie’. The first one she took was that of a swan and it
contained…
    Dear Irene,
    It may seem strange
to hear of it, but from the moment I saw you, I fell in love. You are beautiful
beyond belief. And you have the most soothing voice. When you smile, your eyes
dance in a sea of coral blue. And I like how you make your nose crinkle every
time you feel awkward or really happy. I am grateful that you decided to join
me in class because then I knew I could be with you for 45 minutes every day.
Please don’t be alarmed about what I am saying. I have the purest intentions.
And until the time I develop the courage to profess my feelings, I will only
write to you to remind you that you are special. And that whatever you are
feeling, whatever you are going through, and no matter how hard it seems to get
sometimes, you are loved. I am here for you.
    Yours truly,
    Louie
    Moved by what she
saw, Lisa continued opening the rest of the origami folds.
    Dear Irene,
    You were glowing
today. I liked the purple sundress you were wearing. And I appreciate that you
tied your hair back so that I could see the lines of your face. I took a
picture of you for art class so I could draw you as a subject. But fearing my
secret admiration would get disclosed, I decided to focus on this vase of
stargazers instead. I hope you don’t mind me keeping that picture