Oh 80's Pen Pal, Where Art Thou?

Their friendship began with a plan.  He was a skater boy, but  20 years before Avril Livigne explained that story in detail. They had a couple classes together their sophomore year.  He hadn't grown up in that small town like she did.  But he was on her radar now, and they would run into each other at parties around town. He was cute enough, but too young for her taste and she was definitely out of his league.

The mission was, to convince her current best friend of the semester, a blond and bouncy freshman...that he was the boy for her.  So far those blond curls were focusing on older and more popular prey, and hadn't acknowledge his existence at all.  He had divulged to her his longing for the blond and bouncy.  She was ready to play Shakespeare's Emma and make the match happen.

Skater boy wore vans and knee length shorts with his T shirts.  His dark, short hair had the kinks that spoke of some black in his bloodline.  But his skin told a latino story, and mom was white so she never was quite sure.  He lived with his mom, alone...mirroring her own living situation.  He had a lot of freedom, like she did...that is how they found themselves walking the streets of her little southern California beachside hometown late at night after the house parties broke up.  Blond and bouncy had a curfew, and many nights was forbidden to leave the house at all.  On those tipsy, late night walks he would describe his desire for her friend, and she would hatch up plans to create opportunities for their love to blossom.  She would share with him some of her escapades with the senior boy....who had a girlfriend but flirted shamelessly with her.

Sophomore year was still a year of discovering her own female power.  She had lots of friends that were boys, but they were just that.  Boys.  She considered her late night walking friend exactly that.  He was nothing remarkable, but someone comfortable and compatible.  Senior boy had caught her imagination, was a challenge, and was her target.  But alas, she never quite thought enough of herself, to demand the respect of the boys that showed interest in her.  

So walking and talking, plotting and planning, laughing and hanging was where it stayed.  The park in the center of town was where she went one way, and he went another....to walk the last few blocks to each of their homes.  Beach town's weather was always tank top, shorts, and Keds or Vans perfect. They would always linger on the swings, or sit on the merry go round for a bit...to discuss the following week's plan, among other things.  Plans needed continual tweaking, because blond and bouncy was proving a difficult and slippery target.

Days turned into weeks turned into months.  Months turned into summer.  As sophomore year ended, he announced that he would be spending the summer on the east coast with his dad.  Plans were hatched to keep in touch with letters.   Calling long distance cost a lot of money back then.  Week after week as she spent days at beauty salon job, and afternoons at the beach, and nights at the parties...stamped letters traveled back and forth from North Carolina to California.  He described his east coast, summertime world.  She described her world, and kept him up on blond bouncy's progress with that Junior jock she finally nabbed (sadly she was only flavor of the month for him).  

By August, the pen pal connection was mesmerizing.  He had so much interesting news, and was so interested in what she had to say.  He was able to give opinions on her love life and was a safe place to vent and spill private information.  Soon, it would be time to buy new school clothes and register for her classes.  She had made the cheerleading team and so Junior year was gonna be hers for the taking.  Recently graduated hottie with the girlfriend, worked next door to the beauty salon and was definitely undressing her with his eyes.  Possibilities were front and center and she was ready.

That day she pulled his letter out of the mailbox thinking how great it was gonna be when he got back in a couple weeks!  They could pick up right where they left it and plot and plan Junior year escapades....

"I have had such a great summer here!  So great, that I have decided to stay......"

She read it.  She read it again.  She inhaled deeply, closed her eyes and felt the full impact of the dagger in her heart.  Stupid, ignorant, and naive girl. The truth washed over her in a tidal wave and dripped down into her core.  She loved him.  In a wonderful and terrible and confusing instant, she flashed clearly through the time they'd spent, the shared stories and there lay the truth that she was in love with him.  Slowly and purposefully, she grabbed her paper and pen....

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Unspoken Goal was a Fairytale

 She couldn't figure it out.  She had read all the stories. She watched all the TV shows that tidied up the conflict, 30 minutes for the Brady Bunch or Bewitched, or within an hour on Love Boat or Fantasy Island.  On the here and there weekends with her dad and his girlfriend, she constantly had her nose in her copies of Grimm's Fairy Tales or Hans Christian Anderson's Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan ALL had happy endings.   During her formative years her preschool, day care, and babysitters added tragic tales to the stories that interrupted  her fairy tale day to day.  You know,  before the prince finds her and whisks her off to the perfect and fanciful rest of her life.  Day to day was mediocre.  There was loneliness and drama and no one to trust.  Evil witches and fiery dragons were in the corners of all the pages.  And as in the fairy tales, mother or father was always far away, dead, or somehow bur...
Read more

She Jumps on the Rollercoaster, Part 1

She was stretched thin.  As if caring for her three, active children wasn't excuse enough; they were preparing to put their historic home on the market.  The previous few weeks had been spent painting and staging the large, family home...originally built in the 1840's.  The "COMING SOON!" for sale sign had been in the yard for 2 weeks, to generate interest in her home.  It had worked, and they had two showings first thing the next day.  Problem was, there was just no way to make the old house look....well, new.  Her husband worked long and odd hours, often traveling.  Her 3 kids were all under the age of 8, and not exactly "helpful" in keeping the home in order.  The youngest wasn't even sleeping through the night, still waking half way through to cry her way into momma's bed.   As dinner approached, she thought about how she hadn't planned anything for dinner.  She also thought about what a mess it would make.  She called her ...
Read more

The Electric Shock, Final part of four.

    They both fell into separate beds, allowing exhaustion to take over.   It had been a marathon day.   She herself hadn’t slept more than 4 hours in a row since she had stepped off the airplane 2 days earlier.   Grandma, in her early 80s, had endured the long road trip to see her son’s decline.   The sunlight had brought the 8:00am meeting.   They all knew what the meeting was for.   As his only child, she had won a spot on this particular committee.   Grandma was invited in as well.   He had married his longtime girlfriend, about two years earlier, was the only other invitee.   She arrived at the hospital at 7:55 with her entourage in tow.   Somehow, the wife’s sister and nephew were also ushered into the small room for support.   It was made clear as the meeting began that she as his daughter, and wifey would be the decision makers in the room.   Everyone else was just there to support.   The conversation...
Read more