Sincerely, Red

Chapter Eight

Dear Liv,

These letters nearly came to an end this morning.

I went to post this letter (the one you may or may not be holding in your hand right now) to Claire's house. I'm actually trying to cut back on these, because it's becoming clearer and clearer that I sound like a stalker and a creep, not that there's much of a difference.

I don't know how else to really talk to you though. I mean, you were basically one of my best friends and now we rarely cross paths.

Anyway, when I got there, Claire was bawling her eyes out.

Before you raise my creepiness level and think I was watching her through the window, I wasn't.

She was outside and half sitting in her car. By that, I mean she was sitting sideways and not facing the steering wheel. Her legs were just dangling out and, since she's kind of short, they didn't really touch the ground.

She noticed me.

It got pretty awkward after that.

I think I've already said this before, but Claire already knew me before all of this 'Red' stuff. She used to pick me up from school with you sometimes, when my mum didn't turn up. Even to a seven or eight year old, Claire seemed strict and kind of scary but nice when you got to know her, so I began to trust her.

Not trust her enough to tell her everything that was going on, but trust her nonetheless.

But when I saw her today, I guess some of the familiarity was back again.

She sort of hobbled a bit before walking towards me, furiously wiping her eyes and stuffing the tissue back in to her pocket. She asked me how I was doing, how school was going and if my mum was alright.

I just nodded, like that was meant to answer all the questions.

I was kind of scared, because Claire is usually more probing. She has this thing in her, where she has to know everything to the very last detail. That's generally why I thought she was going to bombard me with questions.

But she didn't do any of that.

To change the topic, I asked her if you were okay, and she just started crying all over again.

She told me that she'd forced you to leave, and that Tim had called David before she could back out of her decision. She said she was regretting it, but at the same time it was better for you. She said it was for your safety and wellbeing. She said there were things you didn't know yet and that she was only trying to protect you.

She said she loves you and she wishes that she could've been a better parent.

She said a lot of things, too many for me to list in this letter.

I hope your anger and sadness hasn't completely consumed you, Liv. If it hasn't, please just think everything over one more time. Just figure out why she's pushing you away and maybe give her a last chance.

Because humans make mistakes and in order to make things work, we have to try to forgive them. It's a constant cycle and it's only when you meet Evil in people that you break that cycle.

Claire's not evil, I don't think.

Do you?

Stay safe, Liv.

Sincerely, Red

No, I didn't think Claire was evil.

I thought that Claire was being buried under secrets that were slowly suffocating her. She was being pushed even further down by lies, and my being there had only created those lies more quickly. Claire was just human, after all. And humans make mistakes like lying.