Summer Letters

Chapter 20

They all stayed in the same room all night. After the day they had, none of them wanted to be alone. Burmingham cancelled the next two days of classes to allow the students to calm down and to allow the school to sort out the rest of what happened. When they went to lunch the next day, Alfonso asked to sit with Lena alone for a few minutes. Something heavy felt like it had dropped in her stomach when he asked. After his response to the friendship she didn't expect he liked the news her and Jensen gave him. Lena could see the others looking at the two of them as they sat a few tables away from them. Alfonso only had an apple on his plate, but he didn't even look at it. He wouldn't say anything at first. He looked like he was deep in thought about whatever he wanted to say.

"Alfonso, do you hate me?" Lena finally asked him.

Alfonso shook his head and said, "Lena, you're my friend. I couldn't hate you. I'm confused. I don't know how to explain how I'm feeling. I'm thinking about how to word it."

"Can you at least try?" she asked, "I feel awkward sitting in silence."

"You hated him. When I talked to you in the library that day you seemed more annoyed by him than I have ever seen you, and now you are telling me that it was all a lie? Next thing I know, you're saying you became friends over Thanksgiving break. When that shooting happened, I had never seen Jensen so upset. He risked his life to find you just so he would know you were alright. All these changes happened at once. I'm still trying to catch up."

"Would you like me to explain?" She asked him.

He nodded, "Clarify some of these things for me because I can't seem to sort any of it out."

"The annoyance I showed in the library was a lie. I found out about the bet so Jensen and I thought it would be fun to fool you and Sebastian. It was a joke. We came to our rooms every day and talked for hours. Having those inside jokes made us closer."

"Was the Thanksgiving break a lie?" he asked next.

Lena nodded, feeling guilty about creating the lie in the first place. "As Jensen said, that's when we went on our first date."

"What's the truth then?"

"Alfonso, I am so sorry. We did become friends we just lied about when and kept our dating a secret for a while. I know what you think of me and maybe you're right; maybe I am changing, but do you blame me for changing? We're preparing to graduate high school. We'll be going to college and getting jobs and we'll have to change for that. One thing Jensen taught me over the summer was that change is a good thing. Change is always happening and we'll enjoy life more if we learn to like change. I didn't believe him at first, but recently I've taken his advice."

He sighed, "I'm sorry I got so mad before. If we compared the person I was four years ago to the person I am now I'm sure I would be different too. After talking last night, I realized how happy the two of you are. All of us were happier last night, except for our feelings about the shooting. We were open and revealed any secrets we still had."

"Why did you want to talk today then?" she asked. He seemed so mad at her before she found it hard to believe that he was okay with her now.

"I wanted to clear the air after the way I spoke to you. Are we okay now?"

Lena smiled, "Yes, we're okay. I'm happy you're not mad anymore."

"Me too," he smiled. "I was too harsh on you. Did you ever expect you'd actually say yes to Jensen though?"

Lena laughed, "Definitely not! I surprised myself, but he's great."

They joined the rest of their friends when their talk ended, but they didn't mention what they talked about. Lena didn't get a chance to talk to Jensen alone until that night after their classes ended. Jensen let himself into Lena's room, as usual, and plopped onto her bed. Lena was at her desk finishing homework.