Letters to Ivy

P r o l o g u e

The first time I met Callum Wilson, was the summer of eighth grade. My parents, as well as his, had rented out two cabins. Our parents had known each other since high school, so when Mom heard his family was coming back to town, she and Dad wasted no time in setting up a little reunion. And of course, Callum and I were forced to go too. Our parents thought it'd be nice for Callum to have at least one familiar face when we'd start high school.

I wasn't really all that excited. Who would be? I had to spend the whole summer with no internet, and a boy I didn't know as my only source of entertainment.

Callum and his family arrived a couple minutes after us. I don't really remember much of how I was feeling when I first saw Callum, but I do remember what he looked like. His height was normal for someone of our age at the time. He had short wavy-ish blonde hair and boring blue eyes. He had an iPod in hand, and one earbud in, while the other was left hanging down. But what I remember most, is the glare and frown plastered upon his face, and it stayed that way for nearly the whole trip.

We hated each other. It was as simple as that, but believe me when I say that I tried to get to know him. I really did. But after being constantly ignored, pushed into a lake, and having a worm put down my shirt, I was done being nice.

The two of us spent the rest of the summer tormenting one another.

When school started up, we ignored each other. The only time we spoke was at the occasional dinners we were forced to go to, and even that was just a simple, "Hello" and, "Goodbye".

Sophomore year, I barely saw any of him. His parents and my own were busy with work, so our visits became more and more infrequent, which was honestly fine with me, but apparently not so much with our parents. Halfway through the summer, they decided to drag us out to the same two cabins that we stayed in two summers ago, except this time, those two cabins were ours. As in, our parents bought them, which could only mean one thing, our little summer trips, would be a lot more regular.

I was not looking forward to the trip. Not one bit. I had managed to avoid him for most of freshman year, and basically my whole sophomore year. Now I was going to have to put up with him for another summer.

This time around, my family was the one late to our cabins.

I stepped out of the car, and I can still remember the way my stomach twisted up when I saw him.

Callum looked different. I didn't really see much of him last year, only short glimpses. We didn't have any classes together, or the same friend group. So, while I was always hanging out with my friends inside, he was always out on the field doing whatever sport him and his friends were playing that day.

Callum's hair was a little darker now. Still blonde, but darker. It was a lot shorter on the sides, leaving a mop of his wavy hair at the top. It framed his face well. But the biggest difference was the look on his face. In exchange for the narrowed eyes and frown, Callum now sported a smirk.

He was a little cocky for the first few days, a real hotshot, but as the summer went on, those smug looks eased into grins and smiles.

By the start of junior year, we were dating. We dated all through senior year too. He proposed the day after graduation. We got married later that summer, and I became Ivy Wilson.

Everything was great, till I got that one phone call.

That one dreaded phone call which ended everything.

Callum's mother, Gina, was on the phone when she informed me that Callum had been in an accident and was in the hospital.

I don't think I've ever driven as bad, or as fast as I did that night. I'm still surprised that I wasn't pulled over.

When I got to the hospital, Callum was still in the emergency room. I waited anxiously for the doctor to pop out of that door and tell us Callum was fine.

The doctor did eventually pop out the door, but not to tell us Callum was fine. No, what he said ended with Gina collapsing into her husband, Mark's arms with heavy sobs. I, on the other hand, fell back into my seat. My mind couldn't grasp what was going on.

Mark called my parents who arrived no less than five minutes later. They took me to their house and sat me down on the three-seater couch in the living room. And that was all it took for me to burst into a fit of loud ugly sobs.