Letters to Ivy

Chapter 03|

Chapter 03| Romeo and Juliet

"Ivy?" Mrs. Lawrence, the librarian questions as she looks at me with surprise. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I just... couldn't wait to get my hands on a... certain book," I respond.

"Oh, well, I hope you'll be able to find what you're looking for."

I nod my head as Mrs. Lawrence opens the door. "As do I."

"Oh, and Ivy," I turn around to face her. "I'm—I'm very sorry for your loss."

Not knowing how to respond, I nod and offer her the best smile I can manage as a silent thanks.

I hurry towards the back of library, where Mrs. Lawrence has stacked most Shakespeare's plays. "Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet..." I mumble as I scan my finger through the series of books. "Ah, here it is," I wisper to myself before pulling out the book.

I furiously flip through the pages, struggling to find the right one. And there it is, page thirty-four. At that exact page, is a tear from the missing page and another envelope.

I slide down to the floor and drop the book right beside me, before tearing open the next envelope.

Dear Ivy,

I'm pretty sure this one was easy. I mean, what else could it possibly mean?

Now, for the reason why this clue was placed here.

So, this was actually way back in freshman year. I don't remember why we were hanging out, but we ended up in the library for some reason. I think you needed a book for class or something, but I was bored. I remember walking towards the back and stumbling upon the Shakespeare section. The only book I knew by him at the time was Romeo and Juliet. I opened it up to that cringy balcony scene, ready to rip it out when all of a sudden you showed up. You scolded me for a good five minutes about respecting books and taking care of other people's belongings (you were such a goody-goody). I just laughed and then asked you to rip the page out. Which obviously, you were reluctant about, but after a few remarks and teases, you did.

Remarks? Teases? All an understatement. What he did to me was peer pressure.

I couldn't believe you had actually done it. You started freaking out and it was honestly so hard to keep myself from laughing. It was a challenge to get you to calm down. I said things like, 'no one's gonna notice,' and, 'who reads Shakespeare for fun?' Which, I like to believe did the trick. We ended up putting the book back and I stole the ripped page when you weren't looking.

So yeah, it was the first 'rebellious' or 'badass' thing I had ever seen you do.

That's about it. The next clue is in the envelope. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Best regards (too formal?),

Callum

Peeking into the envelope, I pull out a folded up piece of paper. On the back side, written in blue ink is the date when the picture was taken, as well as the words, look for the sheriff's star.

Opening it up, I see that it's a picture of Callum and I. My arm is wrapped around his shoulder, with my eyes are shut and lips pressed against his cheek. His eyes are squeezed shut, with an adorably wide smile. It's a cute picture. But this isn't just any picture. This picture here was from the photobooth at Chuck E. Cheese's.