A Million Mistakes

Chapter 13

"Mail!" Celeste sung as she entered our room.

I looked up from my sheet music. "You know you have your own room right? And you can stay there sometimes."

"And spend time away from you?" She laughed, setting her stack of mail on my nightstand. She plopped onto my bed and picked up a magazine.

I turned back to Kendallyn. "Where were we?"

"Half notes and quarter notes," She replied.

"Right. A quarter note looks like a filled circle with a stem. Where as a half note looks like an open circle with a stem," I explained.

She nodded, looking at the sheet music page intently.

"There are 4 beats in a measure. A quarter note is held for 1 beat. And a half for 2 beats," I continued.

"And a whole note is held for the whole measure!" She exclaimed in excitement.

I laughed. "Yes! Your getting it! There are also eighth notes..."

Kendallyn frowned. "Eight? But you said there's 4 beats!"

"Yes, but..."

Kendal sighed dramatically. "I'll never understand."

I rubbed her back assuringly.

Celeste squealed, waving her gossip magazine around. "Tessa Tamble made a fool of herself in front of like the most famous pop star in the world!

"I thought Tessa was your friend?"

Celeste rolled her eyes. "There is no friends in show biz. I'm close with her for the perks and she's close with me for the same. We're not real friends. Not like you and I."

"How can you have friends like that?" I asked.

"I grew up in this world, America. Twos aren't really friends. Most twos have to do whatever it takes to get so high up in the system. And that requires knowing who your friends are and who your friends aren't. Your one of the first real friends I had."

"It seems like such a cutthroat world..." I trailed off, thinking of my wish for Kendallyn to one day live in that world.

"Yeah, well...It's not all parties and money. It wasn't easy for you as a lower caste, but at least you were supported," Celeste sighed. She busied herself with flipping through the next piece of mail. Her hand froze on an envelope. "Speaking of fives...this is for you."

"Five...what do you mean?" I trailed off, excepting the envelope. I slid my thumb under the flap and slid the paper out of the envelope. It was a letter. Why was Celeste giving me such a concerned look?

I began to read.

Dear America,
     Hey Ames. It's May. May Singer. I don't think you know any other Mays but I guess I don't really know you anymore.
    I know you don't want to hear from me. But I saw a picture of you playing at a ball on the news. And now that I know where you are, I knew I had to contact you. I really miss you. So do Mom and Dad. But they think they've messed it up too much to fix it. But I really hope that's not true. I just couldn't go on any longer without at least trying to get a hold of you.
     It's hasn't been the same without you. I get so angry at mom and dad. They're always so sad when they think about you or...my niece. But they have no right to be sad because they did this to themselves! Anyways...what I'm trying to say is...I really miss you. And I really wanna see you. I understand if you never want to talk to me again. But if you do please contact me. My number is (555)555-5555.
    It's been really hard with out you. I was barely 14 when you left and I'm 20 now. You must be 23. I haven't really forgiven mom for making you leave. I used to hold it against her. I would leave the house for long periods of time without telling her or stay in my room during family diner. I stopped doing that because I realized it wasn't right. She's hurting too. But the emotions are still there.
That's what your leaving did to me. It forced me to grow up. Whether I wanted to or not. I keep on saying leave as if you had a choice. I mean when you were kicked out.  I blame myself for not fighting harder to get you back or at least trying to find you. It took seeing you all grown up on the tv to realize that I didn't want to go through my life without you anymore.
Celia and Kamber always ask me about you. They live in Angeles now. I bet you didn't know that. But they do, if you ever wanted to reach out to them. They really really miss you.
I do too. Please call me.