Peace, Love, & Pogo Sticks

Cheers

"Just come out with us tonight, dude."

"I don't really feel like partying tonight. Sorry, man."

"But it's not a party," Brian defended. "It's just the guys hanging out at the bar."

"That's how it always starts though, doesn't it?" Shawn chuckled.

"Come on, dude. You've been a total buzzkill lately. Just come out and have fun with us." Shawn groaned and reluctantly got up off of the couch.

"Alright, fine." He grabbed his phone and wallet before heading out with Brian, who was celebrating his victory. Once they arrived at the bar, Shawn found it surprisingly easy to let go and have fun - despite not wanting to leave the comfort of his couch just hours prior. He started out with beer but was somehow convinced to switch to tequila shots, which he knew he would regret later. There were a couple unfamiliar girls who stayed close to him all night, but he never showed much interest in them outside of some harmless flirting.

He woke up the next morning with a pounding headache, suddenly cursing how much natural sunlight would flood his apartment during the daytime. He couldn't remember how he got home last night - in fact, he couldn't remember much of anything from the night before. All he knew was that he definitely wished he wouldn't have agreed to go out with Brian and their friends.

After sulking in his bed for a prolonged period of time, he finally mustered up the strength and energy to pull himself from the comfort of his pillows and duvet so he could mosey across the street and grab himself a much needed cup of coffee. The line to place his coffee order was annoyingly long and the barista's attitude was rubbing him the wrong way. His coffee was too hot and he almost immediately burned his tongue upon his first sip. He groaned and grumbled the whole way back to his apartment. Go figure the one good part of his day would be shitty today.

Arriving back at his building, he grabbed his mail before heading up to his apartment. He sat on his couch and shuffled through the stack of what ended up being mostly bills and junk mail before coming to a hand addressed letter from Miami. He was immediately overcome with nerves. He loved the idea of having a pen pal in theory, but in practice the idea of talking to a complete stranger still kind of scared him. He flipped the envelope over and smiled when he saw the Deathly Hallows sticker. He carefully peeled it off of the envelope, trying his best not to rip it so he could keep it. He wasn't sure why he wanted to keep it - maybe just because he was a fan of the movies, or maybe because a small part of him wanted to believe that the friendship with his pen pal would bloom into something beautiful someday. After successfully removing the sticker, he stuck it onto the cover of the notebook he had bought specifically for his letters.

He pulled out the folded piece of lilac paper and began to read. He couldn't help but admire the person's handwriting, which was the perfect portrayal of both confidence and femininity. Despite the shitty day he had been having up to that point, he found himself chuckling at the hilariously charming words that had been written. Though he wasn't surprised to find out that his pen pal was a female, the confirmation in her letter only made his nerves worse. She signed the letter with a simple "C", mimicking the "S" that he had signed his initial letter with. He was instantly intrigued and curious to know what the C stood for. Caitlin? Catherine? Clara? Courtney? Cierra? For some reason, he decided after reading her letter that she sounded like a Courtney. He couldn't help but wonder if she felt the same curiosity when reading his letter. Did she have a guess as to what his name was? Hopefully if she guessed Shawn, she at least guessed the correct spelling. He set her letter on the coffee table by his couch and began to write his letter back to her.

C,
While I appreciate your desire to not assume, you were correct. I'm a dude. Also, you get major cool points for the Deathly Hallows sticker included on the back of your envelope. I'm relieved to know that my pen pal has good taste in movies (or do you prefer the books?). I've got to be honest with you, I partied a little too hard last night and my head is killing me (don't worry, I'm 21). Also I burned my tongue on my coffee this morning. Basically everything above my neck is in pain right now. I guess I could wait to write this letter when my head was feeling a bit better, but for some reason I'm too excited to not write you back right now. Hopefully that doesn't weird you out. See? There I go being an awkward teenage boy again. Oh god. I'm fucking this up, aren't I? Hopefully you're okay with cursing. I tend to curse a lot. Sorry. Anyways, I was sitting here trying to think of another piece of personal information I could reveal to you, but I just realized that I told you my age a few sentences ago, so that's all you're getting for this letter. Though, by the time you get this letter I might already be 22. I'm well aware that it's impolite to ask a woman her age, so I'll leave it up to you to decide what information you'd like to reveal about yourself next. Whatever you choose, I look forward to learning more about my new friend. (And yes, we're friends now. Hope that's okay with you.)

Cheers,
S

He sealed and addressed the envelope he had placed the folded letter in and immediately took it back down to put in the outgoing mail. He couldn't place why exactly he was so eager to get the letter out to her - maybe because he genuinely couldn't wait to receive her response. After sending out his reply, he sat on his couch and read and reread the letter she had sent him. She intrigued him. The idea of not knowing who she was made the situation even more fascinating to him. He read the letter one last time before folding it back up and putting it in the small decorative box that sat on his coffee table.