“DUDE!” Miguel heard, as a hand slapped him across the back. Miguel turned to see one of his ‘friends’ Jo, and his crowd, “Dude, where were you at lunch?”

“I was hanging out with someone else,” Miguel said, not specifying who because he didn’t want to share Eric.

“Who? We have been friends since we joined the track team in our freshman year, and you don’t socialize with other people…” Joe said, bewildered.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Miguel, glanced back at the other guys and questioned, “Who is the new kid?”

He was referring to a boy surrounded by Miguel’s friends, and seemed to be enjoying himself. The boy in question also happened to be about 5’4” (pretty short), extremely buff and blond. “Oh that’s Evan, I am in Chem with him. He is a transfer from that one school.”

Evan made his way over when he saw Joe and Miguel gesturing at him. “Hey. I’m Evan, are you… Miguel?” Evan said in a voice deeper than expected for such a short boy.

Miguel replied with a laugh, “Ya that’s me, I’m kind of scared that you knew that.”

“Don’t worry it’s all ba-good things,” Evan said with a laugh, and a sparkle in his… cow shit brown eyes. (You can have milk chocolate (light brown), dark chocolate (dark brown), hazel (nice green with light brown), and cow poo (in between the others with some sickly green added), brown eyes.)

“Wow if it’s good, it’s all made up,” Miguel said, loudly whispering the last bit for dramatic effect. At this, Evan laughed again.

“Well, language is about to start so I’ll see you around?” Evan said with hope splashed in his voice.

“You bet,” Miguel replied, returning a polite smile.

**

As soon as Miguel got home, he walked to his mailbox, he bounced between his toes and the balls of his feet, he crossed his ever-hopeful fingers, and with his other hand, pulled open the door to the mailbox. He let out a sigh of relief and happiness, as his eyes fell upon the green envelope he as always, yearned to see. He snatched the envelope and the other contents of the mailbox.

He skipped in, almost embarrassed to be as happy as he was just because of a piece of paper. He left the rest of the mail on the kitchen table, to be sorted later, and continued to his room to read his small treasure.

‘Magnolia,

YAY! WE BOTH ARE NOT LAME… or we both are lame… But for real, I think about who you could be every time I meet someone new, though very few people have the ‘Magnolia Vibe’ which is just being kind, accepting and adorably nerdy!’

At this Miguel paused, did he even have the ‘Magnolia Vibe’? Would Elm mistake someone else as him?

At second glance towards that line, he registered ‘adorably nerdy’ and his face lit up in a smile that stretched ear to ear, showing off dem dimples.

‘I almost wish I hadn’t burned the letter you mentioned your name in, but I still want to know you for you, and want you to know me for me, does that make sense?

I guess if it doesn’t that’s okay, it doesn’t make sense to me either. I have to write though, if I haven’t found you by the end of the month (it is the 7th) I think I will send over my real name, even if I don’t know you yet.

The sad thing is I may not even meet you before the end of the month because, ya know, anti-mother-freaking-social.

I really miss how our letters used to be so long, and now they are a bit shorter, school years suckkkkkk.

But that said this is I am absolutely guilty of this too, I mean even now I must part from then pen and paper due to the sound of a mail truck, rumbling down the block.

Let me quote a philosopher and say “Holy shit... I just read what I wrote and, damn that sounded like some poetic bullshit.”

All my best,

Elm’

Miguel's smile grew when Elm quoted him, maybe he wasn’t the only one who appreciated and saved each letter the other wrote him…