Bailey

"It's morning!!!" Avery squealed in her adorable voice. The bed began to bounce where her tiny feet landed over and over again. Next, Ally launched herself from the doorway onto the top of the mattress. I loved hearing them giggle. I sat up a bit so I could watch their cute little faces as they bounced on my bed.

"You broke your book!" Avery shouted with a gasp. "You're not supposed to take out the pages." Her little hand lifted my half of the book Lucas gave me into the air. "Our teacher at school said you get in big trouble for this. I can help you tape them back in."

I smiled and retrieved the book from her small grasp. "It's ok. It's my book. My friend has the rest of it." I set it in my lap as Avery stood again and started her jumping.

"Your friend might get in trouble, too! You should tell her she needs to bring it back." Her delicate hand wiped at the tangle of blonde curls that fell over her eyes.

"He. My friend is a boy." Her bouncing little feet came to a complete stop.

"You have a boyfriend?" Ally asked, her breaths coming quickly from her recent jump-a-thon.

"No. He's just a boy that's my friend." I hoped they wouldn't relay this information to my dad. I wasn't looking forward to any lectures from him. I felt like he gave that right up when he opted to be a summer dad only.

"What does he look like?" Avery asked.

"He's tall and strong. He wears a uniform and has very shiny black shoes. His eyes are blue and his hair is very short." My stomach flipped a little remembering seeing him sitting there in the chair across from me. I decide to leave out the best part, his lips, because I don't want to have to explain how I know they were soft and perfect.

"Is he a policeman?" Ally chimed in.

"Fireman?" Avery added.

"Marine. He fights for our country." My heart swelled with pride. He was pretty amazing.

"Bella's dad is a fireman and he wears a uniform." Avery nodded like she totally understood. I pushed her over lightly and she giggled as she landed softly on the bed.

"Me next!" Ally insisted. I grabbed her little ankles and pulled them towards me, sending her body crashing down onto the comforter.

"Ok you two. Get out of here so I can get ready. I need to get downstairs before you guys eat all the good stuff. The two of them laughed and jumped down from my bed. I folded my covers back and climbed out. Last night my heart had hurt for Lucas. I couldn't imagine being so young and having to be responsible for making arrangements after the death of a loved one. I wondered where his younger brother was and why he wasn't helping.

I pulled my hair up and put on my bra under the t-shirt I'd worn to bed. Today would be another day of watching movies with my sisters and maybe swimming in the afternoon. It seemed silly now that I knew how Lucas was spending his week. It didn't seem fair.

I flipped open my laptop so I could send him a quick email. Last night I wasn't sure what to say. It's not that I suddenly had the answer, but I didn't want him to think I didn't care enough to respond.

From: Bailey Prescott >

To: Lucas Garver >

July 16, 2012 at 6:32 AM

_______________________________________________________________

Dear Lucas,

Sorry I didn't respond last night. I'm not very good with death and always feel like I'll make someone feel worse. Now that you know that about me, here goes my lame attempt at grief advice: It sucks. It hurts and there's no medicine in the world that can treat it. That's a pretty dismal fact if you really think about it. Grief is something we'll all experience at some point. Most of the time there will be many points in our lives where we'll have to go through it. I know they give us the stupid stages of grief like some road map—but really it's like looking at a road map of hell and the road out always seems so long and twisted.

I truly believe we should have more of our great minds trying to figure out this ailment. Maybe one day there will be a pill, or a scan, or some sort of computer program that will help us get through it all faster and without pain. For now, we just have to keep it in our minds that it will end eventually. You may never be the same person you were at the beginning of the journey, but chances are enough of the old pieces of you will make it through and you can find yourself again.

Speaking of finding things, my black glasses help me do that. I can see well enough to get me through the day, but when I want to read small print or see people and objects perfectly I have to wear them. I don't wear them in pictures usually because the glare they create hides my eyes. I collect mine, too. I would love to see your grandma's collection. I bet it's like a fashion time capsule.

Rylee and Bennet are doing great. He convinced her to give him her number even though she knew he was a bad boy and would break her heart. He of course he's different with her. His bad boy ways are no longer running his life. They've had a candlelight dinner and are headed up to his penthouse suite (because duh, ever young bad boy has one of those). He unzipped her dress and slid it off her shoulders. She could tell how badly he wanted her and they knew the second they kissed that the sex would be amazing. So when he let her dress fall to the floor she gasped. Want to know what happened next? Well so do I but I don't have the rest of the story! You can't leave me hanging without the other half of this book for long. I guess you'll have to come see me.

Love,

Bailey

P.S. Five Fun Facts About Bailey

1) She finished her half of the story.

2) She's completely memorized the first hour of Disney's Toy Story (I'm serious. Every. Single. Word.)

3)She still buys lunch at school on Fridays because duh, it's pizza.

4)She has a crush on a man in uniform.

5) She feels so much better knowing that a certain lesbian in close proximity to said crush, very much prefers kissing girls.

****Hi readers! I hope you are enjoying this story. If you're having fun with the 5 Fun Facts lists, please leave your own in the comments section. It would be 5 fun facts about anything appropriate! I'd love to see your 5 fun facts about my stories or 5 fun facts about Wattled stories. Can't wait to read them.