“He was describing his bod for you. Sounds like it’s dirty to me! Even more so when the letter is for you. Now, give it up.”
I bite my lip, trying not to rock a stupid giant smile like I do every time I think about the letter.
“It’s silly. I did one of the pen pal letters with the class, and that was the letter I got back. But now I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about him, which, like I said, is silly. It’s just a note, no big deal.” When I look over at her, her face is all soft. “What?” I ask, wanting her to stop looking at me like that. For some reason I’d rather have a dick joke right now than that look.
“You’re all dreamy over some guy. I like it on you. Your face is so warm, it’s glowing. It’s sexy.”
I snort at the word. No one has ever thought of me as sexy.
“I’m warm because I’m baking.” I place the cookie balls on the baking sheet and slide them into the oven. I make my way over to the sink and wash the rest of the dough off my hands.
“What’s with the blank PS?”
I shrug, having wondered myself. Then her gaze darts over to the Polaroid camera sitting on the counter, and her eyes widen.
“You were going to take a picture!”
“Was not,” I lie.
“You freaking liar. How many have you taken already and trashed?”
I scrunch my face at her and glare, but she just bursts out laughing. Because she’s right. There are about twenty pictures in the trash can at this very moment.
“Let me do it. Come on. I’ll make sure you look hot.”
“I changed my mind. Besides, it’s not about looking hot. We’re just pen pals.”
“The man wants a pic. He’s serving our country. I feel it’s your duty to let me take a picture of you to send him. Just think about the poor man over there, pining away for a picture of you.” She says it like she really feels sorry for the guy, but hell if it doesn’t work.
“Fine,” I yield. I like the idea of giving him what he asked for. It’s just a picture. Not like I’ll ever meet him or have to see the look on his face when he sees it for the first time.
Tammy claps happily and picks up the camera.
“Show me those pearly whites.”
I tilt my head and give her a smile. The camera clicks, and the picture pops out. She waves it in the air, wanting it to develop faster.
“Perfect,” she says, and hands it to me. “The warm glow you’re rocking really shows. Now he has something to spank it to.”
“Shut your mouth!” I shout, not believing he would masturbate to a picture of me.
“Oh, yeah.” She nods her head like she knows for a fact he will be spanking it to a picture of me. While I don’t believe it would ever happen, I secretly love the idea that he’d get off to a picture of me. That I’d fuel his late-night fantasies like he’s been doing to me for the last few days.
Tammy gets up from her seat and grabs a plate of cookies I made earlier. “Got to get home. Steve will be home in a little bit. Might try out the wall thing.” She kisses me on the cheek. “Send the pic. Live a little. It’s fun.”
With that, she’s out the door.
I sit down and pull out a piece of paper, and I write while I wait for the last batch of cookies to bake.
Mark,
I’d love for you to call me Katie. I hear ‘Miss Lovely’ all day at school, and it’s a nice change. I love teaching, but high-school students can wear on you from time to time. Even with that, though, there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing. I like thinking that I might have an impact on someone’s life and help shape them into who they grow up to be.
You are a hundred percent right. The weather is crazy hot during the summer, but I make my own homemade ice cream, which could cool anyone down. If you’re ever around this way during the summer, I’ll have to make some for you.
As for me, I’m as single as can be and don’t have any kids. I’m not even sure I’ve ever even been on a proper date. I’m horribly shy with men, and even writing this letter is a little hard for me.
You asked about traveling. I haven’t done much myself. I keep telling myself I’ll go somewhere big during the next summer break and spend a month or so away. For some reason I just never do it. Maybe because I don’t want to do it alone. One of the downsides to being single, I guess. It’s hard to pull your girlfriends away for a month-long trip when they’re married. I don’t blame them, though. I’m sure if I had a husband, I wouldn’t want to leave him for a month, either.
I baked you some cookies. Like you, I’m a chocolate, chocolate chip kind of person. These ones are loaded with lots of chocolate. My policy is you can never have too much chocolate in your cookies. I’ve also slipped in a few other treats I’ve been testing out. You’ll have to let me know what you think.