Page 117 of More Than Pen Pals

I laugh. “That’s the first thing Ash asked me, too. We weren’t friends, but he dated a girl on my hall. Ash told me they’re married now.”

“I met her and their baby at church on Easter,” Melissa says. “So if you’ve only been here a few weeks, how did things happen so fast with you and Ash?”

“We were pen pals when we were kids.”

“Oh yeah,” she says, “our fourth-grade teacher set us up with pen pals. Mine’s name was Karen. We wrote back and forth for a year or so.” She pauses. “Wait a minute. You were pen pals with aboy?”

Wendy and I look at each other and laugh.

“What?” Melissa asks. “Tell me why that’s funny.”

I explain the misunderstanding and my resulting deception.

“Wow. So he wrote to you until he was fourteen, never knowing you were a girl?”

“Yep.”

Her face goes slack, and she sets her wineglass down. “Did he tell you personal stuff?”

I know where she’s going with this, and I decide it’s best to come clean. “Like about ‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’?”

Melissa buries her face in her hands. “Oh, noooooo.”

“For the record, he’s an amazing kisser.” A shiver involuntarily runs through me at the memory of his kisses.

She peeks through her fingers at me. “I can’t believe you want to be my friend, knowing I did that to him.”

“Is it any worse than what I did to him?”

“I’d say yes,” Melissa says. “You didn’t humiliate him in front of the whole school.”

“Ash explained what you told him at the game. If he can forgive you, so can I. You were a kid.”

“Okay,” Wendy cuts in, “I’ve been sitting here patiently and quietly while you’ve talked in broad strokes about what appears to be an absolutely fascinating story, but I can no longer sit in silence. I need all the detailsnow.”

“I’m going to let you tell it,” I tell Melissa.

“Well, Wendy,” she says, “to put it bluntly, I was the mean girl in junior high. I’ve repented of my ways and hopefully nobody sees me like that anymore, but I was a little twit as a young teen.” She then tells us the entire story, sharing details Ash didn’t tell me, including the part Randall played, which endears him to me even more.

Wendy is both riveted and incensed. “You made fun of the most respectful man I’ve ever known because you were embarrassed and thoughthewas going to be mean toyou?I’m not sure I can be your friend now.” She shakes her head. “I don’t care what Ash and Leslie have decided about it.”

“Hear me out,” Melissa pleads. “I was so ashamed, especially because I liked Ash. But I was an idiot. Instead of apologizing to Ash like I should have, I avoided him for the rest of junior high, and then he left town for prep school, and until last week, I didn’t see him again except from a distance at church on holidays. But in the end, I’m glad Randall lied, because it helped me become a better person. I decided I needed to be more like Ash and treat people with kindness. It took me a while to completely change my ways, but I like to think I have.” She gives Wendy an imploring look. “Can you forgive me? Please?”

Wendy purses her lips for a moment. “I do, since you apologized to him and claim to have changed for the better. And yes, we can be friends.”

From what I’ve learned about Wendy over the past few weeks, I’m not surprised she forgives as easily as she changes her mind on other matters.

“Thank you.” Melissa takes a sip of wine and says, “Now tell me about Randall. He’s not dating anyone, right?”

It’s surprising the topic didn’t come up last Saturday, but maybe he was still dating Colleen at the time. Though if he was, wouldn’t she have been at the dinner, too?

Wendy kicks me under the table, and I try but fail not to flinch.

“What?” Melissa looks back and forth between the two of us.

I can’t tell her the real reason we’re being weird, but I can give her something. “He and his girlfriend recently broke up.” I decide not to explain why, even though it’s eerily similar to her own situation.

“Oh.” She doesn’t hide her interest. “Like how recently?”

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