Free Strange in Skin by Sara V. Zook

read my letter, but again,
that would mean me not acting like my normal self. Not that avoiding the family the last few days was
normal, but it was something that likely would go without question. I had to be extra cautious, I
reminded myself. They would catch on if I made too many mistakes.
    I was so relieved when I was finally able to reach the sanctuary of my bedroom. I almost hesitated
for a moment, thinking that my mother would burst in at any second and want to see the letter for
herself, but I knew she was still washing dishes downstairs and cleaning up from dinner. I sat down in
a small wooden chair that was near the window and unfolded the envelope that was now crinkled
from being inside my pocket.
Dear Anna,
    I know you didn’t want me to write, but it’s been so long. I need to know what you think of me, if
you think about me at all. You’re all that I think about. Please come see me again. It feels like it’s
getting hard to breathe in here not knowing when and if you’ll return to me.
E.L.
    My heart ached with a longing to jump in my car and rush straight toward the jail to see him. He
was thinking about me just as much as I was him. His letter was so short and simple, yet felt so
powerful. Emry Logan was missing me. What could this all mean, and where did I stand now? The
confusion came on again as my emotions overwhelmed my mind, and I struggled to think straight. I
didn’t know what I meant to him, but I knew what I had to do. I had to go see him right away.
Tomorrow, yes. I would go tomorrow. Amy Wright or Anna James, one of them would find their way
into that jail.
    “Anna!”
I jumped at the sound of my name being hollered up the stairs. “Yeah?”
“Phone!”
    I grabbed the cordless from its charger on my dresser and hit the on button. As soon as I pressed my
ear up to it, I heard the downstairs phone click off.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Anna.”
     
It was Buck. Hadn’t my mother said something earlier about how I was supposed to call him back?
I had forgotten all about it.
     
“Hey, Buck. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to call you back yet.” Emry’s letter was still gripped in my
hand as my eyes scanned over his words once more.
     
His breathing was kind of heavy in the phone as if he were out of breath. “Oh, no problem. Is now a
good time?”
     
“Sure. What’s up?” I folded the letter and pressed it in between the pages of the same book that
held Emry’s first letter to me. I put the book back in its place on the shelf.
     
“How are things going?”
    It took me a moment to understand what he was asking. He wanted to know if I still had a
relationship with my father, if my mother still held a relationship with him. I had forgotten he’d
witnessed all of that. “Oh, same old, same old,” I told him, hoping he wouldn’t pry too much more.
“How are you holding up?” he asked, sounding truly concerned.
     
My irritable mood instantly returned. Thanks, Buck , I thought. I was beginning to think I could
possibly be bipolar. “I’m fine, I guess.”
     
He hesitated, sensing my unwillingness to talk to him about the matter. “Well, I thought maybe you
might need to get out of the house, go out and do something fun.”
    “I do. What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know. Anything. How about … I could make you dinner,” he suggested.
I let out a small chuckle. “Buck, do you cook?”
“Hey now,” he said, pretending I had hurt his feelings. “I can buy food and put it in the bowl to
make it look like I cook.”
     
It was a little funny to think of him capable of making a meal.
     
“Tomorrow night after work come over to my place. I’ll make you dinner, and maybe we could rent
a movie or something, too.”
     
I hesitated for a moment. This was definitely a date date. I did need out of the house though, and I
did need to get closer to Buck to see if he could tell me any other information about Emry.
“All right. See you tomorrow then.”
    Buck’s mood was lightened