Free Love Letters by Jane Larry

It was a sleepy
day, like every day leading up to March. The ground was quiet. The trees were
still. And the birds were gliding steadily through the air, as if to say, “I
have all the time in the world.” But the truth of the matter was, they didn’t.
None of us did. But it was nice that every time Lisa walked by Roxburry and stood in place, she herself could stop time
and live in a single moment for as long as she wanted. Of course, like
clockwork, Hanna would appear at the crossing and call her out from her stupor.
And they would walk together to the next bend where their school was located.
    It may not have
been obvious at first glance but today was a special day for most Great Rapids
high schoolers . Spring Break was just eight hours
away and everyone was eager to get the next day started. Inside the crowded
halls, students were already amped up for the impending dismissal. As the
minutes went, they grew more and more excited about their prospects. There were
talks of taking trips down to Miami with older siblings. Some guys were
enthusiastic about finally losing their virginities to strangers they would
meet at house parties they were invited to. A group of cheerleaders were
discussing what they should wear during a lake trip they were going to take
with some guys from the football and basketball team. At the opposite side were
three Asian kids grumbling about the fact that they had to fly back home for
Easter and spend time with non-English speaking relatives. Down the walkway
were the student body president and the class photographer discussing details
of the graduation yearbook. Without missing their cue, the line-up of jocks
came along, clearing everyone out of the path, as they always did.
    Hanna, like the
rest of the warm-blooded females in the room, could not contain her excitement
as John Mitchell – athlete extraordinaire – passed by and gave her some
attention. True to her offbeat and crazy character, she divulged her ingenious
plan of convincing her parents to rent out a cottage in the same Lake District
as the cheer squad and then sneaking over to their camp for an invite. Lisa
never understood the fuss over John Mitchell or the rest of the guys on the
team. Personally, she thought they were mostly jerks, although she kindly
passed some off as strangers. They had no merit except for a few game wins here
and there; no substance, and none of the Shakespearean heroic attributes she
admired. See, if she were to choose someone she’d fall in love with, it would
definitely be someone like her dad – someone who was passionate, chivalrous and
truthful; someone who was willing to step out of a mundane and shallow
existence for the person he loved. However, this didn’t matter at that moment
because there was so much to occupy her apart from love. So as Hanna bid her
goodbye, Lisa thought about what Spring Break had in store for her.
    *            
*             *
    Lisa Reynolds was
your typical junior. She wasn’t exceptionally beautiful. She wasn’t especially
smart either but she got by with some effort and a few social connections. She
wasn’t someone you would say was popular but she could easily be picked out
from the crowd. Some people said she looked like a mixture of Carey Mulligan
and Anne Hathaway, with the graceful callousness of Angelina Jolie. But for
her, she was the perfect blend of her mom and dad, with her thick brown hair,
which she inherited from her mother’s Italian lineage, and broad shoulders,
which she got from her father’s athletic English-Armenian pedigree. She had a
round face accentuated by cat eyes, a celestial nose and thick lips. And she
had distinct pointy ears which she often hid behind knit and crochet hats.
Lisa’s height was about 5 feet 6 inches, which God paired with a mesomorph
build. But what set her apart was the mole on her upper right cheek, which her
seventh grade homeroom teacher said gave her a vivacious and powerful character.
    Far