13 Letters - Jamie Oleksiak [Seattle Kraken]

Chapter 1: Here Goes Nothing

It had been almost a week since Jamie had left. The first week or two was always the hardest. It was the time I missed him the most and the time I wished he would just come back the hardest.

Work always seemed meaningless when I was missing Jamie, I did what I had to do and counted down the minutes until I could go home. Work was easier to get through when I had spending time with Jamie to look forward to. A girl shouldn't miss her best friend the way I did.

I parked my car after driving home from work and reluctantly pulled myself out of the car. I approached my door as I pulled out my keys only to spot a small box on the porch right in front of my door.

"What the heck?" I said out loud to myself moving a bit closer to the box.

I knelt down and lifted it turning it in my hands a few times before realizing there was no postage, return address or even a shipping address...the box was just blank.

"That's weird" I thought out loud.

I pulled myself to my feet bringing the box with me and situated my keys again to unlock the door. I set the box on the kitchen table and settled my things.

"Do I open it? Do I put it back outside? Do I...call the police?" I spoke to myself. "No, why would I call the police that's being paranoid. Just open it, Y/N"

I told myself over and over to just open it, but I still found myself staring at the box unable to move to open it.

"Screw it, what could it hurt?" I finally said ripping the tape off the box and lifting the flaps. "Great, another box" I breathed a laugh.

Inside the cardboard box was a wooden box. Plain, nothing special about it but it was intriguing. Why would this show up at my door step? And why was it packed in another box? And who in the world put it there?

I pulled out the wooden box and worked on the latch hoping it wouldn't be locked. I sighed in relief when the latch came open and I could lift the lid.

"What...? How...?" I kept trailing off.

Inside were letters. The one I could see on the top was in Jamie's handwriting and had a date on the top, my name in the middle and something written along the bottom.

I shuffled through the letters seeing that every single one had the same labeling on the front, every single one was in Jamie's handwriting, every single one was sealed shut and every single one said something different that was written on the bottom.

I quickly sorted through them organizing them so that the oldest date was on the top and the most recent date was on the bottom.

"Alright now what do I do? Should I call him? I should call him" I picked up my phone before stopping myself. "Maybe I should read them first, yeah I should read them first." I nodded to myself before coming to the realization that I was talking to no one other than myself and the letters.

"I really need to stop taking to myself" I laughed lightly getting up from the table and putting the letters back in the box. "And I need tea for this"

I put on some water for tea to calm my nerves. My eyes kept falling back onto the little wooden box that held the letters. I made it a point to not pay attention to what was written at the bottom of any of them but the one that was on top. I wanted to wait till I got to each letter before I read it.

The words at the bottom of the first letter kept eating at me.

'The time you made me feel funny' above the line of text was an obviously later added 'first' between the words the and time.

What does that even mean? I didn't have much more time to think about it as the water started whistling to let me know that it was ready for tea.

I quickly made a cup of tea and brought it, along with the little wooden box and the letters to the living room with me.

"Alright" I said once again to myself while getting situated under a blanket on the couch.

Binging letters from your best friend had to be better than binging another show right? Am I even supposed to be reading these? The fact that they were addressed to me, they were written by my best friend and they somehow ended up in my hands was enough to tell me to go ahead and go for it.

"The first time you made me feel funny. Hmm that could mean a few different things" I rubbed my chin in thought.

Jamie was always so sweet and caring my instant thought was he did all this to keep me busy this summer and to give me something to look forward to.

"Surprise, I'm reading them all in once sitting" I giggled to myself pulling the box closer to me.

I ran my hand over the letter pausing for a moment to admire Jamie's handwriting. It had only been a week, but I missed him a little more each day he was away. I would never understand the feeling of fondness I got for the guy but I loved him. He was my best friend and I would always feel for him.

What confused me was the way my skin tingled when he touched me or the overwhelming urge to stay in his arms a little longer when we would hug.

I wouldn't say I was into my best friend, but I didn't know what the little feelings I were getting were. To say Jamie was attractive was downplaying it. He was gorgeous and being his best friend I think I've earned the right to say that.

My mind kept playing in a loop about Jamie until I finally pulled myself back to reality. Feeling the indent on the envelope from the writing left by Jamie brought on a whole new set of emotions. Fear.

What if I don't like what's written in these letters? What if this is the end of our friendship as we know it?

I took a deep breath focusing my eyes back on the letter. Before just going for it and tearing open the envelope carefully.

"Alright, Y/N, Here goes nothing"