Read My Sister's Best Friend (Best Friends 3) Online
Authors: G.L. Snodgrass
My Sister's Best Friend (Best Friends 3)
My Sister's Best Friend
By
G.L. Snodgrass
Copyright 2015 Gary Snodgrass
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof in any form. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means. This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Purple Herb Publishing
http://glsnodgrass.blogspot.com/
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Dedicated to
Ms. Diana Coleman
Class, Intelligence, and a Tender Heart
Other Books by G. L. Snodgrass
Short Stories
My Sister’s Best Friend
Chapter One
Nathan
Every muscle ached and my eyelids felt like they were coated in lead. All I wanted to do was shuck my body armor and crash for about twelve days. A night spent humping up and down an Afghanistan Mountainside will do that to you. But I'd be lucky if I got four hours of sleep before they called me back to the line.
Instead of getting any rest, Sargent Hollis strolled into the common room and yelled, "Mail Call," with that deep gravelly voice of his that could wake a zombie from a dirt nap.
My stomach fell. I hated Mail Call. Almost as much as I hated being held away from sleep. Watching everyone's idiotic smiles, their anxious anticipation while waiting for their name to be called and the let down when once again you came up empty handed.
Don't get me wrong. My family emailed me. Text on a computer screen wasn't the same though. Hand written letters, packages, even post cards. Those were different. More real somehow.
"Abernathy," Sargent Hollis yelled out before handing over a letter.
"Everton," he yelled next. Jimmy jumped up to receive his normal pile of magazines. Maybe I should do that. He'd subscribed to half a dozen magazines before we left Pendleton.
"Johnson," The Sargent called out as he held out a brown paper wrapped package.
My heart skipped a beat. That's me, I thought. Wow, someone sent me something. The package, about the size of a shoe box, looked like it'd been dropped a couple of times with one of the corners bent in and the paper ripped. The string holding it all together had turned a dusty gray color. I didn't care. It had to be one of the nicest things I'd ever seen.
Taking it from Hollis I returned to my rack to open it up in private. I'd seen too many guys loose prized cookies to his buddies before the package was even fully opened.
The box wasn't heavy, but substantial enough. I didn't recognize the hand writing on the front. At first I thought it might be an "Any Marine" packages that school kids did some times. They were always wonderful but not the same thing as getting something from someone you knew.
This one though was definitely addressed to me, Private First Class Nathan Johnson, USMC. Nice cursive writing, feminine, soft, smooth. Mom's was blockier, my little sister Chrissy printed most things, preferring a keyboard to a pen. The one post card I’d gotten from her in boot camp had looked like it'd been written out on a typewriter.
This writing looked older fashioned. As if someone had spent years writing this way. I glanced at the return address but it’d been ripped, taped and then ripped again.
Give it a minute Nathan, you'll know fast enough.
Gently laying in on my rack I leaned my rifle against my locker and slipped off my armor. God that felt good. My shoulders sighed in relief. Pulling my shirt away from my sweaty body I sat down next to the box.
Placing it on my lap I pulled my knife and slit the string then cut along the seam. Gently folding the paper back revealed a red shoe box with a black lid. I Slowly removed the lid exposing white tissue paper and a pink envelope with the word
Nathen
written on it.
My heart raced and my stomach clenched up. Still no clue who the package could be from. The letter smelt of lilacs and roses. A sweet perfume that brought me back to summer nights in our backyard.
Inside the box, under the tissue paper was several bags of cookies, homemade chocolate chip, and oatmeal raisin, my favorites. There was also two pair of socks and a paperback book, 'The Long Earth' by Terry Pratchett. I smiled to myself, somebody knew me and what I liked.
Being careful not to rip it, I gently opened the letter and removed the pink pages from within. A feminine hand, the same that had addressed the box had written me a letter.
"
Dear Nathan
," it began.
"
I hope you are doing well. Chrissy said that in your last email you sounded a little down. ..."
I knew who it was. Chrissy's best friend Ashley, it had to be. She was the only person I could see my sister Chrissy talking too about my email. I skipped to the end of the last page and confirmed it. A small, beautiful signature "
Take care, Ashley
."
Wow, Ashley Parker had sent me a care package. I couldn't stop from smiling as I remembered the little girl who used to help my sister pester the heck out of me and my friends. Both of them tagging along, always demanding to be included in whatever I was doing.
A memory flashed into my mind of a five year old little blond haired girl who called me Nasan all summer because she was missing her two front teeth. Next I thought of the time both of the little hellions had bombed me with water balloons from the upstairs’ window.
Smiling to myself I sat back and remembered. Family camping trips, Ashley was always included. The drive-in theater where the three of us hid under a blanket so Mom and Dad could save a few bucks. The priceless look of pure glee on Ashley's face that night when she realized she was being told to break the rules. Probably the first and last time that ever happened.
I remembered the night the two of them spied on me as I was kissing Emily Simpson behind the garage. They started giggling and ruined the entire moment. I wanted to kill them. Yelling, I started after them to teach them a lesson they'd never forget. Thankfully Emily pulled me back, saying it was funny and probably for the best. Of course, I'd never been able to get Emily alone after that. I still owed Chrissy for that one.
Turning back to the letter I continued on. A warm peace settled over me. Ashley was almost family.
" ... I am sure that where you are and what you are doing could make anyone feel depressed at times.
Everyone here is doing well. Chrissy and I graduate in two weeks, as I’m sure you well know. (Be sure to mention it in your next email to her. Don't tell her I told you this but she worships the ground you walk on. You will always be her hero.)
Anyway, we had the Prom last week. You never got to go to yours did you? Graduated early so you could enlist, so afraid the war would end before you got there. I must say I'd hoped you would be too late. Your parents still grumble about it at the dinner table.
I went with Denny Albertson, Chrissy went with Tim Buckminster. I'm sure you remember him. ..."
Remember him! He was almost my age, what was he doing dating my sister. What was my dad thinking letting a twenty year old guy take my sister to the prom? Sure she was eighteen, but still. That would not have happened if I'd been home. No way. Chrissy would have been locked up in her room. Ashley too for that matter.
Who was this Denny Albertson guy? I racked my brain and the only thing I could come up with was a spindly geek with glasses. Granted I'm sure he'd grown in the last couple of years. Whoever he was he wasn't good enough for Ashley.
"...
we had a good time.
I didn't know what to send you, what you needed. I asked my family, mom said cookies, I made them myself so if they're not perfect, tough, live with it. My dad suggested a book so I got Johnny to let me dig through the books in your room to find out what you were missing. Don't worry, Johnny had already removed the Playboy magazines you used to keep hidden behind your book shelf.
My grandfather said socks. (They're store bought, not knitted. No surprise, I'm sure) He was in Viet Nam and said the most wonderful thing he ever felt was putting on fresh new socks after a long patrol.
I hope you like everything. We all worry about you and hope you come home soon. I think you will be surprised at how much everyone has grown since you left. Until you come home, please, please be safe.
Take Care Ashley
P.S. The pink stationary was a gift for my thirteenth birthday, don't laugh, it's all I had. In fact you are the first person I've used it for. Take care Nathan, You are missed around here.
I held the paper to my nose and pulled in the scent of heaven and home. A thousand memories, more good than bad, flashed through my mind leaving a burning hole. Homesickness, the curse of every Marine.
I'd joined up because I wanted to see the world. Experience something more than a boring suburban life. I'd yearned for adventure and an opportunity to prove myself. Well I'd done that three times over and all I could do now was wish I was back home.
Opening the oatmeal cookies I realized that she'd remembered the time we'd fought over the last one on the plate. Mom said I should let Ashley have it because she was a guest.
"Guest?” I'd yelled, "She spends more time here than I do."
Mom stopped feeding the baby long enough to give me her mom look. That look that said I’d disappointed her. She could make Sargent Hollis look like a new born puppy by comparison and that was saying something.
Ashley’s eyes dropped with guilt as she tried to give me the cookie back. Of course there was no way I'd take it, not after that look from Mom. We'd fought about it, shoving the cookie back and forth across the table until it became a pile crumbs.
It was such a minor moment but ten years later, on a mountain top half way around the world the memory of it brought a smile to my face.
I read the letter again then carefully folded it and put it back in the envelope. As I slid the paper in I felt it catch against something. Tipping the envelope upside down I shook out a picture.
"Oh My God!" I said to myself. Ashley Parker had grown up. I couldn't believe it. She was gorgeous. The picture showed her standing in her living room wearing her prom dress. It was a sky blue full length strapless dress, same color as her eyes. Her golden blond hair was put up exposing a long graceful neck and flawless shoulders. She was looking directly into the camera with a confident smile. I felt as if she were smiling right at me.
Pure beauty. The kind of beauty that could melt a man's heart.
The last time I'd seen her she'd been sixteen and still in that gawky coltish stage. Now, there was nothing but pure grace.
I flipped it over. She'd written in her dainty, gently sloping handwriting,
"This is the only picture I have. They said online that we should send pictures. Everything I have is digital and I couldn't get the machine at the Drug store to work."
I stared at the picture for several minutes, unable to believe this was Ashley Parker.
I would still be staring at it but the guys started coming into the room. Laughing and cursing, situation normal.
"Hey, I told you he'd have cookies," Jimmy said as he made a move for the box. I quickly stuffed the picture into my top pocket. No way was I sharing this, some of the cookies yes, this picture, no way.