(A/N - Trigger Warnings - Offensive and strong language)
As I walked up the path towards the house after school the next day, I noticed a package on the front step. When I saw it, I ran up to the front and picked it up. The return adress was from Iraq. I smiled and opened the front door.
"Guys!" I called, seeing Crutchie on the living room couch and hearing Katherine in the kitchen. "We got a package from Jack!"
Crutchie slowly got off the couch and Katherine walked out of the kitchen, and we all walked into the dining room.
I carefully opened the package, so I wouldn't rip anything, and three smaller envelopes fell out, all thick from multiple pieces of paper.
I grabbed the one labeled with my name and opened it.
Inside, there were a few pictures Jack had drawn, and a letter. A short one, in typical Jack fashion. He's never been a wordsmith.
Dear Race,
This was written in late May. I don't know when it will arrive in the States. Anyway, the weather here sucks. It's always hot, and I'm always sweaty. But, the other day, I saw this beautiful landscape that reminded me about that show you did about the Wild West a few years back. I drew it and put it in this envelope.
Love,
Jack
I picked up the pictures Jack had sent. The first one was of a beautiful mountainside that looked strikingly similar to the set of a play that I did in seventh grade. The play was set in Santa Fe. I turned it over to reveal writing on the back.
This reminds me of your Wild West show
I looked at the next one, which was of him and all his bunk mates.
Based off a picture. Me and my buddies posing in our tent
The last one was of people playing soccer
A few of my buddies playing soccer
I looked up at Crutchie, who was giggling at his letter, then at Katherine, who was smiling at hers. We always loved getting letters from Jack.
XXX
As the bell rang at the end of school the next day, everyone cheered. School was finally put for summer vacation!
Everyone streamed into the halls and were talking, hugging, making summer plans, and whatever else they were doing. I saw Spot walking up to me through the halls, and I smiled.
"Hey." He smiled when he finally reached me, putting his arm around my shoulders.
"Hi." I said, kissing him on the cheek and putting my arm around his waist.
"Fags!" Some girl called from her locker when she saw us.
"Yeah, how many girls have you slept with?" Spot called at her as we continued to walk down the hall.
"Who was that?" I asked.
"The junior class slut." He replied. "She says she's a good Christian girl, but we all know she's out at bars every night having sex. With boys and girls."
"Wow." I said, pushing the school doors open and heading towards Spots car in the parking lot.
When Spot and I got into his car, he asked, "So what do you want to do? We have the whole afternoon."
"Well, we could see a movie." I suggested, pulling my phone out of my pocket and opening the theater sight.
"What's playing?" Spot asked, looking over my shoulder.
"We could see the live action Aladdin." I suggested.
"Ugh. You with the musicals!" Spot teased.
"What? I'm a music geek." I defended.
"What else is on?" He asked.
"Umm... Endgame is still in theaters, the new Men In Black movie, Dark Phoenix, whatever that is..." I listed.
"Eh. Nothing sounds that good." Spot said.
"Well, we have to do something." I said. "We can't just go home and do nothing on the last day of school."
We sat for a moment in silence before Spot's face lit up.
"What?" I asked.
"I know exactly what we should do." He smiled. He turned on the car and put his seatbelt on.
"What is it?" I asked, putting my seatbelt on.
"It's a surprise." He smiled before pulling out of the parking lot.
XXX
We had been in the car for an hour and a half before Spot finally parked. We were at a little diner in the middle of nowhere.
"Spot, what are we doing here?" I asked. "This is just a diner."
"Yeah, well this diner has the best milkshakes in New York." He smiled, getting out of the car. I followed him out, and he grabbed my hand and squeezed it as we walked into the restaurant. I smiled. It was cute to see him so excited.
When we got inside, Spot led us to a small booth in a secluded corner, and a waitress in a fifty's style uniform walked up to us and handed us menus.
"Welcome to Barney's Diner. My name is Linda, I'll be your server. I'll give you two a few minutes to look over the menu." She smiled, then walked away.
"Look at the back page." Spot smiled, and I picked up the menu and turned it to the back page. It said Milkshakes on the top, and there were pictures of huge milkshakes with crazy toppings like cake and doughnuts and pretzels on top decorating the page.
"Wow." I said. "You weren't kidding."
"Just wait until you taste them." He said, then went back to reading the menu. I looked down at the list of options to find a that there was a million of them. Everything from classics like chocolate and vanilla to crazy things like cotton candy and salted caramel cheesecake.
When the waitress came back over a few minutes later, I had finally decided on a peanut butter pie flavor. Spot got banana.
"Banana?" I smirked. "Is that a hint about what's gonna happen later."
"Maybe." He laughed. "I want to try every flavor, and this is one of the ones I haven't had yet."
When the waitress brought the milkshakes to our table, my jaw hit the floor. They were huge.
"Oh my god." I said. "This is amazing."
Mine had two pieces of peanut butter pie on the straw, with two pretzel sticks, and a rim coated in chocolate and sprinkles. When I took a sip, I moaned. Literally moaned.
"This is amazing." I said. "Thank you for bringing me here."
"Of corse." He smiled, taking my hand in his on top of the table. "Any time."
"I love you." I smiled.
"I love you, too." He said, then started drinking his milkshake.
