Disclaimer: I do not own the song/lyrics used in this chapter.
Let's backtrack about a week to when Jay first arrived at his new school in Oregon.
"Okay, you are all set, Jason." Jay's mother had just finished unpacking the last of his stuff into his new dorm room. "We will come back for you in a few months. Try to think of this as a good thing. This school may be just what you need. It did wonderful things for your father."
"Yeah, whatever," came the harsh tone of Jay's voice.
"Jason?" His father was stunned by Jay's attitude, like nothing was out of the ordinary about this situation. It just made Jay even angrier.
"Don't talk to me. Either of you. Let's not drag this out any longer. Just go ahead and leave me here like you planned all along!" Jay turned away from his parents and they left without another word.
…
A few days later, Jay wrote Emma a letter. His parents had taken his cell phone with them, so snail mail was the only form of communication he was allowed with the world outside the walls of his new home and school.
Jay's letter:
To my beautiful Emma,
I hate that my parents did this. It's so typical of them to do something like this instead of being actual parents and talking to me about what has been going on. Any excuse to not have to care for me.
This place is like a prison. They keep tabs on my every move. My roommate's not so bad, though. He's showing me how to make this place livable. I was invited to a secret dorm party, of the adult drinking kind, the other day, but I just couldn't loosen up. All of these people were smiling around me and all I could do was think of how I'm not with you. How I'm not allowed to be with you. Then, I heard this song that pretty much sums up how I'm feeling right now:
I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from 'A' to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My fingers in creases of distant dark places
I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science
Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms
I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
and I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms
I found out later that the song is called Set the Fire to the Third Bar by Snow Patrol.
I miss you more each day, Em. I would give anything to have the reunion that the song talks about. But, I hope you are finding ways to make it through while I'm away. I promise I will get back to you as soon as I can. In the meantime try to stay the strong Emma Nelson that I know you are.
Love, Jay
…
Emma never received that letter, however. Her parents did not want her to try to run away as soon as she found out where Jay was. Jay just thought that Emma found it too difficult to write to him and/or too pain to even think about him. He waited a few weeks for a letter back and then just gave up hoping and never wrote a second letter. He just grew increasingly more upset with the situation and more depressed in general.
Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope enjoyed the connection between these two chapters and that it came across as clearly as it did in my head. More should be coming soon! Preview: A huge chunk of time has passed. How are Emma and Jay holding up?
