Hey Angel and Collins,
We really miss you guys down here. Maureen and Joanne told us your place is really nice, and we should all be very jealous. It's not like it would take much for us to be jealous of an apartment though would it? When we come up, I'll need to bring my camera (not that I would leave it anyway, but still) and film a piece of your new life.
It really sucks that were not all a part of that life, but everyone needs to move on to bigger better things eventually I guess. The loft is so quiet without your drum Angel, and Collins, well, we just miss you because there's not much besides sardonic humor that you bring to the group and we can all do without that. Just kidding.
Angel, you may want to know that Maureen had a field day with your clothing, and she dragged us all into it. No pun intended. I'm sending you some pictures, but so you know how much you're missing.
Roger got a gig in this club next week; I'll film it for you. Mimi's working longer hours, I probably won't film that, but if you want me to, I will. They both say thanks for the condoms and that they will be put to good use, if you can guess what that means.
Maureen has a new protest that she said Angel would understand. All I really can get from her is that if Jack had to pay for the beans that only brought misery to his family, what is that saying about paying toll fees on the highway? She must be in the early stages of getting this protest together, because they normally make some kind of sense, and I just don't understand this one. If you really do understand it Angel, could you fill the rest of us in?
I better get going. We had no paper at home so I'm writing this all out at the post office and the guy who works here is getting a bit impatient. Enjoy the pictures and call us sometime to let us know how life on the good end is.
We all love and miss you,
Mark
Ohh, Joanne says thanks again for letting her and Maureen stay with you. She had a very nice time, and she's really sorry about dinner, whatever that means.
I sat on the swing in front of the house, reading and rereading the letter from Mark. Once I read it about fifteen times and had it memorized, I began to look through the pictures. There were about ten, and they were all of my friends dressed up in my clothes, posing for the camera. And I mean all my friends, including Roger and Mark. Roger I'm pretty sure was high, since he was looking into the camera as if her was trying to see something in it, but Mark, I guessed, did it willingly once Maureen did nothing more that ask him nicely.
Maureen had on a long blonde wig, and was all done up in electric pink. Mimi had short, curly red hair and was wearing a lime shirt and a black top. Even Joanne was dressed up, which was shocking. She was wearing a rainbow dress. Mark, an absolute cutie, was wearing my favorite wig, the black bob, and had on a pink skirt and a blue shirt with pink flowers on it. Roger, I was actually surprised, looked stunning. He would be an awesome drag queen. He had on a curly brown wig, a short purple tube dress with a black and pink scarf tied around it. He perfected the look with knee high black boots and pink jewelry. He really must have been high; a sane Roger would never wear that. He would have at least worn all black.
I gathered the pictures and letter in my hand and walked to Collins office on campus. Collins had been teaching classes for about a month not, and I had gotten much better about walking on campus. I didn't care so much what everyone though after that time Collins told me that he didn't care. I walked straight to his office and knocked on the door. The only reason I knocked was because sometimes he was having meetings with either faculty or students. He didn't answer, so I opened the door. He wasn't in his office, so I walked to the classroom he taught in, and looked through the window, and there he was. I could see the passion in his voice without even hearing him.
He really cared about what he did, and I didn't want to disturb or distract him, so I went back out and sat on a bench in front of the school, one leg on each side of it, and absent mindedly began tapping out a rhythm on the concrete in front of my. My mind must have drifted off, because I was jolted back when a small group of boys clapped for me. It wasn't the kind of clapping you do to congratulate someone; it was the kind of clapping you did when you've finally beaten your opponent, and they had smirks on their faces to match.
I could see why they would have those looks. I hadn't paid attention to what I was wearing when I can over, so I was in sparkly jeans and a blue top with flowers stitched up the sleeves. I just stared at them blankly. "Can I help you?"
"You're Professor Collins girlfriend, aren't you?"
I laughed at the thought that he though that calling me his girlfriend would offend me. That was, after all, how I saw myself. "You don't know the half of it."
The boy who had asked the question seem thrown off by what I had said, but his friends were pushing him forward, urging him on. "You're just a little fag."
"A tip, if you're going to insult someone, do it by telling them something they don't already know, okay?"
I had thrown him off even more. He was getting confused. "We don't want you here."
"I already get that. What else you got?"
"You should just go home. None of us want you here."
Collins always had good timing. He came over and sat behind me, putting his arms around my waist. "I wouldn't say none of us want her."
The boy now looked genuinely confused. "Her?"
I held out my hand to him and smiled. "Hi, I'm Angel. Professor Collins girlfriend, remember?"
The boy never took my hand, but one of the boys behind him did. "Hi, it's nice to meet you." His friends punched him. "Oww." He rubbed his arm. "I told you guys not to mess with him. It never hurts to be nice."
"You're such a sissy."
"It's better than being rude."
Collins and I just watched the kind boy spar with his rude friends before Collins cut in. "Don't you boys have a class to get to?"
The boys slowly walked away, not looking back, except the one who had shook my hand. He waved. "It was nice to meet you!"
I waved back. "You too!" I turned around and kissed Collins quickly. "Did you see me!"
He laughed. "Ya, I saw you baby. You were doing real good standing up for yourself. I'm very proud."
"Ohh, I forgot. We got a letter from Mark, and some pictures!" I handed him the letter, but held back the pictures when he reached for them. "Nope, you need to read the letter first."
When he was about halfway down the page, his jaw dropped and he eyed me suspiciously, and snatched the pictures from my hand, laughing. "Ohh my god Angel! This is amazing. Ohh my god!" He stopped laughing when he got to the picture of Roger. "Huh. I never noticed that Roger was so pretty."
I punched him softly in the arm and took the pictures from him. "These are all getting hung on the wall, and I was wondering…"
"Yes?"
"Well, spring break is coming in a week."
"Yes… What are you asking?"
"Can we invite everyone up for spring break? Please Collins!"
Collins had a look in his face like he was trying to tease me, so I hit him again. "We would need to fix up the guest room. That would give Roger and Mimi a place, Mark could have the couch, and that leaves Maureen and Joanne on the pullout. That work for you?"
I wrapped my arms around neck and kissed him, not really caring who saw. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I stood up and grabbed his hand. "This means shopping!"
