6: Letter 5

4 Hours Later

The moment I got home that night after the whirlwind of celebration my miracle play brought me it was then I finally decided to get a closer look at the letter.

"It says he died…"

From what I read before he would not survive the rest of the year. As I went to the end of the stack of pages something else popped into my head.

"I do write a lot."

But it was on the second to last page of the letter that I now finally saw a date.

APRIL 17; ROSS'S LAST DAY

ROSS SEES ME ONE FINAL TIME AS I WALK OUT OF MIRACLE SEASON WITH MONICA

The details pour on but the line that gets me is this.

WALMART SEMI PASSES IN FRONT OF ROSS AS HE CROSSES STREET HE DIES ON IMPACT

No way, now this is getting sad. Once again, I reach for the phone to text Joey, but strangely enough I stop myself again from doing so.

"He dies in April, why do I want to not tell anybody."

I let that thought slip by as I check back in on todays page. Another note came at the bottom.

RACHEL KNOWING YOUR HISTORY YOU PROBABLY DECIDED TO SKIP RIGHT TO THE END TO SEE HOW THIS ALL PLAYED OUT IN ADVANCE

My shock was palpable, this knew what I wanted to do.

WE ALL FELT GREAT REGRET KNOWING THAT HE COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED. IF THIS PLAYS OUT RIGHT HE CAN STILL, YOU'RE THAT LYNCHPIN THOUGH RACH…

YOU HAVE TO BE THE ONE TO SAVE HIS HEART

Now my question turns to lamination cause knowing me this won't hold up if I keep doing it like this.

"where did Dad keep the laminator?"

That ended up taking me the rest of the night to preserve.

September 25, 2017

That day as we arrived to the school Ross ended up finding me early grabbing granola bars from the vending machine. I Sent the others ahead so I could get some alone time with him trying to take stock of his personal situation.

"Hey Rach…"

He looked worn out as can be.

"You are doing OK, are you Ross…"

I knew the answer in my head, but Ross kept his stoic demeanor. Without realizing it the bar dropped out and bounced at his feet, Ross grabbed it without breaking eye contact and handed it over.

"Yeah, peachy…" Ross began walking to homeroom and I followed behind. "I Should be asking you, school hero."

"Come on…Is Everyone around here going to remind me of that. Even my dad, kept calling me Odelll over and over. I actually had to look up that name just to see what he was talking about and, man was that catch so much better."

As we arrived I entered to another standing ovation and moments with the guys. Luckily until Lunch nothing popped up. But as Joey and Monica were going at it regarding his plays in the homecoming game that Friday. I now saw Ross in the distance once again alone.

"Hey, has anyone talked to Ross one on one since he got back?"

Chandler and Phoebe shook their heads and Monica muttered no under her breath.

"We could go over and ask…" Joey suggested and that led me to grab my lunch and head his way. Ross never broke from his mood until he heard me set my tray down.

"Hey…"

"Not eating Ross?"

"Oh, can't…" No funds to do so."

ROSS SKIPS LUNCH AS HIS MOM ALWAYS MADE SOME FOOD OR PROVIDED FUNDS

PLEASE HELP REMEDY THAT ISSUE.

Monica could see me and Ross talking and just decided to get up to join us. Even I was surprised by her sudden change in demeanor as she flipped her hair back while sitting down.

"You know, I've always liked this spot better anyway. It was my favorite spot for studying." Monica handed Ross a peach and I silently thanked her for joining us. But without realizing the other 3 joined us as we new congregated at the table.

"Ross I'm actually a great chef, I can bring some of the stuff I've made."

Ross sighed heavily at Monica's gesture. "Aren't we a little old for sack lunches."

"They do it in Japan all the time…" Phoebe bellowed. "Come on, you should accept it, besides that way you won't have to try Rachel's so-called trifle."

Now they all laughed at my misfortune but secretly my problem for today just remedied itself. Over the next few days though as we all shared our lunches with Ross putting him in a much better mood, something about this just didn't add up.

"Was that addressed to me or them."

My concern nearly led me to call Joey again on the night before the homecoming game but as my phone did ring another voice popped into my ear.

"Hello…"

"Hi can I help you…"

"Sorry but I had Phoebe Buffay give me your number, You're Rachel right…"

"Yes…" My voice sounded cracked wondering who would be calling me.

"I'm Julie…A Sophomore on the Volleyball team. I noticed you and that Ross Geller hang out quite a bit."

"We do, along with four of our other friends."

"You and Ross aren't…"

"No, what made you…"

"Ok, but I'm wondering if you would be cool with me asking him out…"

Now I was stunned. And a check of the letter confirmed It.

JULIE CALLS YOU THE NIGHT BEFORE HOMECOMING AND ASKS YOUR PERMISSION TO ASK OUT ROSS

Now my mind was racing, the letter had not proved me wrong yet, so I'm sure this won't blow up in my face.

"We'll were not involved I'm sure he wouldn't mind it at all."

"Thank you very much Rach…Oh, your catch I have as my wallpaper on my phone, it was beautiful. Anyway bye…"

I stared at the picture of Ross after the game and he seemed happy. Only I knew what he went through the last couple of weeks with his mom's unfortunate passing. But he deserves happiness, hopefully Julie can give him that.

"Letter…I'm going to give you a break for a while…let's see if he can be happy without my help."

My closet housed a safe in it went the contents. Letter worries were now pushed out of the wayside.

A/N: Jealousy can get the better of anyone as we come to find out in Chapter 7: Letter 6. As Always Subscribe for more.