Kate sat at her laptop, furiously tapping her fingers, and awaiting her best friend's arrival. The wait was absolutely torturous and she found herself constantly reaching for the left click button and then immediately snapping her hand back in shame.
She couldn't even share the good news with her mother, whom was at work until six, or her father, whom she didn't really care to share anything at all with anymore. There was always the notion of calling her mother at work or on her cell phone, but that would mean she'd actually have to open the email.
God forbid she did that before Julia got there.
Suddenly, and without warning, the front door whipped open and slammed closed.
"I'm here!" Julia panted as she bounded up the stairs. "I'm here!" she continued to announce as she busted into Kate's bedroom.
Kate snickered slightly as she looked over her best friend who was completely out of breath, even though she had driven over from her house.
"You look like you just ran the marathon," she mused as Julia hunched over and placed her hands on her thighs. "What did you do? Run all the way here? Don't you have a car…?"
"Haha, very funny," she shot her a sarcastic smile. "Not all of us like to workout all of the time."
Kate frowned at her best friend, "Yeah, well… unlike you," she gestured at Julia, who was now at a size 5/6, despite the legacy of the "Freshman Fifteen," "I need it."
It wasn't that Kate wasn't attractive, but at one hundred and eighty pounds, she was far from drop dead gorgeous. Despite losing twenty pounds in the last year, her knee surgery had set her back quite a bit and she was finding it difficult to lose any weight while laid up for three months. Her blonde hair hung two inches above her waist and she had hazel eyes that sparkled both green and gold. Then again, it wasn't her face that she found fault in… it was just everything else.
"You're missing the point, Kay," Julia tried to distract her friend from her thoughts, "You have a super hot guy's email sitting in your inbox, practically screaming 'READ ME.' See the problem, here?"
Kate nodded; she did see the point.
"So open it!" Julia plopped down next to her on the bed and nudged her in the ribs.
"Right," Kate smiled and clicked on the email.
Dear Kate,
"Aww!" she beamed over at Julia. "He called me dear."
Her best friend rolled her eyes, "Just read the damn letter."
Dear Kate,
Well, from one gimp to another, I thank you for your well-wishes. I really do appreciate all the support I've been receiving since I got injured, especially when it comes from a fan.
I'm sorry that you got injured in June; that really sucks… big time, especially considering that this is ACL number two. Look on the bright side: at least you don't have anymore ACL's to tear. How did you tear them, anyway?
Don't feel bad that you're going to be spending some quality time with your laptop and your television. I've come to realize that everyone's got to have a best friend during times like these, even if it is an inanimate object. As for the homework, at least you're trying in school. If I got a D senior year, I was more than cool with that. Congrats to you for still having an interest in school these days. What colleges do you plan on applying to… or have you already done that and not been a procrastinator like I was?
Thanks for the advice on rehabbing. I kind of figured that it's going to suck majorly, but it's good to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope that your recovery is going excellent, as well.
You keep up the good work and keep me posted on your rehabilitation process. It's kind of nice to know that there's someone else out there who understands.
Hustle, loyalty, and respect,
John Cena
"Did I ever mention that I absolutely despise you with every fabric of my being?" Julia smacked her best friend on the shoulder.
"For once," Kate stared open mouthed, and wide-eyed at the computer screen, "I think I'm actually alright with that."
"Yeah, me too," she replied with a happy shrug. "Congrats girl!"
"So…" the younger girl trailed off and managed to pry her eyes away from the computer screen to turn and look at her friend, "What now?"
"You click reply."
John finished his mug of coffee and placed it in the sink before heading into the television room. As he sat down on the black leather sofa, he couldn't help but chuckle, thinking of how right that girl Kate had been in her email.
Rehab does suck… a lot.
It had been a week since he'd sent an email to her and he had yet to hear back. In a strange way, John looked forward to reading another email. Kate seemed like a pretty down to earth girl and an interesting individual. Her writing style came off as that of someone at least twice her age and compared to some of his friends, who were at least thirty years old, she seemed twice as intelligent.
John chewed on his lip for a moment and reached over to the coffee table, which where his laptop now lay, to place it on his lap. Moments later, the computer came online and he waited for his mail to load.
Once again, he found that his new email address was absolutely flooded with emails and as he attempted to scroll through them all, he found all he could do was squint and hope he recognized her email address. Soon, however, he realized that the feat could not be accomplished.
Then suddenly, it dawned on him. He had to call a person whom possessed technical savvy and there was only one person whom he could call.
Amy Dumas.
Kate Jackson adjusted her headphones in the passenger seat of her mom's Honda Odyssey as the sounds of Maroon 5 coursed through her ears.
For the last few days, including her entire physical therapy session, all she could think about was the email she had sent to John and how she hadn't heard back from him yet. She reread the email in her mind a million times, trying to figure out if she had said something wrong. Still, no answer came to mind.
"What are you thinking about, Kate?" her mother asked her randomly, pulling an earphone away from her ear as they rolled down Route 18.
"Nothing really," she shrugged and turned down the volume of her iPod as she placed the earpiece back on her left ear.
"Nothing… or no one?" Natalie Jackson questioned her daughter with a smirk.
"Alright… so maybe I'm thinking about him," Kate finally gave in with a sigh. "Is it really all that bad?"
"No, not at all, Kate," Natalie replied with a smile. "You're an eighteen year old girl. He's rich, famous, and good-looking. Not all that hard to put it together…"
"I know, but still…" she looked out the window and exhaled deeply. "Of all the letters, of all the girls in the world… John answered mine. That has to count for something, right?"
"It most certainly does!" her mother agreed and patted her thigh reassuringly. "I'm sure he's just busy right now. You'll probably be hearing from him soon."
Kate perked up, "You really think so?"
"I really do."
"So you're telling me that all I have to do is find her initial email in my read mail box and then I can take that address and search for it in my new mail?" John asked and leaned back on the padding of his couch, still holding his cell phone to his ear.
"Yep," Amy replied proudly, "That's all you have to do."
John shook his head and laughed as he clicked away on his computer, "You are brilliant, you know that?"
"Oh, I know," Amy assured him. "I know."
He continued to laugh as he came across the email and extracted her address, "Copying and pasting…and now searching," he commented, giving his friend the play by play.
"What is this… a Celtics game?" she joined in on the laughter, referencing his hometown NBA team.
"Hey, my Celtics are gonna be great this year, just like my Sox… damn," John winced as he stared at the screen.
"What?"
"I…uh… I guess I never noticed that she sent me an email," he explained to her. "I mean, now I realize that it was because I didn't remember her address, but still, she sent it over a week ago."
"Uh, buddy?" Amy clicked her tongue. "I think you have an email to right."
"Yeah…" John trailed off and sucked in his breath through clenched teeth. "I'll talk to you later."
"Later," she replied and hung up the phone."
"Alright, Kate," he announced to no one in particular. "What do you have to say this time…?"
Dear John,
I must say, I never expected to hear back from you, but I'm glad that I did. It's nice knowing that you're a pretty normal guy. Actually, you seem a little like you do on TV, just… down to earth.
Well for starters, since you asked, I tore my ACL the first time when I was playing basketball in gym class. I faked right and went to drive left, but apparently, my knee did not feel like making the trip with me. This past June… well, I got tackled… in Ultimate Frisbee of all things, which is not a tackle sport, mind you. Oh, did I mention it was by a guy? Yeah… and he denies it.
I must say, I feel a little better about my mental health now that you've told me that you consider your TV and your laptop to be your best friends at the moment, as well. Although, I don't really know if we should be happy about that.
School kind of sucks at the moment. I mean, I go back in another week and I'm absolutely dreading it. I'm actually kind of afraid that I've fallen incredibly behind. I don't know, I guess it's kind of pathetic that that's my fear, huh?
Then again, my fear is probably not getting into any college at all. I'm applying to Rutgers University, which is a likely candidate, since I'm a Jersey girl and it's close to home, Boston University, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, and George Washington University. I just pray that I get into one of those. Although, I'm not looking forward to seven years of college after I graduate next year. Ugh. Not exciting at all.
My recovery is going okay. I mean, I'm running ahead of schedule, which is good, but I still need to be in this God-forsaken knee brace, which is heavy, itchy, and uncomfortable, not to mention I still need crutches. Just between you and me (and maybe my mom), I walk around my house without them. Shhh. Don't tell!
How've you been holding up? Any problems? I hope you're doing alright; I want you to come back to RAW so I have something to look forward to on Monday nights, besides Heroes. There I go again… me and my television.
Ever hear about the man that wanted to marry his dog? Well, I want to marry my television.
Does that sound a bit strange?
Write back soon,
Kate
John couldn't help but laugh out loud at her last comment, "No stranger than me writing back and forth with a girl I barely even know."
A/N: I'm so excited that a lot of you are enjoying this story. It's a little more lighthearted than my other two stories, but it will have its conflict, don't worry.
A big thank you to: I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome, Enigmatic Lotus Leaf, dj-ssdd, rabbit, cassymae, JCEdgeRKO, goddessofthenite, and Amyvedamarie.
Keep those reviews coming!
Danielle