Chapter 4: The Letter

"Promise me you'll send me letters?" Autumn asked Michael as he was boarding the plane.

"I promise, Autumn. I won't forget," he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Bye, Michael. I enjoyed having you over! You and your brothers better smash your next tour," she laughed.

"Bye," he kissed her on the cheek. He didn't know why he did that, he just did. He blushed afterwards as he gave her a little piece of neatly folded paper.

~

Look at the guest room in your house. You know, where I stayed. You'll see a surprise. Thanks for having us again. You're a neat girl, I like you. Hope to see you really soon again! --Michael

~

     What could be in the room, she thought to herself. Could Michael have messed up the room for fun? Could he have stolen my  "collection" and placed it there? Oh my God, he better not have touched my clothes. If he did, he is so dead.

"Autumn, are you okay? You look zoned out," her mom inquired.

"What? Oh, I'm okay, mom. Just thinking of something."

"By something, you mean Michael right?"

"What?!" Autumn looked at her mother, horror written all over her face. The only response she got from her mother was a chuckle. "Mother, how could you say that?"

"It's pretty obvious that you like him. I mean, really like him. Not just the fan-type of love."

"What are you talking about?"

"The way you look at him, the way your eyes light up when he talks to you, the way you react when he smiles at you. And when he kissed you on the cheek, I swore I saw you blush."

"You sound more like an annoying, clingy best friend more than a mom," she huffed, making her laugh. "Well, we're here anyway. Going to my room now, mom. See you in awhile," she said quickly as she ran out of the car, anxious what surprise Michael left her.

     She quickly unlocked the door and ran up the stairs. Though she almost tripped, she was able to regain her balance. She just couldn't wait to see the surprise. Arriving at the door of the room, her hand reached out for the shiny brass doorknob. She slowly twisted it, only to see the room filled with balloons. Every kind you can think of. Round shaped, elongated ones, even heart shapes. There were even animal balloons in the room.

      What am I supposed to do with them?, she thought. She grabbed one balloon, gently so it wouldn't pop, and saw her name written through means of marker. She grabbed another one, and her name was also written on it. While checking out all the balloons, she saw folded papers on the bed. She reached for them and opened them.

     Dear Autumn,

Surprise! Yeah, you're probably wondering why there are so much balloons in the room, am I right? Well, it's something to remember me by. Remember when we first got here? Like wow, I was so mesmerized by your dining room. Hah, it was just beautiful. Then you called my attention so we could go to the amusement park. Remember that? We had so much fun on those amusements rides. Then we met this homeless person selling balloons. You should remember that. This is where it gets better.

So while we were talking to the guy, I was starting to know more about who you really are. You're kind and funny and sometimes even sarcastic. I like that. So anyway, I bought all the balloons from the guy while you weren't around, and placed them here. It's a good thing you never really went in here the whole time. That was a funny thing too. My only intention was to help the poor man, but why not give it to you too? To remember me, to keep the promise that we'd always visit the hospital, even if I'm not there already. It's like hitting two birds with one stone.

Autumn, please continue going to the hospital for me. You can do it alone anyway. I'm probably sky high by the time you're reading this anyway. So yeah, we had a promise. A commitment. I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you though. It's part of my job, you know? All the traveling and touring. It's too tiring, but fun.   Oh, I'm getting carried away. Well, too late to get an eraser and erase all that. Back to the point, please visit the people there for me, on my behalf. I feel really bad for not being there. Sorry about it.

I don't really know what you want to do with the balloons. Keep them or give them away. They're your only two choices. Bet they're taking up so much space, yeah? Sorry, I just bought the balloons, I never realized how much they actually were, my bad. Will your mom get mad if she ever sees the mess I left? I'm sorry, you can show her this letter. She knows my handwriting.

Wow, this is a really long letter. I just like writing. It expresses me. The real me. So I hope that even if I'm not even with you anymore, you still learned something about me just by reading this letter. I probably took up 10 precious minutes of your life. You know, if you're still reading until here. I never intended to have a long letter. I was just supposed to say surprise and farewell. Guess a simple goodbye isn't enough, huh?

Thanks, Autumn. I learned a lot from you. We've just known each other for maybe a week or so, I guess? And you're really special. Thank you for everything. You taught me to stand up for myself. Remember when you dragged me away from Joseph? Oh God, that was real fun. I'll never forget you.

You know you can always contact me when you need something.

Bye, Autumn. Sorry if I wasted your time by making you read this letter. Much love.

--Michael Jackson

     She didn't know how to react. She sat down on the bed, trying to catch up with herself. Her heart was beating fast, her hands trembling. Why is it like that? She just read a letter. A two-page letter. So what? it's nothing special, right? Why is she reacting this way? She had the goofiest grin on her face, but tears were in her eyes. Happy tears. Why?

     Could she possibly like Michael Jackson?

     Sure, she loved him. She was a big fan of him and his music. He was talented. And she loved that. But why does she feel different? Could her mother be actually right? Does she really like Michael Jackson?

     Well, even if she did, she would never see him again. Yes, he would be everywhere. Magazines, newspapers, books, television. But not personally.

     What if what she had for Michael was more than a crush? What if her mom was right?