Thursday, June 11, 2015

The Lady In Winter

Lady Darley's first letter of the new year arrived just after the turn of the calendar, but she penned it on December 30th, 1989.

I forget where I rang in the new year. But I gather it wasn't in Fenton. We were still tidying up business in Raytown. Our old house still hadn't sold. My aunt and my new uncle would eventually buy it, but getting the deal done proved elusive.

Lady Darley, meanwhile, already knew what her plans for New Year's would be:
Dear Chris,

Have you had a good Christmas? Mine is o.k. As far as Christmas went I got everything I wanted. Lots of writing paper I needed, earrings, perfume, clothes, etc. I also got a dictaphone which will help me with my sociology coursework. I need to interview people on the opinions of abortion. I really do hate doing these type of things because it's supposed to be someone you don't know. But I plan to do my next door neighbour, my sister, her boyfriend, my mum, and my friend [Laurie]. They are from 3 different age groups so I am doing what he told me, only altering it a little bit.

Are you going to a New Year's Eve party? My parents think I'm too young to be at those such type of parties. I was actually invited to one this year but I can't go for many reasons. 1) I've told friends of mine that I'd babysit for their two daughters 2) My sister told my parents it was an all night rave up going on as long as possible. With only my age in the house, no parents anywhere around. So, I'm afraid to say my parent have told me that is really a no-go area. But if I had gone, it would have been with [Laurie], a friend of mine from school, [Redacted], [Redacted], [Redacted], and [Redacted]. I think that really put them off a lot. She (Laurie) asked me who would I be with, because she knows full well that [Laurie] fancies [Redacted] and he does her. I think my parents minds were running overtime. I'm just friends with all of them. Anyway, enough of that depressing news. Let's talk about something else!
Recapping: Lady Darley is 15. And given what she has previously disclosed about her friend Alex (name changed) and his implied hormones and physical encounters, she is better off not wandering back into the danger zone.
How is life in Fenton. You've been there for about two months now haven't you? Have you made and new friends? You seem a quiet person to me but maybe that is just the impression you would like me to have. I should imagine that you have made some friends by now.
I have made a few. But Lady Darley's impressions are correct. I'm quietly carrying on, pushing to graduate from high school and still after that Bright Flight scholarship. And I'm trying to keep a bully away. Meanwhile, Lady Darley is trying to scrape up the funds to visit America.
My mother borrowed 120 pounds off me so it makes me nearly 400. So I need about another 20 before I have all the airfare. So I'll have about 5 months to save spending money. Hopefully I'll be coming to see [your Raytown friend] in July. Then if you tell me I could catch a train down to see you? That's if I receive a letter from her soon. She hasn't written to me since October. Like you, really. But she's in her final year of school like I am and there's quite a lot of work put on you. I've been revising for my exams over all of November and finished on December 20th. So I was very busy, so perhaps she had the same workload as me. I've told you before that I think she is really nice and it would be a shame if we stopped writing to each other.
I keep wondering why is Lady Darley so dependent on getting a letter from the friend who introduced me to her? But then I remember, as much as Her Ladyship wants to come to America, she's still 15 and she probably shouldn't be doing it alone unless she ended up with another young lady friend in her family. She can't just bypass her and connect with your humble servant instead, because it wouldn't be proper. And if anything, Lady Darley is proper. She may not think of herself that way, but I see a young noblewoman in her, albeit a bit lost in the whirlwind of school and youth.
Do you like any type of music? I was wondering in case we could swap some tapes. I wanted to tape Lisa Stanfield's tape and Phil Collins' tape. But none of my friends have either of the two tapes.
I figured requesting a bootleg Genesis tape or two would probably be out of the question. I was still adding to my collection of their records, and I hadn't worked my way back through all of their studio albums yet. She probably had never heard them, anyway.
Have you received my Christmas card and present? I know you won't have recieved my present by now because Mum didn't post the letter by airmail, but by sea. You should have received it very soon. I hope you like them. I wanted to sent you some Mars bars but they were very heavy. So I sent you them instead.
Those Zero bars remarkably made the long trip across the pond intact. And they held their flavour.
Well I've had my mock exams for my finals in the G.C.S.E. I thought I'd done really well whilst I was doing them. But obviously I hadn't. I failed two of them, chemistry and maths. But I did get the following: typing: C, English Language: B, English Lit: B, Sociology: B, French: C, History: B, R.E.: C. I suppose they were quite good.

What sort of things do you study in your journalism class? I want to be a journalist when I leave school, but it seems so long time ago. But the normal journalism courses are for pre-graduates. So I'd have to do another course first. Oh dear, more time in college. How could I stand it?
By this time, I'd moved on from the school paper, although I was still contributing something now and then. I was whetting my appetite for the University of Missouri school of Journalism.
Have you got a girlfriend yet? I know you don't go out with the means to get one. But I thought you may have found somebody really nice at your new school.

Please Write Soon,

Love [Lady Darley]
No, My Lady, I haven't... my schoolwork is my girlfriend.

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