Love Letters

There’s no logical reason to be scared.

Unfortunately for you, there are plenty of illogical reasons.

Maybe you should just hit that check box. That way, even if she’s disgusted by you, at least you can save yourself some embarrassment.

Then again, if you’re worried that she’ll find your words to be so abhorrent, should you even bother? The absolute last thing you’d want to do is ruin her day.

It’s her own fault. All her fault, in fact; if she wasn’t so pretty, you wouldn’t feel so compelled to tell her. Pretty doesn’t do it justice. She’s beautiful. There we go, you have to think about your word choice – maybe then she won’t be so disgusted by your shitty letter.

That ‘Secret Admirer” checkbox is still staring at you. The problem with that, however, is that the whole reason you even want to send her this letter is because you can’t stop thinking about her. Selfishly, you want her to know it’s coming from you – even if you’re terrified.

There’s this theory about airports where the high stress of travel tricks your brain into seeing people as more attractive; it’s also known as the misattribution of arousal. The only difference here is that you aren’t looking at Xiaoting in an airport, and you aren’t stressed – at least, you weren’t right until you decided you’re sending her a letter.

Ultimately it’s this website’s fault. It’s addicting, you sit here all night and just browse, playing with new feature after new feature. If you just had some more Photocards, you’d probably be throwing them at Wisdom wishes just like these other fools – all of them except your non-existent Xiaoting Photocards.

Now that you think about it, does she even have Photocards? Maybe you should focus on getting some of these authors to write stories for Xiaoting – assuming they can even stop gambling for long enough to write some stories – before you send her this letter. You’re pretty sure you saw something about sending letters giving you a chance at a Photocard: imagine getting a Xiaoting photocard by sending her a letter, that would be amazing.

That has you thinking, does the site have a way to make suggestions? It could be useful… maybe you should write a story about the website itself and use that to suggest a feature–

You’re getting distracted.

Remember, you’re here trying to confess your feelings towards Xiaoting, the most beautiful girl you have ever seen. Forget about these superfluous mechanics, move on. Think about what you’re going to write, that’s more important considering it’s a writing site – the last thing you want is for her to not understand your letter.

Imagine that, just imagine how stunning she’d look even if she was confused. She’d probably look just as pretty as when she’s not confused.

Beautiful. Not pretty. Get it right.

It can’t be anonymous. You need her to know. She can decide to answer it publicly or privately, a convenient feature for sure. Yeah, that’s better, give her the power. She already has all the power over your mind just by being so unbelievably pre– beautiful.

You’re going to do it. You’re going to send her a letter.

Maybe just a flower to start–

No.

A letter.

Tell her about how you can’t stop thinking about her. She deserves to hear about how there’s no girl in the world as beautiful as her. That’s right. You can do this. You will do this.

With that, you begin writing. You don’t think, you simply write. The visconti between your fingers dances seamlessly across the paper. Before you can even take a second breath, the page is covered in words.

“There we go,” you mumble to yourself before signing the bottom of the sheet and holding it up in front of your face.

You quickly fold it into thirds and rush off to find an envelope. After slipping it into your inside pocket for safekeeping, you sprint out the front door. About a minute of running is all it takes before you find yourself at the Fanprose post office, the place where all letters get sorted.

Unfortunately, the staff is busy elsewhere – apparently some issue with font settings – there’s always something going on at the Fanprose office.

Regardless, that is not your concern. You can simply deliver the letter yourself, so you quickly walk past a fox who seems redder than most until you find yourself in the delivery room. It takes you a moment to orient yourself – it would probably be easier if there weren’t so many flowers moving around the room.

After searching around, you finally find it. You quickly duck past a Legendary Garnet that nearly takes your head off, and you end up on the street, right in front of Xiaoting’s door.

Now, you could just scratch your name out and anonymously slip it into her mailbox, but for the first time tonight you actually feel some courage. Using that newfound vigor, you confidently step up to her door and knock three times, tossing aside any final thoughts of anonymity.

It takes her only about a minute to answer the door, with you worrying about whether or not she would for about 59 of those seconds. All that’s left is for you to introduce yourself and hand her the letter.

Just one problem – she’s fucking gorgeous. Why would she be wearing such a stunning dress at this time of the night? Why does she look like she just stepped out of your dreams? Is this normal Xiaoting behavior? This girl has problems–

“Hello?” she snaps you out of your trance.

“Hi,” you hold the letter out for her.

Alright, it’s possible that you might need to work on your delivery. She shoots you a look and after a few seconds pass, she reaches out and accepts the letter. She carefully rips open the top of the envelope and takes out the piece of paper. After a couple of seconds of reading, she pauses, looking up at you over the top of the letter. She glances down again, and then back up at you.

“Excuse me?”

“Y-Yes?” you stammer, squeezing your fingers together to stop the shaking.

“Come inside,” she steps aside and holds the door open.

“Oh…” you hesitate.

She stares at you, deadpan.

“Now.”

It’s not a request. Hell, it’s hardly a command – it’s a straight up requirement. You don’t exactly know what would happen if you declined, but you definitely know you won’t be finding out.

You carefully step past her, leaving ample room, but she decides to step into you and close the door as you walk past. Your arm squishes against her breast, making you recoil and slam into the wall. Your face immediately burns hot.

What the fuck was that? It was intentional.

“Shoes off, and follow me,” Xiaoting completely ignores what just happened, locking the door before walking down the hall.

It’s another requirement, not to be confused as an offer.

Before you know it, she’s already at the end of the hall. She turns to the left and stops, showcasing that perfect side profile, sporting the tiniest of smirks. Not a word needs to be said for you to understand what she’s saying – ‘I’m waiting’.

You quickly kick off your shoes, nearly tripping yourself in the process, and run down the hall. Right before she rounds that corner, her little smirk becomes a tiny laugh. By the time you catch up, she’s already sitting in a gorgeous living room with a burning fireplace. In front of it is a massive rug that looks softer than any bed in existence.

“Have a seat,” Xiaoting gestures towards the chair in front of her.

This time, you’re much quicker, and much more stable. You take long strides across the room and collapse into the leather cushions, taking the moment to catch your breath. Your eyes dart towards the bottle of Pinot on the side table next to her, and she notices.

“Care for some?” she asks while crossing her legs, showcasing her pale, flawless body as her dress rides up. “The finish is far from impressive, but for tonight, it will suffice.”

“No–” your voice nearly tears your throat open with how scratchy it comes out. You quickly cough and try again. “No, thank you.”

“You will, later though,” she replies casually, confirming how little power you have over the situation. “Now, care to explain this?” she holds up the piece of paper once more.