The Ghost
"Envelopes" by Kevin Steinhardt is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Genre: Angst
Fandom: Papa Louie
Central Relationship: Maggie & Prudence
Wordcount: 1,242 words
Summary: It's been a week since Maggie made Allan cry. Prudence hasn't texted Maggie in a week. However, luckily for Maggie, Prudence wrote her a letter. What does it say?
Warnings: Nothing I would consider "triggering," per se, but this might be a tough read if you've been ghosted, are having issues with a friend, or are going through a bad break-up.
Rating: G. Suitable for all audiences.
AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55098451
This fic is a sequel to another one-shot titled "It's My Party." I'll post it here if anyone would like it, but you can read it on AO3 right now if you would prefer. You might need to read it to get the full context behind the events of this fic. I hope you enjoy this new story!
It was an ordinary afternoon in Tastyville. At the Pizzeria apartments, Maggie sat on her sofa, her arms crossed and a frown on her face. She was all alone: physically, that is. Her parents had just left to have a dinner date at the Lobsternaut in San Fresco and didn’t bring her along. Maggie was fine with this though; she didn’t ask to come, and if her parents wanted a little bit of private time without her, then so be it. She liked her privacy too.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Maggie turned her head. Her parents told her not to open the door for strangers or invite any friends over. Maggie hadn’t invited any of her friends over. The last outing she had with her friends was a party a week ago. It was a combination birthday-welcome back party, but it didn’t go too well: mostly because of her. The party was thrown for Allan, an old acquaintance of hers who moved to Oniontown back in high school. When he came back, he had changed a lot: he lost a tooth, his hair got bigger, and his fashion sense became edgier. He changed so much that Maggie refused to recognize him, even calling him a freak. Maggie had been thinking about what she did all day. Looking back, it was completely uncalled for. Just because she didn’t recognize him didn’t mean she had to be such an open jerk about it. She could’ve just stayed close to someone she trusted if she was so unsure. Instead, she ran her mouth and sent him running off in tears as Papa Louie tried to clean up her mess. That was the first hint she got that he was the real deal: he was just as sensitive as he was back in freshman year. Now, Allan was gone. In addition, her friend Prudence hadn’t even texted her since the party. She was particularly defensive of Allan at the party, completely sure it was him. She was right, but Maggie was too stubborn to listen to her when it mattered. The “freak” comment must’ve struck a nerve with Prudence too. Her other friends Rita and Penny texted her when they could, but Prudence seemed to have completely disappeared.
Maggie sighed. She was thinking too much. She hated thinking too much. Why was she thinking of this party so much? What she did was awful, but if she lingered on it, soon, her entire identity would become calling Allan a freak one time. It was over, and its impact was lasting, but she couldn’t let herself be the mean girl at the party. Maggie knew she was more than that. Right now, there was someone at the door, and she needed to find out who it was.
“Who is it?” Maggie asked.
“Just good ol’ Vincent!” a voice replied, “is that one Maggie McCoy I hear?”
“Yep!” Maggie exclaimed.
Vincent wasn’t a stranger: he was the coolest mailman in the world. He knew everyone’s name, and he knew something about everyone. Maggie had talked to him before, and her parents had too. She didn’t invite him over either, so surely opening the door for him would be fine. Maggie stood up, walked to the door, and opened it up. There, Vincent stood, a smile on his face and a pink envelope sealed with a red heart in his hand.
“Hi Vincent!” Maggie said.
“Hey there, Maggie!” Vincent replied, “I think somebody likes you.”
Vincent offered the envelope to Maggie, and she took it. She examined the front of it carefully. In the center was her name and address, but in the top left corner, she saw the name “Prudence Wagner” and her address. She gasped and grinned.
“Hey!” she exclaimed, “it’s from Prudence!”
“Ooh, you sound excited!” Vincent noted, “you like her back?”
“Oh, no.” Maggie waved her free hand with a smile. “No, no, no. I don’t like girls. Prudence doesn’t either. She likes her men tall, dark, and handsome. She just uses pink envelopes and heart seals for all of her letters.”
“Ohhhh, OK, I gotcha now. Sorry for assuming.”
“It’s alright. I’m more excited that Prudence wrote me at all! She hasn’t texted me in a week!”
“Well, I gotta get going. I hope this letter is full of the nicest words you could imagine.”
“Oh, thank you, Vincent!”
“You’re welcome! Have a great day!”
“You too!”
Vincent and Maggie waved goodbye to each other, and Vincent went off on his way. Maggie closed the door and looked at the envelope with a smile. She then began to rip into the envelope. Once it was ripped enough, Maggie opened it up and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Maggie unfolded the paper and began to read the letter.
“Dear Maggie,” it began.
“I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you after the party. It’s been a while since the incident, and if I’m being completely honest, I’m still a little upset about what happened. I know it didn’t happen to me, but I still don’t understand why you were so mean to Allan. I know he looked a little different, but you didn’t have to call him a freak in front of everyone. Allan kept in contact with me after the party, and he seems to be doing alright now, but what you did was awful. After the party, I’ve been questioning our friendship. It’s an awful thing to say, but you deserve to know the truth, and the truth is that I don’t want to be your friend anymore. If you’re going to be so quick to make an assumption like that, then I’m worried that if I get into a fight with you, then you’ll call me names or spread rumors. I’m also worried that you might do it again to another person, and I’d hate to see it happen. I don’t want anymore drama, and I don’t want to feel like I’m walking on eggshells around someone I consider my friend. I just want you to know that while I am mad at you, I don’t hate you. I just don’t want to be your friend. Sincerely, Prudence.”
Maggie’s heart sunk as she read the letter. Prudence cut her off by letter. She didn’t even want to make the effort to do it face-to-face. She said she didn’t hate her in the letter, but Maggie was sure she was lying to preserve her feelings. If she was going to write an entire letter stating that she didn’t want to be her friend anymore with flowery language, how else could Prudence feel? Prudence knew that Maggie preferred it when people were straight to the point. Maybe Prudence didn’t want to waste the paper, but if she was concerned with wasting paper, she could’ve simply cut the paper she used to write the letter and save the rest for later. Surely the only explanation was hatred.
“Great,” Maggie whispered, “just great. Prudence ghosted me.”
Maggie sighed, went to her room, got on all fours, and slipped the letter under her bed. Her parents couldn’t know: they’d only rub it in. When the letter was hidden, Maggie laid down on her bed and pulled her comforter over herself. Tears formed in her eyes before rolling down her cheeks, but she didn’t make a sound. Right now, all she wanted to do was disappear. How could she have been so stupid?
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