Do you hate it when I call you Nicky? I should stop, but I can’t help it. Adults break hearts. I want you to stay a boy forever. You can’t, though. You have to grow up. If it’s not me that makes you, someone else will. That’s how it works, my friend. Somebody somewhere decided that long before you or I ever came around. It’s like heartbreak was designed into the fabric of the universe. It gets us all eventually.

I always make you stand guard. That doesn’t mean you should stop being an investigator, though. If you watch and you search at the same time, you’ll already know what it is you’re going to find, because you’ve been paying closer attention. Know what I mean?

I’m sure you don’t. I’m making zero sense.

Anyway, I’ve hidden this letter for you. It’s the end of the Adventure, and it’s perfect, because you will never find it. You have absolutely no reason to come up here. Our visit to this house was less than exciting. I really hoped you guys would like it, but you didn’t get it all. That’s how it goes sometimes when it comes to our group.

That’s okay. I still like it. I can sit here and think without being distracted. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been sneaking into vacant houses to clear my head. This place has become one of my favorites. Sometimes I can hear the Stantons next door. Otherwise, it’s perfectly still. Nothing but me and my thoughts.

Wow. How perfect. Right at this moment, I can hear Ollie screaming at Aidy. They must be outside. She’s yelling something about it not being her turn to vacuum. It’s kind of hilarious.

Okay. They went back inside.

It’s quiet again.

I’m writing these words to you because then they are permanent, even if you never read them. Maybe that’s all it takes to make sure they come true. My thoughts will crumble through the floorboards and seep into the ground, out and back into the universe again. They’ll reach you wherever you are. They’ll stop you from being broken by someone else.

I choose to write to you because you’re different. You look in ways other people don’t. Ollie does too, but a lot of the times, she’s wasting that by looking too much at me. I’m not anyone she needs to copy. Trust me.

Okay. I can’t lie. It’s flattering. I don’t hate it. I think she’s about five trillion times smarter than me, and I’m afraid of what that means. Heartbreak might soften her. It honestly might help. Not that you should be the one to do it. Don’t go getting ideas.