New Perspective

Dear Zack,

Well...hey. So, as you know, our teachers are making us write letters to each other. I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to be writing in this, because the last time I did this I was like, ten. So sorry if this first letter is awkward, maybe they will get better.

I guess I can tell you about myself, can't I? My name is Jack, if you didn't know that already. I am seventeen, eighteen in December. I'm not so good at describing myself, so maybe when our school pictures come back, I can send you one? If you want, that is. Um...the town I live in is really small. Like, there's maybe 2,500 people living here. Surprising, huh. There's only about 300 kids in the high school. What's your town like? Is it big or small? It's probably bigger than ours, in any case.

What else. Things I like to do are: hiking, playing with bugs, playing video games, watching sci-fi shows, and surfing the web (okay, so I'm a little nerdy, don't judge). I don't play any instruments or anything, though I wish I could play drums or something. What do you like to do? You're probably not as nerdy as me...it's hard to find a fellow geek these days.

Ah, one more thing. Would you happen to have a Myspace/Facebook/AIM? Any of them would be faster than writing letters, you know?

Waiting for your response,

Jack

Satisfied with what he had written, Jack stood up and walked over to Ms. Hinman's desk. He set the letter on top of the paper she was grading at that moment. "Is this acceptable?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't have to rewrite the whole thing again.

Ms. Hinman picked up the paper and placed the glasses she used to read in front of her eyes and began reading the letter. Other students began to gather behind him, murmuring to each other about what they had written about. By the sounds of it, no one else had any clue what to write either. Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

The teacher chuckled quietly as she finished the letter. "Very good, Mr. Hodgins. A little dorky, but good." She slipped the letter into a manilla envelope and shooed him away playfully, seeing the students trying to be rid of their letters crowding around the desk. Jack obliged, pushing his way around his classmates and returning to his seat. At that same moment, Seeley stood up and headed for Ms. Hinman. Angela must have been right behind him; she was bouncing slightly as the teacher read her letter. She laughed at the end of hers, too, and gave her an approving nod.

"Yay!" Angela giggled, making her way back to Jack. "I can't wait for this kid to write back to me. Hopefully he's not boring; although, with all that I gave him to write about, it shouldn't be too hard to make a hearty response." She smiled.

Jack couldn't help but smile back. Her peppiness was contagious. "I'm sure you gave him an earful," he teased, gathering his books from under the desk.

"You can't tell me you're not excited to know what your person will write back."

He shrugged. "I don't even know the kid, how can I be excited to know what he'll write?"

Angela rolled her eyes. "That's the whole point, not knowing anything about them. Duh."

Jack shook his head. "So what did you write to him about, anyway?"

"Oh, lots of things! Where I come from, all about this town and how it's so small compared to home, fashion - "

"Wait. You did not seriously write to him about fashion, right?"

"No!...Well, maybe a little..."

"Guys!" Seeley's deep voice intruded, "Ms. Hinman is making me write another letter!"

"Wow, really? Why? Let me see," Jack questioned, taking the letter from his friend. He began to read it out loud.

Dear Temperance,

First off, what kind of a name is Temperance? I've never heard of any other girl with that name. It's just kind of weird. My name is Seeley, which is kind of weird, so I guess we have that in common. And...yeah. I'm not sure what to write in this, so ask me some questions I guess.

Seeley

"Wow, Seeley, that was really heartfelt," Angela commented.

"I know, right?" Seeley answered, "And she's making me write another one."

"I think she was being sarcastic, dude," Jack told his friend. Realization struck, and he glared at Angela.

"That wasn't nice."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Get over it, she was being truthful. You have to actually be nice to the girl, Seeley, or she won't write to you at all. And put some thought into it."

"Yeah, I guess..."

Just then, the bell rang, and the trio streamed out of the classroom with the other students.

"So, we're still meeting at my place, right?" Seeley asked the pair. They nodded. "Alright, meet you out front then."

And with that, the three friends went their separate ways, heading for their own lockers.