The Pen Pal Project // Alex Gaskarth

2.

KENDALL

That Tuesday, Kendall walked into AP English with Mrs. Clark and new she might have to pick out her new pen pal.

 Kendall wasn't against the idea, she just wasn't all for it.

 How do you talk to someone when your best friend is your parents and your enormous book collection?

 Kendall considered that she could pretend to be someone she wasn't, build up a good and dynamic character, it would help her writing. But at the same time what would happen if said person wanted to meet her after the project was finished? She would cry.

 Kendall decided she would do the responsible thing and be herself, just as long as she didn't make herself sound as pathetic as she really was.

 During class, Mrs. Clark had the students read their assigned books in silence while she called everyone up to either pick an address or have one given to them.

 When Kendall was called up, much to her pleasure was handed a slip of paper.

 "He picked this morning," Mrs. Clark said.

 "He?" Kendall gulped.

 "Yes he. Don't be worried Kendall, you'll do just fine," Mrs. Clark assured.

 Kendall nodded her head and returned to her seat, scared of what was to come.

 This person wouldn't know her. She wouldn't know them. For all she knew, she could be getting the kid whose parents bought their child's way into the AP and could hardly form a proper sentence.

 She cringed at the thought.

 Kendall sighed, tucking the address into her planner before returning to the book.

 Later at lunch, Kendall sat in the library reading To Kill A Mockingbird again.

 She was near the climax, the part where Jem and Scout were walking home from the school in the dark and Jem heard someone behind them.

 Kendall left out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in. This part always got to her. It was amazing.

 That was something Kendall always aspired to be. A good writer.

 She carried a beat up, ratty, old composition book that had pages falling out and loose leaf paper tucked inside it.

It had quotes on it from all of her favorite books and movies. The notebook contained plot ideas, character names, some scratched off then rewritten. Kendall wrote a lot but she never shared her talent with anyone else but her parents and teachers. Her teachers always gave her the tough love she needed, told her where to improve, where she could lighten up on the details, everything. They helped make her a better writer.

ALEX

It was lunch hour and Alex was moping around.

 "Bro what's wrong?" Jack asked.

 "This project for English. It's weird, I mean how do you write a letter to someone you don't know and you can't properly introduce yourself? What should I tell this person? I don't even know if this person is a guy or a girl," Alex explained.

 "Just talk. You're good at that. Tell them what you like. Tell them what you don't like. That's what I'm doing," Rian replied.

 "So what he likes: boobs. What he doesn't like: dicks," Jack concluded.

 "Well, except yours," Alex replied.

 The two best friends started to laugh. Alex wasn't gay, but a lot of people thought that he and Jack were gay together so why not joke about it. It kept things interesting.