A Letter to the Wonderful
Hi! I am Jennifer. I'm fifteen. I live in Maryland and let me just say it is just wonderful there.
Chapter 1
A Meeting
Today I got called to California for my job. I work as a kid's informationalist. I don't know who I will be working with. So, maybe it's a little weird to have a job at my age. Well, my school director knows I'm good with kids so I got invited to a national kids program. I'm supposed to help kids and kids with special needs. By the way, a kid's informationalist is like his r her friend. I am there to help them out.
The next morning my mom drops me off at the airport. Half an hour later my plane gets called. I get on. Soon enough my plane takes off. After about ten minutes I fall asleep. I wake up with about half an hour until I'm in San Francisco, California. When I get there I see a women holding up a sign with my name. We drive to Oakland. As we drive into Woodland driv boy in the driveway. I get out of the car and I stand in front of him. The women steps out of the car and stands next to me.
"This is Alex," the woman says.
This woman looks very pretty in the most unique way. She has pretty dirty blonde hair but the blondness is lighter than most people's.
"Hi Alex," I say.
This time I get a closer look at the boy. He has light brown hair maybe a couple of strands of dirty blonde hair. He has the most wonderful green eyes. Man, if you saw those beautiful green eyes you would understand the feelings in my stomach and the thoughts in my head. I notice he's in a wheelchair. He goes into the house.
She introduces herself as Mary and the fact she is the boy's mother. She says the boy has Social Anxiety. He has something wrong with his legs so he is in a wheelchair. It causes him not to walk. He can't walk, she explains to me. She gives me a folder about him.
I look inside, I see he weighs 93 pounds, he's 5'0. I see his birthday is October 12, 2001. He is thirteen.
She brings me to his room where he is playing his X-Box.
"Hi!" I exclaim.
He waves Hi and nods.
Mary pulls me aside, he doesn't talk very often.
So I said Hi again but I manage to say a little more.
"Hey, I'm here to get to help you out and to get to know you."
He nods at me.
"Ok then." I say.
Mary shows me a room where I will be staying.
Chapter 2
School
The next morning I wake up. I get dressed and I'm prepared to go to Alex's school. Bus #83 comes through the drive. Alex gets on through the back. I get on and sit with Alex in the back.
When we get to school he goes to Math so I follow him to Math. I pull a chair next to the small table he sits at. Mr. James is his teacher. He passes out some papers. He says we have 20 minutes to work on them. So, I take a look at the Math paper. It's things we've already done at my school. Alex takes his papers and his pencil and right away starts his work. He seems good so I work on my papers. Then he pokes me. When I look at him I see he is pointing to question number 4. 5 x 62. I say to him "It's like 36 x 5."
He writes 180 on his paper.
Chapter 3
Lunch
Alex and I walk toward the cafeteria. I wait in line with him. We sit down at a table.
"My name is Jennifer." I say. "I am twelve." We eat in silence. Then the bell goes off. And we walk home.
Chapter 4
Two Weeks Timed
Part I
Once I get to the house Mary pulls me aside again. She says she couldn't ever communicate to her son and she would like to. So, I walk to Alex's room where Alex is.
"Alex… what's up?"
He shakes his head at me. I told him it would be cool if he could talk and communicate with us. I told him there's so many ways. So, I've been giving him speech lessons.
I guess he learned sign language on his own because he started using sign language with me. When I talk to him I use sign language and I speak. So, either way he understands me.
The next day at school in English he wrote his A, B, and C's on a piece of paper.
After about a week…
"Hi" I said.
"Hey Jen! My name is Alex!" He exclaims shakily.
"Alex, you said something!" I exclaimed.
"Yes…so,"
"You actually talked to me."
"I've had these thought in my head forever."
"Yes, but you hardly ever talk Alex!" I say with excitement.
Alex shrugs. "So? What do you mean?"
"Well…" I'm completely puzzled at what to say to him. So, I tell him the truth.
"Mom… put you up to this!' He says angrily.
"Yes. But I agreed because I wanted to get to know you!" I say trying to stay calm.
"Well, I'm sick of p-people l-looking at me d-different." He stutters slowly. He storms off. What have I done?
Two Weeks Timed
Part II
It's been a week and a half since we've argued. He hasn't talked tom since then. Is this a good thing or bad thing? Maybe.
As soon as I get home I apologized to Alex.
"I'm sorry Alex. I wanted to get to know you. That's why I agreed."
"But you c-can't go a-around ch-changing people." He says.
"But" Alex cuts me off.
"No!" he shouted. "If I wasn't enough why did you come?" He cried. He hurried off to his room. Then I went to bed feeling guilt but a little silly too. Was that supposed to be funny? I started laughing. I actually laughed myself to sleep. The next morning I got up and Alex was already downstairs.
"I'm sorry Jennifer," he whispered.
"It's ok," I respond.
"I made you guys breakfast."
Mary sits down.
"I love you mom. You're the best," Alex cries.
"I love you baby." Mary says.
Mary says to me, "I don't know what you have done, but for years everyone has tried to get Alex to do something. You come in and all of the sudden he is just like every other kid. We thought for years he couldn't speak and wasn't learning. In fact he was taking in everything and learning it all. He is just a normal kid."
"Well there has to be something to it. One student I worked with before had selective mutism. Alex has similar characteristics. That sure would make sense."
"I will look into that," Mary says.
Chapter 5
Like Like
When Alex gets to English, his best friend Jordan stops me in the hallway.
"Hey! I heard Alex is doing better," he says.
"Yea," I respond.
"Since he's doing well, do you want to go out with me?" he asks coolly.
"No!" I say strictly.
"Why?"
"Because of Alex."
"What does that have to do with this?'"
"Because…I like him," I explain. I walk away.
What if Jordan tells Alex? What would I do?
Then I go home and Alex comes home shortly after.
"Hey Jen," he says.
"Hey!" I explain.
"What's up?" he questions.
"Nothing really," I say innocently.
"I know you mentioned me in a conversation," he says.
Oh gosh, Jordan wouldn't dare to tell Alex on me. Jordan's weird. Guys are weird. But he's different.
Chapter 6
The Accident
I was out riding my bike around the park. The next thing I know I'm waking up in the hospital, having ridden into a tree.
I see doctors in hallway. I feel scared and lonely. Then a doctor comes in and sets flowers on the table and gives me the card. It says "I love you, don't ever forget. – Alex" I blush. Within the next couple of days I'm out of the hospital. I go to the house and I sit in my room. He likes me, I think. Alex walks into the room.
"Hey! I'm glad you're okay," he says excited but a little bit quieter.
"Yes. I'm okay. I'm here to help you," I say in a whisper too.
"Do you like me back?"
"Yes," I respond.
"Okay," he says getting up. "I missed you."
"I missed your voice and seeing your beautiful eyes come in to wake me up each morning," I say in a hushed voice just not quite a whisper.
He walks out of the room. I fall asleep aware that I am dosing off and I begin to dream. I dream of a time when I was younger. I'm in the park but I'm not on my bike. I'm sitting on a picnic blanket. Yes, and Alex is right there by my side. He gives me honey with marshmallows. That's Alex and my thing. I drink ice cold water to get the honey and marsh mellow down. Then we hug and all the sudden I wake up. I wake up to Alex's eyes. I see he's standing over me. I blink once or twice.
He tells me breakfast is ready and we walk downstairs. I smell bacon. Alex smells it too. We both laugh at each other, I sit down and so does Alex and we both just gobble down the bacon.
Chapter 7
Chaotic School
Once we get to school, Alex and I both notice the chatter about me and him. The girls kept giving Alex funny looks and the girls and guys kept looking at me and when I noticed, they would look away. In math, Alex would ignore it and keep working on his work. Then we went to English. We were assigned partners. I was his partner because his teacher wanted to see how well we work with each other. We decided to write about the culture of the Americans. I heard someone whisper to their friend, "I hear Alex and Jen are the two love birds this year." I guess he is just saying that because he can't get girlfriend. Ha. That makes me feel better. I just kept walking. I see a sign for a school dance. I wonder if I could go. I hope so. I get home and Alex stands there with a single red rose.
"Will you go to the dance with me Jen?" he says.
"Yes. I will go with you." He smiles. "What about the crutches?"I remind him.
"Don't worry. I have it planned," he says reassuring.
"Okay," I whisper.
I tell Mary that I am very excited, but I don't have a dress. So we go shopping. I see a pretty white dress. I notice it has pearls lining the waist. It is very pretty. It is shiny white with pearl line waist.
"That is a beautiful dress Mary." She looks at the price.
"Okay." We bring it to the cashier and she rings it up for me but before she's done Mary sees silver heels. Mary picks them up and puts them on the counter. I thank Mary and tell her that I'm grateful for how much she's done for me. When we go home I tell Alex I'm going to get to bed so I can dance and be ready for dinner tomorrow.
Chapter 8
The Dance
After school that day and after completing an entire social studies project, I get ready for dinner that Mary is treating up to before the dance. We go to the fancy steakhouse. We eat dinner and talk about the day and how the dance will go.
"That social studies project was hard," I say.
"I think so. Some of the directions were so unclear."
"I know, right!"
I enjoyed dinner. But when we walked outside, I was shocked to see a limo! We got in and I started exploring all of the buttons. I finally found the radio and we enjoyed listening to some music on our way to school.
When we enter the gymnasium everyone stops and looks at us. Alex laughs and soon so do I. I hit Alex on lightly on the arm and he gets over it, just as they music comes on. We dance together. He does something funny and I start giggling. Then a slow song comes on. I move in and get comfortable. He does too. We dance and dance. The rest of the night we giggle. The last couple of songs are group dances.
We get into a circle. On one side of me I have Alex and the other side is Jamie. We do the wobble and then we all dance to one or two songs and then we go home. Once we get home I tell Alex goodnight and he tells me goodnight and we go to bed.
Chapter 9
No Crutches, Just a "Regular" Boy
We get onto Bus #83 like we normally do. When we get to school Jamie comes up to me and so does Jordan. Jamie says she liked hanging out at the dance. Jordan went with Juliann. Juliann is one of the girls in his French class. Jamie wants me Alex and I to sit with them at lunch and I agreed. I told Jamie and Jordan that Alex is slowly opening up and occasionally talks to me and some other people.
Jordan pulls me aside as everyone else goes to class.
"I'm sorry I was hitting on you when I knew you're here to help Alex," he says.
"It's okay. I'm glad it worked out with you and Juliann," I say.
"Thanks," he replied. "You're a good friend."
"Thanks," I say and we return to the group.
Chapter 10
The Call that Returns Me Home
Between Math and Science I go to the bathroom. I look into the mirror. Then I hear my cell phone ringing. I see it's the National Kid's Program Director. I answer the incoming call.
"Hello Ashley." The director insists we call her by her first name. She says it's better if we call her by her first name. It's also a personal job where you get to know people.
"Hello Jen," she says. "I hear Alex is doing excellent."
"Yea. He is doing just fine."
"Good. I'm glad to hear that because you are coming home to take a break and we are re-assigning you with another kid because you did all that you can with Alex. You are going home Thursday."
"I can't stay for 1 more week?" I plead.
"No I'm sorry I don't think so. You have to report to school, you have been missing school," Ashley explains.
"Okay," I say sadly. I hang up the call. How will I tell Alex? I can't. I won't! Maybe I can get Jamie to tell Alex I have to leave. No. I love him too much. I will tell him.
Chapter 11
Break it to him
I'm going to break it to him. I can't hurt him like that. We have free period in the last period. I will break it to him then. It feels like forever waiting to tell him. Finally it's last period. I see him and I stop him.
"Alex, can I talk to you?" He stops. "Since you're doing so much better, I'm leaving Thursday."
"Why?" He asks.
"I have to go because you are doing so well. It's my job," I explain.
"Can't you stay for one more week?" he questions.
"I asked the same question," I explain. "No. I'm sorry." I turn away and walk home.
The first person I see in the house is Mary. She already knows. I can see it in her eyes. She hugs me. I go up to bed.
When Alex comes to wake me the next morning, I tell him that I want to cherish the two days before I leave. So we do. Alex and I stay home. We eat blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I take out the whip cream and the strawberries and we make faces on the pancakes. After we go out and ride bikes around the drive. Then we go to the park and Mary holds a picnic basket and a picnic blanket in her hands and puts them into the trunk.
"Where are we going Mary?" I ask.
"To the park," she responds.
"Okay," I say.
Alex and I giggle the whole car ride there. Once we get there we set up the blanket and the picnic. Mary pours me some fruit punch and I eat some egg salad sandwich. I told Alex the lunch was just wonderful because he picked out what went into the basket. Then we ate our salads. My favorite part was when Alex pulled out the triple chocolate cake. It's chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate sprinkles.
"Alex, you remembered my favorite food," I say pleased.
"I sure did," he says. "Why would I forget my crushes favorites?"
I blush. He does too. I like how he is not afraid to show his emotions to me. He will blush or he will cry. Then when we are done eating, we play some Frisbee. Then we go back down to the house and I sit down and watch some TV. Alex and I decided to hang around the house and play some video games and some board games until we fall asleep, exhausted. We both stumble to our beds.
When we wake the next morning I ask Alex, "Alex, let's have some oatmeal and then play some Just Dance on the Wii?"
"Yea," he says.
Alex plays and scores 984. I only score 324. I tell him I can do better so we play 5 more songs and he beats me every single time by 300 points. Then we play Clue. I have the lead in the game. I know it's not the rope or the candlestick and it's not Peacock or White. I win the game but Mary decides we can play slap jack so she deals and Alex wins that game. Then we play Life and I win. Then we decide to have lunch. We eat hamburgers with macaroni and cheese. It was so good. Mary told me it was her homemade mac & cheese. After a whole day of playing, are tired out. Alex comes into my bedroom and sits on the bed.
"Jen, I don't want you to leave."
"I have to."
"But I'll miss you."
"Me too."
"I like you too much."
"But I have too."
Alex just leaves the room. I lie down and try not to think about. It is just too painful for me to bear it. As I sleep I think about the whole situation. I just can't avoid it. It's just like I just can't stop thinking about it.
I wake up to see my bags are packed. Mary is just too nice. She packed my bags for me. I go down and there's a banner that says "Goodbye! We will miss you." We have breakfast and then we head to the airport that I arrived from. We ride in silence but it's okay because I know he likes me. I can tell it hurts him too. When we get there Alex just hugs me, not saying anything.
I sleep the whole way home. When I get home I go into my house and cry. And honestly, I didn't know I was going to cry. I just felt like crying. I don't know why. I cry myself to sleep. My mom wakes me up and tells me a letter came to me through the mail. I look and see it's a letter from Alex. I open it up and I read it.
May 26
Dear Jennifer,
I already miss you. I really like you and I can't bear you leaving. I really don't want youto leave me. I honestly feel like I can't let you. I hope you can write back and see you soon.
Love,
Alex
Oh my! He wrote to me! Being an informationalist has really worked out for me this time, because I was once his informationalist but, I was more than that, I was his friend. His crush. I must be crazy he is a year older than I am.
I get an incoming call from Ashley.
"Hey Jen," she says.
"You are going to Florida."
"I am?" I say excited and forgetting about Alex.
"Of course. Tomorrow," she says.
Chapter 12
The New Gig
I am so excited. I wake up the next day. I get up and get ready. Once I'm in Florida I go to the new kid's house to help her out. This time, I am helping a girl named Juliana. Juliana is thirteen too.
As we are talking, we hear a knock on the door. I open the door because Juliana's mom says I can. I open the door to Mary and Alex. Alex comes in and I tell Juliana he is one of my friends and Mary is his mother. Alex explains to me what happened. He called my mother and asked where my new assignment was. She explained it to him and he flew down here to find me. Alex stays at the hotel near Juliana's house. I work with her for a week and then we go back to my house. Alex stays at my house for another week and then he goes home.
"Hey, Alex?"
"Yes."
"Did you like staying at my house?"
"Sure did."
We go to my room and we just talk to each other.
"So… Alex thanks for coming over to my house," I ask.
"You welcome. Listen, I owe this to you."
"How?" I question.
"I just feel like I do." He responds.
"Okay," I say. "Do you want to go back?"
"No," he says sadly.
After that we kiss….my first kiss. My first kiss was with Alex!
The next morning Alex says he would come back and visit me soon and then he leaves. I get a text message from a number I've never seen. It says, "I love you. See you soon?" I know immediately who it is and I smile from ear to ear. Then I respond, "me too."
I go into the house and I'm already thinking about the day ahead and my normal boy, who talks!