Disclaimer: Recess was created by Paul Germain & Joe Ansolabehere, and is owned by Disney. Katie was created by me.
Under The Stars - A Story By Skatole
TJ Detweiler gave the letters to his mother. She ruffled his hair. Poor lad - still no letters from his friends back in Arkansas.
'Maybe there'll be one next week,' she said, as she had done the previous week.
'Yeah,' TJ said. He snatched an apple from the fruit bowl. 'I'm off to the park.'
'Be back for dinner,' Mrs Detweiler said as her son slammed the door.
It had been four weeks since the Detweiler family moved to the UK - and not one of TJ's friends had written, even though they had promised. They'd had it planned since TJ's parents told him about the move. TJ would send a letter to Gretchen and she would show it to the others then they would all send replies.
TJ walked through the gate and followed the path to the play equipment that occupied the park's centre. The chains of the swings were all tangled, so he climbed the wooden version of Old Rusty and let his feed dangle over the edge of the rope net.
Why hadn't they replied to his letter?
He laid on his back, feeling the wood's coolness through his t-shirt. The wood was hard against his head. His old red cap was still in the US; he'd given it to Spinelli the day before his family left for the airport.
It was almost - he sat up, suddenly feeling sick - almost as if they had forgotten him. Out of sight, out of mind. With him gone, would the others even have an incentive to stick together? It was easy to work out how the group would split. Vince would join the jocks, Gretchen the science geeks. Gus would become the target of some bully too wimpy to pick on someone his own age. Mikey would join the drama club or poetry group. Spinelli? Like TJ, she had never really fit into a stereotype.
He wouldn't even see them start at high school; in September, he'd be starting in Year Nine, the third year of secondary school. The purple blazer, white shirt, and black trousers were hung in his wardrobe. On the shoe rack down in the hallway were the black shoes TJ would have to wear; he would only be allowed to wear trainers for PE.
He felt disappointed in his parents. Couldn't they have moved when he started college? He didn't really understand why they'd had to move; he'd been told it was something to do with his father getting a new job, but he still felt they were hiding something from him. His mother would get a job when TJ went to school in September.
He felt resentment toward his sister. Becky was still in Arkansas. She was sharing an apartment with a friend. He remembered the smug look on Becky's face when she was told to forward any mail for her parents to their new address.
He laid back down. The sky was grey, the clouds low in the sky. It hadn't rained much, which was something to be thankful for; it meant TJ could roam the streets and not have to duck into a grubby doorway or some grotty little corner shop that stank of old people.
The excited barking of a dog shattered TJ's pitiful thoughts. He looked down and saw a long-haired girl. She had a curved plastic stick with a holder at one end, and was using it to throw a tennis ball for her Jack Russell terrier, which barked excitedly and jumped in the air, waiting impatiently for the girl to throw the ball.
The girl turned occasionally; the park was notorious for several reasons, most of them bad. She caught TJ's eye, decided that he was harmless - or at least that she would be able to fight him off - and smiled at him.
TJ smiled back.
10th December
Hey, it's me again. You haven't written, so I'm sending this letter then I won't write again. I can't help that we left. I asked if I could stay with Becky, but Mom got upset and Dad said I was trying to ruin things for us.
"This is a new start for us", he said. "You should be happy. You're going to meet a whole new bunch of people and make loads of new friends".
Well, I've made ONE new friend. Her name's Katie. We met in the park; she accidentally threw a ball at my head.
That was in August.
We went to school in September and we're in some of the same classes. She's smarter than me and always gets top grades for her homework.
School here's OK. I'm in Year Nine, the third year. We have five lessons a day that last for 1hr each. Break is 1115am to 1130am. Dinner is 1230pm-1310pm. We finish at 1520pm. I walk home with Katie. Her dad works nights, so after I've eaten with Mom and Dad I go to Katie's house. We do our homework (if we have any), take her dog to the park, then go back to her house and watch a DVD or play on the PS2.
Last week we laid out in the garden under the stars. It was really peaceful, just me and Katie and her dog, the stars and the moon, a light breeze. I rolled on my side and kissed her.
We've been boyfriend and girlfriend since then.
I'll understand if you don't reply.
Your friend, TJ.
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