Austin Moon sat in his fourth grade classroom, bored out of his mind. His teacher, Ms. Sarah stood in the front of the room, droning on about some new assignment she had for them.
"I have a surprise for you!" she said cheerfully, pulling out a red sheet of paper from behind her.
"What? What is it?" Dez asked excitedly.
Austin rolled his eyes at his friend's enthusiasm.
"Our class has partnered up with a third grade class in Los Angeles, and we will be participating in a weekly pen pal activity!"
The class suddenly grew silent.
THIS was her surprise activity?
Come on. How lame.
Ms. Sarah continued, "Each of you has been assigned a person from the class in California, and you have to write a letter to them every week, so I can mail them out together."
Somehow Austin found himself intrigued by this strange activity, but he knew if he said something, everyone would remind him that he was 'Geeky Moon' again.
At lunch that day, all the fourth graders from Ms. Sarah's class were buzzing about their new pen pals, and the mysteries that the assignment contained.
"I got a kid named Brian Chan!" Justin told his friends.
"Cool! Mine is Justin Lane!" Dallas replied.
"Wow Danny. Mine's is someone named Jake Leonard," Elliot said.
Everyone turned to face Ross, who hadn't said anything for quite a while now.
"Austin?" Dez asked.
"Yeah?"
"Who did you get?"
"Uh…"
"Come on Austin, you can tell us!" Elliot urged. "It's not THAT big a deal."
Austin inhaled deeply. "Ally Dawson."
The other three boys were silent.
"What?"
Dallas and Dez roared with laughter. "AUSTIN GOT A GIRL! Austin has to write letters to a cootie-infested GIRL!"
Austin felt his cheeks turn bright red. "Shut up you guys."
Elliot patted Austin on the back. "Have fun with the girl. You can write to her about lipstick and makeup and dolls and stuff!"
Elliot and Dallas walked away side by side, but Dez stayed behind with Austin.
"Forget about it man. Just brush it off."
Austin nodded, "Let's go get some lunch. I hear if we're the last ones in the lunch line, we have to eat that disgusting spinach thing that the mean lunch lady makes."
That night, Austin sat patiently at his desk and began his letter to this mysterious Ally Dawson from Los Angeles.
What was he supposed to write? She was a GIRL!
He felt sorry for himself. All his other friends got boys. He was the only boy who had to write to a girl.
Dear Ally Dawson,
My name is Austin Moon, and I am from New York. I am nine years old.
I have to write this letter to you because of school. But I don't really know who you are.
And all my friends have to write to boys, but I am the only one who has to write to a girl. No offense to you or anything.
Do you like Los Angeles? Have you ever been to New York? Do you like to play with dolls or do you like cars and dinosaurs?
My little sister Mary is in third grade too. Just like you are.
If you like to play with a kitchen set, you will like Mary. She likes to cook.
Do you have any sisters or brothers?
Write back soon.
From,
Austin Moon.
He sealed the letter in an envelope and put it in his backpack. He started to wonder about what Rachel would say back to him in her letter.
It was like some kind of new adventure.
—
"Ally Dawson!" Mr. Martinez called. "Come and collect your letter from your pen pal."
She smiled and went up to get the nicely sealed letter from her teacher. When they were first told about the assignment, Ally was really excited.
She hoped she'd find a great new friend in New York, who she could maybe go to the mall with.
Nearby, her friends, Trish, Kira, and Cassidy, were opening their envelopes and whispering to each other excitedly. Looks like they'd gotten what they'd wished for… diva girls in New York who they could get together and paint nails with.
Her anxiousness increased as she gently tore open the letter.
She frowned when she saw the name scribbled at the bottom – Austin Moon.
A boy? Ew.
She couldn't go shopping with a BOY.
—
"You have envelopes on your desk from your pen pals in LA!" Ms. Sarah announced.
Austin ran to his desk quickly. He tore open the green envelope.
It would be weird to see what a girl would have to say to him.
Ew, a girl.
He shuddered at the thought.
Dear Austin Moon,
Hey, my name is Ally Dawson and I am eight years old.
I do love Los Angeles and all my friends here. We live close to Disney, so we can go there on the weekends sometimes!
I have to write this letter to you because of school too. Ms. Suzy said we're gonna do it for the whole year. Wow, my hand is going to hurt so bad!
You're not alone. My friends, Trish, Kira, and Cassidy get to write to girls. And I'm the only one who has to write to a boy.
My little sisters are named Amy and Jill. But they are very annoying and always get what they want. My daddy never says no to them for anything.
I like to play with dolls sometimes, but I like shopping more.
I don't like cooking, but it's cool that Mary knows how. One time I tried to make a cake, but it burned.
And dinosaurs are weird. I don't like them.
I hope you don't have cooties, because that wouldn't be too fun.
Write back!
From,
Ally Dawson