Jeff was sitting at his desk. His thoughts were still with Nick in New York. Even though he was sitting in Ohio again and had to prepare some stuff for school which would start again soon. His pad was lying on the desk and Jeff was starring on the empty page. Maybe he should finally write Nick a letter? Elise had brought him some photos she took in New York with him and Nick and he wanted to send them to Nick. Jeff starred at the blank page again and thought about what he could write. And then he just started and let the pen fly over the paper.

January 2005

Dear Nick,

Elise told me I should just grab my pen and some paper and write down what I think. She said that is the way of writing a letter. So that's what I'm doing right now. I am back in Ohio now but I still think a lot about New York, about New Years Eve and about you.

How are you? How was your flight? I really hope you arrived back home. I read the newspapers and no airplane crashed, so I hope your airplane made it to England safe as well. Tell me all about your flight when you answer, okay?

Since we have been back in Ohio Jennifer is driving us all crazy. She is missing this guy she was spending time with on Time Square. James or something like that. He lives in New York and now Jennifer really wants to go there again as soon as possible. Yeah, she tells us she is in love. But I am pretty sure it is just another crush of hers. She is always in love with some random guy. That's why I usually forget their names. It doesn't last long. I guess when I write you the next letter she'll have another guy she is in love with already. But we'll see.

Elise told me to write you that she sends you greetings. So now I did that as well. I wrote it down so I don't forget it. Now I can finally throw away that note. My desk is full with notes for school work and such. When I am going back to school tomorrow, I will have like no free time again. School is difficult at the moment. I have always been a good student and I want to keep that up, so I have to learn more and of course write good essays. Are you a good student?

Winter here is always crazy. We had snow yesterday and it is still there, but now the weather forecast says that there will be sun for the rest of the week, so I am pretty sure we won't have snow-free. I love being in the snow, but all my friends are doing stuff for school right now and I should do it as well. But to be honest with you: I really prefer writing a letter to you.

You remember the photos we took at Time Square? The ones of us being all happy and smiling? I will send you all the photos we took. I will put the one with us smiling and looking at each other into my locker for sure. Maybe you want to put it somewhere as well. I really hope you like the photos. They remind me of a great start of a New Year. 2005 will be totally awesome.

Nick, I am sorry, I have to go. I have to do some work for school before going to bed. I hope you will be happy when this letter arrives. I miss you.

Greetings from your friend,

Jeff

Jeff sighed as he ended the letter and put the paper together with the photos in an envelope Elise gave him earlier. She said she would take it to the post office tomorrow, if Jeff would have finished it by then. So Jeff brought Elise the letter, who just smiled at Jeff and promised him to send it via Airmail, so it would be faster.

Nicks first week of school was as terrible as always. He hated going there. It was a private school and all the boys were arrogant and all the girls were bitchy. His uniform was kind of ugly and the food in school wasn't good as well. Nick sighed. He hated school. The only good thing was the learning part and the big library that his private school had to offer. But now it was Friday and he was allowed to go home and stay in his room for 2 days. Not leaving his house for 2 days seemed like a good thing for Nick. Finally reading without being disturbed every 5 minutes and just relaxing a little.

When he opened the front door of the house, the maid Charlene, which Nick called Charly, was standing in the hall, smiling at him. "What's up, Charly?" Nick asked and Charly laughed. They both knew that Nick normally wouldn't say "What's up?". "I've got a surprise for you. It was in the mail today." Charly said, her smile widening while speaking. "A surprise?" Nick didn't know what that could be. "You remember the boy you met New Years Eve? The guy you told me about since you have been back?" Nick nodded. "You got a letter from him!" Charly waved with the envelope in her hand, but he didn't move. He just watched her and it seemed like he didn't believe her. "Here, see yourself. Jeffrey Sterling is the senders' name." Nick ran over to Charly and took the envelope out of her hands. It was his handwriting, it had an American stamp on it and it was his address on the Sender. Nick just smiled and hugged Charly for a second. "Thank you!" He said and ran up the stairs into his room. This totally made his day.

He closed his door behind him and sat down in front of his desk. He has never gotten a letter, especially not from someone not living in England. He carefully looked at the envelope before opening it. The first thing he saw was a photo. He took it out of the envelope and looked at it. It was Jeff and him sitting on the ground, both with a smile on their face and looking at each other. He loved this photo from the first second he saw it. Then he looked at the other photos in the envelope before he finally read the letter.

Right after reading the letter his smile was even wider. Jeff had a photo of New Years Eve in his locker. A picture with Nick. Nick felt like his smile would never disappear again. This made him happy. Before thinking too long he took out a pad and started to write his answer to Jeff.

January 2005

Dear Jeff,

Our maid Charly was waiting with your letter for me today. When I came home from school, she was all happy and gave it to me. Thank you so much. You made my day. The first week of school is over now and I am already sure that I want this school year to end. But I'll tell you about this later. First I wanted to thank you for the photos. One of them, I don't know which one yet, will get a place in my locker as well. Maybe all if I can't decide. I don't have other photos to put there, so there would be enough space for all of them. But it would be kind of creepy, wouldn't it?

So tell me, does Jennifer have another crush now? Or is she still deeply in love with this guy from New York? No one here is ever in love so no rumors about that for you, I am sorry. The only singles here are Charly and I. I, personally, don't plan to change this and Charly isn't really in a good situation to change it. Can I tell you a secret? I guess you'll never tell my parents so I can tell you: Charly is a lesbian. My parents aren't allowed to know because we both don't know how they would react. She told me a year ago when she was having a bad night and I heard her crying. Charly is our maid, you know, we should not share such a deep friendship. But she is only 24, so not really that much older than me, and she is here since I was 4 years old. She lives in our house and has always been here, no matter where my parents are. So we both became friends. I had a nanny when I was younger, but that was only another way for spending some money. I always played with Charly when I was back at home, no matter if there was a nanny or not. So as soon as my parents realized that (and I have to say it took a while), they fired the nanny and I was allowed to stay home alone with Charly. But what I wanted to say: No potential lovers here. Sorry.

The flight back home was nice. I slept most of the time. It was a calm flight and no, we didn't crash. Luckily. We would have crashed right into the ocean. And I am not a good swimmer.

I am okay, thank you for asking. How are you? My manners aren't really good right now. I should have asked that at the beginning. But okay. How was your first week of school? When you get this letter I guess the second week is over already as well. So tell me about your school time. Was it nice to see your friends again? I don't have friends on my school. It is a private school and the boys are all arrogant and the girls are bitchy. So I don't really fit into their circles. I am more of a loner, I guess. But I don't mind. When it is like this I can concentrate on my school work and don't have to worry about something else occupying my mind.

Please tell Elise a big Thank you for her greetings and all the best greetings back. I am so happy that she told you how to write a letter. Tell her Thank you for that as well!

Winter here is never really crazy. We didn't have real snow this winter. I have to confess I don't really miss it. I am usually a really clumsy person when it comes to snow. One year we had a lot of snow and I was sliding around and I slipped…and was landing on my back. It hurt for weeks. So I really don't miss the snow. I miss summer and autumn. My favorite season is autumn. It is funny to see the trees changing colors.

Oh, I should be writing an essay right now, but I decided to write you a letter first. When I got yours I immediately felt like answering it, so I used this feeling and sat down and wrote to you, just as you can see. After that there will still be enough time for my essay. A whole weekend. What are your plans for the next weekend? I will stay inside and enjoy some nice tea and a good book. Maybe I'll read the first Harry Potter book again. I just love these books.

I really hope that you are right and that 2005 will be totally awesome. Until now it was really lame but I got your letter today so I should stop complaining.

My parents are in Dublin right now. I don't know when they come back. They left on Wednesday, so I guess they'll be back today or tomorrow. But I can never be sure. They never tell me when they come home so I won't make unannounced parties. I am not quite sure if they understand that I am 10 and not 16. All parties I would like to make are with nothing but juice and maybe a Disney movie marathon. But for that I would need friends, right?

I guess my weekend will end with a Disney movie marathon alone or with Charly. I am in the right mood for The Lion King right now.

I don't know if you are interested in this, but I am sending you a photo of my school. I cut it out of the school newspaper which comes monthly. On the front page you can always see a photo of a part of the school and on the first page with text you can always see this photo and a description of our school and of the newspaper. If you want I can send you a whole newspaper next time. Just let me know. Sometimes there are photos of the students inside. I wasn't inside the paper for a long time as I didn't join clubs this year. But maybe next year.

Okay, I guess I will end up know. I hope I didn't disturb you with my letter. I will wait patiently for your answer.

Greetings from London,

Nick

Nick closed the envelope he had borrowed from the office of his dad and ran downstairs again. "Charly, I need to go to the post office. Do you want to join me?" Charly just smiled and went to get her coat and her scarf. "You already wrote back?" She asked when she came back and Nick nodded. "Of course. I couldn't let him wait. I can show you photos of us later. He has sent me some." Charly smiled and linked her arm with Nicks. "So, young boy, let's leave!" And they both went out of the door to get this letter on its way to Jeff.