A little different than my usual stories on here, but I wanted to see how it would turn out, and I really like it. Hope you do too :)
September 10
Hi! So my mom told me that I should start making new friends, but I'm pretty shy so I'm not the best at that, so she told me to try to be someone's pen pal. Oh, I almost forgot! My name is Marley Rose. I'm a sophomore in high school and I live in Lima, Ohio. What's your name? Oh gosh, I hope this isn't like a 50 man or something. That would be awkward. Anyway, hope to hear from you soon.
-Marley
September 14
Hi Marley! No, I'm not a 50 year old man. My name's Jake Puckerman. I'm also a sophomore in high school and I live in Los Angeles with my older brother Noah. I'm also not that great with making friends. My brother had a reputation in high school as the "bad boy," so people associate that with me too. I should get going now; I've got tons of homework to do. Talk to you soon.
-Jake
September 16
Hey Jake! Well I don't really know anything about you, but you seem like a really nice person from the letter you sent to me. Truth is, I kind of lied. It's not that I don't have any friends because I'm shy. It's because my mom is the lunch lady at my school, and people insult her and call her really offensive names because she's a little larger than normal. People think I'm going to end up like her, so nobody talks to me. It gets really lonely. I'm just glad I can talk to you about this even though I don't even know you. I hope I'm not creeping you out.
-Marley
September 19
Don't worry, you're not creeping me out. People insult me too. I'm half black, half white, and Jewish, so I get a bunch of racist jokes. It is what it is. If I went to your school, I would be your friend. We outsiders need to stick together right?
-Jake
September 29
Hey, sorry it's been so long, but I have good news. I think I actually made a new friend. Her name's Kitty. She's the head cheerleader at my school and she was in the school musical with me. She seems pretty nice. Details to come :)
-Marley
October 2
I'm glad you made a friend. It seems a little suspicious though. I mean, what kind of name is Kitty? Haha I'm joking. Hope you're having a good school year so far.
-Jake
October 6
Eh, school's going okay. I'm not doing that well in geometry, but I don't really need to know about triangles and their measurements to become a singer, right? Otherwise I'm doing fine. What about you?
-Marley
October 10
You want to be a singer? That's awesome! I play the guitar a little. As for school, I'm not really doing so well. I didn't really go to any of my classes in the beginning of the year, but then one of my teachers said that if I didn't go to any classes, I wouldn't graduate. And I need to graduate.
-Jake
October 13
Maybe if you joined some clubs or do sports or something, you can get higher grades and graduate. Speaking of clubs, I actually joined the glee club at my school. Everyone else thinks it's lame, but I really like it. Kitty joined too. I think we're becoming really good friends. I can talk to her about anything.
-Marley
October 15
My school is really small, so the only clubs that are there are the chess club and the garden club. I'm trying to form a music club though. Maybe people will join. I hope. You should send me a video of you singing. I'd really like to see that.
-Jake
October 19
Ugh, I'm exhausted. My glee club is performing at sectionals in a couple weeks, and we've been rehearsing non stop. There's this guy, Blaine. He's kind of the lead singer of the club, but his boyfriend just broke up with him so he's an emotional wreck. I just hope he gets it together in time for sectionals.
-Marley
October 23
Update! Three new members joined my new music club! We're going to perform in front of the school at the Halloween festival. What are you going to be for Halloween? I'm going as Spiderman.
-Jake
October 25
That's great! I'm glad people are joining your club! Kitty and I are going as an angel and a devil. I'm the angel, she's the devil. I need to go now. I'm writing this letter during glee club, and Blaine just had another meltdown. I never realized how hard breakups were.
-Marley
October 28
You've never had a boyfriend before? Neither have I. Girlfriend, I mean. Not boyfriend.
-Jake
October 30
Nope. I'm mostly the third wheel with Kitty and her new boyfriend Ryder. It seems like everybody at school is dating someone except me. Anyway, hope you have a good halloween.
-Marley
November 3
Yeah, I know how you feel. It could be worse though. My brother got this girl pregnant in high school and they weren't even dating. She was dating someone else. It was awful. She had to give the baby up for adoption, which was probably the best idea. Puck still throws a tantrum when he dies in a video game.
-Jake
November 5
You're brother's name is Puck?
-Marley
November 6
His real name's Noah, but he wants everyone to call him Puck. Do you have any siblings?
-Jake
November 9
Nope, just me and my mom. My dad left when I was younger. It's a little lonely with just the two of us, but we manage.
-Marley
November 13
Yeah, same with me and Puck. It's pretty lonely too. Just two more years till graduation though.
-Jake
November 19
Sorry it's been so long. I've just been dealing with something and I can't tell anyone about it. It turns out Kitty lied to me this whole time. She never wanted to be my friend. She told me that I should stop hanging out with her because I'm going to start to rapidly gain weight and end up like my mom really soon. Her words, not mine. She told me I should stop that by making myself throw up. I thought I had it under control, but I've been doing it everyday this week. I don't know what to do.
November 22
Marley, you have to tell someone. Is there a guidance counselor or something at your school? This is really serious. I wish I was there :(
-Jake
November 25
Yeah, I wish you were here too. It's weird, because even though I don't even know you, I feel more comfortable talking to you then to anyone else. Anyways, sectionals is tomorrow! I'm really excited! I'll tell you how it goes.
-Marley
November 29
Jake! We won sectionals! I'm so happy! Are group came in first place out of three! How are you doing?
-Marley
December 1
Marley, hey! I'm so glad you guys won! What are you doing for winter break?
-Jake
December 7
Nothing really, just staying here in Lima. What about you?
-Marley
December 10
Probably just staying in LA with Puck. Same as every year.
-Jake
December 15
Well have fun. Hope you get lots of presents!
-Marley
Marley checked her mailbox like she did everyday, expecting to see a letter from Jake. Unfortunately, nothing came. It was Christmas Eve and she thought Jake would send her a letter wishing her a merry Christmas. She sent one about two weeks ago wishing him a happy Hanukkah, but he never wrote back. He was probably sick of writing back and forth so much, she thought. Even though they've never actually met in person, Marley felt connected to him. During the past few months, she even developed a huge crush on him, even though she didn't even know what he looked or sounded like. Marley sighed, went back upstairs, and fell asleep, wondering if Jake was as amazing in person as he was in writing.
Marley's mother woke her up the next morning around noon. "Marley, wake up! There's a boy here to see you!" She shouted.
"A boy? What boy would want to see me?" Marley asked, confused.
"He said his name is Jake."
"What?!" Marley jumped out of bed and ran to the door, completely forgetting that she was still wearing her pajamas.
Jake waiting anxiously at her door, silently freaking out. He knew it was crazy, and a little stalkerish how he managed to find out where she lived. It was pretty easy, actually. There aren't a lot of people who live in Lima, so he searched "Marley Rose" and found her mom's address. He wasn't sure if it was the best idea to surprise her like this; he barely even knew her. At least her mom seemed happy that a boy came to see her. Jake really liked Marley's mom. They talked for a little while outside when Marley was still sleeping. His thoughts were interrupted by a figure running to the door. He held his breath and waited for her to open it, silently wondering if she was as amazing in person as she was in writing.
Marley opened the door, coming face to face with a very attractive boy. "H-Hi," she stuttered.
"Hi. I don't think I've introduced myself properly. I'm Jake." He held out his hand.
Marley seemed a little hesitant at first, but then slowly reached out her arm and shook his hand. "I'm Marley."
"It's, uh, it's really nice to meet you," Jake smiled.
"Yeah, you too. I thought you forgot about me or didn't want to write to me anymore because I haven't heard from you in weeks."
"I know, I'm really sorry. I've actually been planning this for a long time. I wanted it to be a surprise."
"So, am I like what you imagined me to be like from my letters? Marley asked, inviting Jake inside.
He took a seat on the couch next to her. "Well, let's see. I imagined you to be a really pretty girl who has an awesome personality and is super nice and caring and loves to sing." He paused to stare into her eyes in a non-creepy way. "Yeah, I think I got it pretty spot on."
Marley blushed. "Yeah, and I imagined you to be not that great looking, you know since you said that nobody really talks to you or wants to be your friend. But, yeah, I was definitely wrong about that." She smirked.
"So how is this going to work?" He asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that we live so far away, and now that we've met, I really want to see you more often."
"I-I don't know," Marley frowned. "I guess we could keep on writing to each other."
"Yeah, that sounds good. And I'll give you my phone number so we can call and text."
"Okay," Marley giggled.
Before he even knew what he was doing, Jake pressed his lips against Marley's. She opened her eyes in shock but then kissed him back.
"Hi," he said when they broke apart.
"Hi," she giggled back.
Who would have thought having a long distance pen pal would result in an actual amazing relationship?