Jess took the things to his room and ignored the questions of his family. The paints were still like new, and the drawing books only had a few of Leslie's doodles in it. He smiled slightly as he saw a drawing that looked remarkably like a Terabithian. Finally he came to the notebook. He had no idea why this happened to be so special, but opened it up anyways. What he saw shocked him. Pages and pages of writing filled the book. Feeling guilty, Jess read the first entry.

Dear notebook,

Today might be normal for some other kid, but for me it's like torture on a slightly smaller scale. My parents decided to move a few weeks ago and we just got done packing. I have no idea what I'm going to do without the friends I made, but I suppose I'll have to adjust. I just hope the kids at my new school aren't as mean as the last school I went to.

Jess flipped through some more pages until he came to one marked: Jess Aarons.

Dear notebook,

Today I saw a boy out running. Naturally I went to go investigate. His name's Jesse Aarons. He also happens to be my next door neighbor. I hope we can become friends.

He smiled. She had no idea.

Dear notebook,

School isn't that bad after all. Today I joined in the boys races at recess….I was the only girl in school would dare do such a thing. They almost didn't let me come, but Jess made fun of one of the boys….Scott Hoager, I think his name was. After that, they left me alone. I felt really bad afterwards because I beat Jess. According to his sister May Belle, he had been working for a long time to get the title of the fastest kid in fifth grade. I feel bad I stole it from him. Now he won't even talk to me. I think he's mad at me.

Jess laughed out loud at this. For one, he had been pretty upset with her. For another, trifles like that seemed of long ago. More flipping of pages and he reached the next entry.

Dear notebook,

I've changed my mind. I hate this school and really don't want to go back tomorrow. Mom says I have to though. But on the plus side I earned Jess as a friend. Today everyone made fun of me all because my dad doesn't think it fitting to have a television set. I mean, who needs television!? Anyways, I got really upset and after school I made my way to the back of the bus, where supposedly, Janice Avery sits. How was I supposed to know? But Jess pulled me out of the way right before she creamed me. After that, we kind of clicked together. When we got home we decided to go out and explore the woods surrounding the area. I decided we should have a secret country all to ourselves and we named it Terabithia.

Jess found he couldn't swallow without feeling as though he would begin to cry. He hated that feeling…he was thirteen after all. But he couldn't help it.

Dear Terabithians,

I've decided to write to you royal subjects now, as saying 'dear notebook' isn't nearly as interesting. I've loaned Jess all my books about secret countries so he'll know what it's supposed to be like in Terabithia. I must admit though, he's doing a wonderful job of being a king. He's a hard worker too, which is always a plus. We already have a mighty castle that scrapes the top of the skies with it's tall towers.

Jess remembered that. They were his "lessons" as he and Leslie had jokingly called them.

Dear Terabithians,

Janice Avery deserves to be shot. Today she fell on her own stupid accord and blamed Jess. The bus driver made him walk the rest of the way home and I thought it highly unprinicpalistic. I really don't even know if that's a word, but I don't exactly care either.

Racking his brains, Jess tried to remember when Janice did that. Try as he might he couldn't. He shrugged. He flipped through more pages.

Dear Terabithians,

Today, we have a new royal member joining Terabithia! Please bow your heads for the new Prince Terrien. Ok, so I got Jess a paint set, no big deal really. But he gave me a dog! My very own dog! We've decided to name him Prince Terrien…but he's really the court jester.

He turned to the second to last entry, wondering what he would find.

Dear Terabithians,

I think the weather despises us or something. It hasn't stopped raining. You should see the creek we swing across, it's getting really high and whenever we swing across it, our feet touch the water. I think it adds excitement to the place, but I'm not sure Jess feels the same way. He always looks really squeamish whenever we cross.

Jess shut his eyes before forcing himself to read the last entry.

Dear Terabithians,

I was really looking forward to going to Terabithia today with Jess. But he decided to go to some art museum with Mrs. Edmunds. I don't really mind, but I do wish he'd told me. It's all right though. I'm planning on going anyways after mom's done making breakfast. I wonder how high the creek got. Only one way to find out.

And that was the end. After that, there had been no more Leslie to fill the pages. Jess closed his eyes and tried once again not to cry. After a few moments he heard something in his room.

"Go away!" he shouted as he threw the notebook at the door.

"Jess? Are you all right?" a soft voice asked. Jess opened his eyes to find Leslie standing there in front of his bed.

"No," he said angrily.

"What's wrong?" Leslie asked coming over to sit next to him.

"Why….why'd you have to die, Leslie?" Jess asked as tears rolled down his cheeks. Leslie sat there for a few moments before she noticed the notebook on the floor. She walked over to it and stared.

"Where did you get this?" she asked. Jess embarrassedly wiped his eyes before saying,

"Your….your dad gave it to me." Leslie looked at him.

"My dad?" she whispered.

"Yeah. He said I'd like it," Jess muttered.

"No doubt you would. Did you read all of it?" Leslie asked quietly.

"No. Only a few entries. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry!" Leslie laughed. "It's just there's things in there…..that I never thought any one else would read."

"You can have it back," Jess said sniffing slightly.

"Jess," Leslie said in a skeptical voice, "what am I going to do with my old notebook?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. You can keep it….just read it when I'm not around. I really don't feel like blushing around you," Leslie chuckled. Jess didn't answer, but stared at the window.

"If you hadn't left….everything would be perfect," Jess murmured.

A/N: Ok, so the ending isn't brilliant(end of the chapter!) but please bear with me! Lol. So, it's official, I have like two more chapters and I'm done! Thanks so much for reading and I'll probably post the next chapter within a few days. I love you all!