The idea of a pen pal had seemed very strange to Maura at first. She didn't understand the point in writing to someone she didn't know, but her mother had encouraged her to sign up for the program that her school offered in conjunction with one a few states away. Constance had hoped that in doing this, Maura—who was nearing eleven and had yet to make any good friends—might be able to get close to someone.

She had no idea the extent to which Maura lived for Jane Rizzoli's letters.

Dear Maura,

Holy cow, Thanksgiving is crazy! This year my mom's family is spending it with us, so me and Frankie are sleeping on the floor to make room for some of my cousins, and Tommy's got to share his bed with two of them. We had a HUGE dinner with TONS of food, way more food than I've ever seen in my life! Or maybe just more food then I've seen since Thanksgiving last year. We had mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls and cranberry sauce, yams (I think that's what my mom called them. Anyway there's marshmallow in them but they aren't dessert, and they're REALLY yummy! I wish I could send you some.), and green beans (I didn't eat alot of those though), and of course A HUGE TURKEY! It was delicious! I had seconds of everything. It was all so good but I thought I was going to barf everywhere afterwards because I ate so much!

After dinner a lot of the grown-ups started watching a football game on TV, and me and my cousins and brothers went outside to play football ourselves. I'm really good at it. You said you don't like sports, right? You should see me play sometime. I bet that would change your mind! My boy cousins and Tommy and Frankie used to not like to play football with me because I'm a girl and they didn't want to tackle me, but then I tackled one of my cousins and almost broke his arm, and they all said it was okay to get me back. Ha ha ha! Everyone always wants me on their team now. We got really dirty playing and mom was mad, but we had a lot of fun and just had to wash our hands before dessert.

Oh my gosh! Dessert was awesome! Cherry pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, lemon merang pie (I think that's how its spelled. Have you had it before? It's REALLY good, and I didn't think I liked lemon!). Also my grandma always makes her secret family recipe snickerdoodles, even though my mom doesn't think they're very Thanksgivingy. Whatever! It's food. It's Thanksgivingy!

I bet your family had a big party! Did you have fun? What did you have to eat? Did anything crazy happen? My mom thought it would be fancy to light some candles on the table for dessert and Tommy knocked one over when he was trying to get some pie and the tablecloth caught on fire! Everybody was screaming until my dad dumped a pitcher of water on it and saved everything. Everything except the rest of the pumpkin pie, because he got it all wet! He said it was just another day at the Rizzoli's, and everybody laughed about it, even my mom.

I hope your Thanksgiving was as good as mine! I can't believe Christmas is so soon! I'm so excited. I'll wait to tell you what I asked for until you write me back about your Thanksgiving.

Till next time!

Jane R.

After reading the letter for the fifth time, Maura folded it carefully and slipped it into the drawer of her nightstand. She turned off her light and rolled over, curling into a ball on her bed as she contemplated her response. It always took her a few days to come up with good letters, because she was never fully honest with Jane.

Telling lies was difficult, but she found that if she wrote them down, it felt less like a lie and more like a story - a story of what she wished her life was like.

Dear Jane,

It sounds like you had a really fun Thanksgiving! Mine was, too. My parents spent the whole day before baking things together, and they threw flour at each other while they were making pies. It was really silly but really fun, and they were listening to old rock 'n' roll songs while they were making the food. It was almost like a party before the party. When my mom wasn't looking, my dad would let me sneak bites of some of the chocolate they were using. It was so good!

I didn't have to sit at the kids table this year. It was really fun to sit with my parents and all their friends. I didn't understand some of the things they talked about, but I listened hard and even got to talk some. Everyone thinks I'm smart, which is nice. Before dessert, all the kids went outside to play, but I stayed in and talked with the grown-ups. You're right, I don't like sports very much. If I'd wanted to, I could have gone and played with them, but I thought talking was more interesting. Besides, it's really cold outside and I was so warm! I don't know how it is in Boston, but it's very chilly here in Washington D.C.

What did you ask to get for Christmas? I never know what to ask for. My parents are really good at surprising me with things, though. That's fun.

Sincerely,
Maura D. Isles

The next morning, Maura set out to put the letter to paper, but after writing "Dear Jane," she was stuck. Writing out a fantasy was nice sometimes, and it helped, but she was suddenly hit with the desire to write down the truth for once. What would it hurt? It might feel good. She wanted to be honest with Jane, who sometimes felt like the only person who was really interested in her. That might all change, though, when the year was over and the program had ended. What if Jane never wanted to write her again? She pushed that thought to the back of her mind as she started to write:

Dear Jane,

Your Thanksgiving sounds like it was amazing. Better than mine. I kept wanting to see what we were having, but the cook shooed me out of the kitchen every time I tried to help.

The food was good, but it was hard to enjoy it because I was at the kids' table and nobody really wanted to talk with me. I read books above their level and I haven't seen any of the cartoons they like, and they think the music I listen to is boring. Actually they think everything about me is boring. They call me "Maura the Bore-a." So if you want to stop writing to me because I sound really boring, it's okay. I'd understand. None of the other kids wanted to try half of the amazing dishes our cook prepared, because they thought it smelled or looked 'weird,' and they just ate mashed potatoes and turkey and rolls. They really missed out on some delicious food.

Maybe if I had some cousins around, they would be nicer to me, or at least play with me like yours do. These are all just my parents' friends' kids, and none of us really know each other. That doesn't stop them from all having fun together, though. I'm the one that always gets left out.

Nobody here watches football, and the TV got used for video games instead. One kid brought a Wii, and all the kids were playing it, but they wouldn't let me play. I thought at first they just didn't want to let the girls play with it, but other girls were doing it. When I asked if I could too, they told me I'd be bad at it and wouldn't even let me try. I probably would be bad at it, but a LOT of them were bad at it, and they were still having fun. I just wanted to have fun, too.

I went upstairs where the grown-ups were, but nobody really paid me any attention. My parents and their friends are all really smart, and there's this one man who everyone thinks is really funny, but I never understand his jokes. He did actually try talking to me, but I got shy and I couldn't think of anything to say. Even when I heard someone talk about a book I really liked, I was too shy to say anything to them about it. People make me nervous, and she probably would have just laughed at me anyway.

Finally my mother noticed I was there, and she asked why I wasn't with all the other children. So I went back downstairs and just sat in a chair by the TV and waited for dessert, because at least then I'd have something to do. All my books are in my room, and my parents had forbidden me before the party from going upstairs even just to get one, because they didn't want me to try "closing myself away from everyone." At least the characters in books don't make me feel like I'm alone. At least they don't make fun of me. I don't know, maybe they would if they were real. I hope not.

My parents aren't religious and they think anyone who isn't religious who celebrates Christmas is too invested in commercialism. I went to a Christmas party once for one of my father's co-workers. It was really nice. The music was cheerful and everybody was happy, and they all ate too much. There were SO many desserts! I had a fun time there even though I was still alone. Christmas has a nice feeling to it.

I hope you have a good Christmas this year. Maybe I could send you a present, if you want? That's if you don't think I'm too boring, I mean. I'm sorry I made it sound like I was more interesting in my other letters. I'm sorry I'm not cool. You seem really cool and I just wanted you to like me.

She hastily scratched out the last line, thinking somehow it made her more pathetic than anything else she'd written so far.

I'm leaving my phone number here in case maybe sometime you wanted to talk on the phone. I want to hear what your laugh sounds like. You always sound really happy.

love, Maura

….

A week and a half later, Maura was finishing up some homework when she heard the phone ring. Usually she didn't pay it much attention, as nobody ever called the house for her - but she'd been a little on edge ever since giving Jane her phone number. She strained her ears for footsteps that might be making their way towards her room, and her heart started beating wildly when she heard just that.

Constance poked her head inside. "Maura?"

"Yes?"

"A friend of yours is on the phone for you."

"Who is it?"

"Jane Rizzoli."

When she saw the smile that broke out on her daughter's face as she eagerly reached for the phone, Constance thought she might have finally understood the excitement described by "a kid at Christmas."