Hey y'all! Here's our Christmas Story for you!
P.S. See You on Christmas
Mercedes sat in the lobby, lightly tapping her foot as she waited for her advisor to finish babbling on about whatever it was she was trying to tell her. She was in her senior year of college at Berklee and she had already had a few jobs lined up after she graduated.
"Holly, I have class in forty-five minutes. What are you trying to say?"
Holly Holiday turned offering her a bright smile. "You were selected for an international pen pal program!"
Mercedes looked at her confused. "What does that mean exactly? How was I selected for something I didn't sign up for?" She questioned.
The blonde let out a nervous chuckle. "Well… I put you in the running and before you get upset. It's a few email exchanges and you'll get another credit which will have you graduate as Magna Cum Laude!"
"Holly, I have studio time scheduled as my extracurricular… I won't have time to do this!"
"Oh hush, hush! You absolutely will, you should already have an email waiting!" She said, pulling Mercedes up and walking her to the door. "Now, you're going to be pals with someone from Cambridge and you are a representation of Berklee so keep that in mind!"
Holly all but shoved her out of the office and Mercedes pulled her phone out of her purse going right to her emails.
She immediately spotted one from samevans . She glanced around the empty hallway before leaning against the wall and opening it.
Dear Mercedes Jones of Berklee College,
Hi from Cambridge! My name is Sam Evans, I am 20, a Junior here and studying Architecture and design. I grew up in Nashville TN and I love Marvel so if you aren't a Marvel fan, we may not have much to talk about. lol but in all realness I am excited to get to know you and hear about your life.
Yours, Sam Evans
PS I know this may seem lame but can you at least reply so I can get the credit? Awesome.
Mercedes hesitated for a moment, she could at least reply. She hit reply and started typing.
Dear Sam Evans of Cambridge,
Umm… hi! I'm Mercedes, I'm twenty-one and a Senior at Berklee. I'm majoring in Principle Instrument- vocal and minoring in contemporary writing and production. I grew up in Los Angeles and love singing and I'm more of a DC girl but I like Marvel (ha!). Who knows we can at least talk about how DC is superior to Marvel. I look forward to getting to know you too, feel free to ask anything.
Always, MJ
P.P.S Here's to you getting that credit. ?
After proofreading it, she hit send and hurried off to her next class. She stuck to a pretty strict schedule during the week so that she wouldn't fall behind and since her entire family was on the West Coast, she was basically in Boston alone. She had her friends that she met over the years.
Mercedes met Quinn Fabray her freshman year through her roommate and they became inseparable after that. Quinn was studying Law at Harvard and was on the fast track to graduating early, they started hanging out between classes on weekends before moving in together their junior year.
Mike Chang was her dance partner second year and they instantly hit it off due to their mutual love of music. There was a small flirtation between them but it ended shortly after it started due to them both being too busy to explore anything further. They've since then introduced each other to people and that's how she met Sebastian.
Sebastian was at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, he was majoring in Photography and minoring in Film. The moment Mercedes met him and realized his snark matched her sass, she knew it was a match made in heaven. And that's where she met Savannah. Savannah was her twin flame, Sebastian had been raving on and on about the two of them meeting and when it finally happened, Mercedes knew she had a lifelong friend in her.
Savannah was studying Broadcast Journalism at Boston University and met Sebastian when his college was hosting a networking event for students in the area. They both had been using each other to practice their respective degrees and when Mercedes came into the mix, they had their own personal 'doll' to play with. Sebastian often asked her to model for him while Savannah asked her to play her co-host or guest on some of her mock shows.
As she listened to her professor, her phone vibrated and she quickly glanced down seeing another email from that Sam guy. Curiously she opened it, amused.
Dear Mercedes,
You may need to tell me what Principle Instrument, vocal, and all of those big words that you just said, mean. What does that turn into job-wise? L.A. That must have been fun! Now onto this DC thing, I have one word for you. Rude!
R- really, DC?
U-understand I will spend my free time bringing you over to the marvel side.
D-do me a favor and surrender.
E- Enjoy your new normal.
Lol until we chat again.
Sam
Sam Evans walked off the field and towards the locker rooms, as he grabbed his things.
"Great game Evans!" His friend and teammate Rory Flanagan said, patting him on the back.
As the quarterback of the Pythons, Sam tried to hold himself up as a role model, and Rory definitely saw him as a big brother. "Thanks, Rory, you and I both know that if we keep working at it, we can go all the way this year."
"Are you headed to the student center?"
Grabbing his phone, Sam shook his head. "No, I have to get to work. I, unlike you slackers, actually have a job."
Rory rolled his eyes. "Whatever, still don't understand why you are working, when your parents are loaded…aye did you talk to your pen pal? Mine is someone named Brittany, but she signs off with Lord Tubbington knows, it's kinda weird."
"I work because I want to be able to say I did this myself." Sam stopped in his tracks. "Wait, who the hell is Lord Tubbington?"
"I don't know but she wants me to see if I can get him a knighthood."
Sam smiled. "Well my pen pal and I only exchanged emails once, but she seems cool, if you get past her love for DC over Marvel comics."
Rory shook his head. "I am surprised you didn't just block her, wasn't it you who turned down Chloe for a second date because she said she was a fan of Captain Man the kryptonite-loving bat who fights crime?"
Sam cringed at the memory. "Look there is a difference between knowing who the characters are and not having the knowledge to understand that Marvel is better, and mashing up Captain America, Batman, and Superman as one person."
"But she was hot."
"Hot or not, I couldn't do it. But my pen pal seems cool so I can teach her the right order of things." Checking his watch he slammed his locker. "I will see you in class tomorrow." He slapped his friend on the back as he walked out of the building and towards the campus bookstore.
Even though his parents offered to pay his way, and offered to take care of all of his expenses, Sam was happy to work at the bookstore. With his scholarship, everything is basically paid for but the bookstore gave him extra spending money.
Walking inside he clocked in and nodded towards Artie, one of his closest friends and his assistant manager.
"Where is Janice? Didn't I put her on the schedule for tonight?"
Artie nodded. "You did and she called in saying she was sick, gave me a fake cough, and then I heard her laughing saying it was party time, and then she hung up…so I think she's done."
Sam laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, I should have fired her last week when she forgot to lock up, thank God I forgot my bookbag."
"Why didn't you?"
Sam pulled out his phone with a sigh. "Her dad paid for something or another at the school, and my advisor said this was the safest job for her on campus soo." He pulled up his email and smiled as he realized Mercedes wrote him back.
Dear Sam,
Ha! That was clever but I'm more than sure I could get you over to the DC side faster than you can with me to Marvel. As for my major, Principle Instrument-Vocals it is a fancy way of saying my voice is my instrument, I'm a singer so I have to exercise and train my vocal chords. Living in Los Angeles sounds fun but I grew up a little bit on the other side… sure it's fun because you get to see all the celebrities but there's so much more to it. I miss being home but I like it in Boston. How's England? I'm assuming you're not from there? Do you miss home?
xo
-MJ
"Dude! You there?" Artie asked, waving his hands in front of Sam's phone.
Sam looked up, frowning. "What?"
Artie gave him a look before looking down at his phone then smirking. "Who's Mercedes?"
"Remember that international pen pal thing I signed up for? Well I was paired with a girl named Mercedes from Berklee… she's pretty dope."
Artie shook his head. "Hmm… Mercedes sounds like a sista… you can't handle that! Give her to me!" He replied, trying to take Sam's phone.
"Dude, calm down! I don't even know what she looks like besides, it's for college credit and I'm taking all the courses I can!"
Artie moved closer to him. "So you haven't seen her at all?"
Sam smirked. "No, it's not like that, now get to work."
Sam grabbed the stack of books, walked to the shelf, and stocked them, wanting to get most of his work done before he wrote her back. He did wonder if they would get to the point of exchanging photos. He also decided he was gonna send her definitive proof that Marvel was better than DC.
Once he was done with stocking, he moved behind the counter and pulled his phone out seeing a missed call from his sister. Smiling he dialed her number.
"Hey Stace, what's up?"
"Guess what Sammy!" His younger sister said excitedly. "Stevie was caught with a girl in his room and mom and dad totally busted him."
Sam shook his head, ever since Stevie hit his teens, the girls were all over him. "Well, I am sure they are doing what they need to. You don't have boys in your room do you?"
"No! I am too busy trying to get into this Criminal Science program. I don't have time for boys."
"Good girl!" Sam laughed.
"Are you coming home for Christmas?"
"I am gonna try. How about I call you tomorrow and you can tell me all about this program."
"Okay, but don't forget like last time."
"I won't, I love you." Sam hung up and pulled up his emails. He reread her letter and hit reply.
Dear MJ,
MJ, is that what people call you? Or do they call you Cedes, Mercy, or something like that? So you are a singer, shouldn't you have stayed in L.A. if you were going to be a singer? That's where all the big singing sensations are, right? I love London, it's far from my family and I miss them terribly, but it was a full ride and I wanted to travel. I never had before as for Marvel vs DC. You can not tell me that the Justice League will beat the Avengers, there's just no way. And that is a hill I will die on. Gotta go, but tell me your favorite song to sing, and your favorite superhero. TTYL.
Sam
This is a cute one!