Dear Henry

Dear Henry,
You’re welcome, well you see that guy, you remember Chris, asked me out on a date to the movies, and then when I showed up he wasn’t there. I waited for an hour there by myself, and then I left, realizing I had been played. I didn’t even want to come to school the next day, and I had managed to avoid him the entire day. But, afterschool I had a cross-country meet, and he had a soccer game. I remember he was standing outside the girl’s locker room, waiting for me to emerge. I had to leave eventually; you had to do 5 suicides if you were late. So when I came out, he whispered in my ear, “Nobody likes you.” There was no way I could face competition after that, I just had to escape, somewhere. I told Coach that I was meeting with a teacher, and as soon as I entered your room the tears would no longer stay down. But, anyways, that was a long time ago, just stupid high school stuff. You know, back in the world of clicks, popularity, rumors, and gossip.
As for your family problems, all I have to say is, “a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.” Once you tell one person, keeping something like that private, is like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube after you’ve squeezed it all out. I’m sorry to hear that, I knew you and your father were never close, and I’m very sorry for your loss. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know. It’s good to know you are not going through it alone, and at least you have Chili. I know what it’s like to lose a pet. I used to have 5 hermit crabs; I loved them very much, especially Sparkles, my favorite one. Sparkles survived all of the others, but I fed him too much. Then he got really fat, and his shell broke, so he died. That was the only time I’ve cried when a pet died, so I understand what that’s like, to lose a pet that is so much worse than to lose a friend.
I do remember that day, but you’ve done much worse. There was that time you made us memorize the periodic table of the elements, so you sang that element song. You were, by far, my craziest teacher, even crazier than most of my professors. So, you heard about that? Jess is such a busybody; I can’t believe she told you. Some people should just get a life. Well, thanks for the good wishes, the book should be coming out sometime in spring of next year. Everyone is quite excited over here. So, I guess you already know what’s new with me. I assume Jess told you everything.
As Always,
Rose