It's My Life - Stacie Ramey Page 0,32
he gave me his Batman watch.
Read the first two chapters and then we’ll talk.
Well, since you won’t tell me your real name, I’ll have to have a nickname for you. How about I call you Juliet?
Ok. Now all I have to do is find my Romeo.
Wow talk about an arrow to the heart. Would it be too much to admit I’m slightly obsessed with these conversations now?
Obsession is a word that means something to me.
Maybe not Juliet, maybe that’s not right. You told me you like Elsa.
Cold and removed! I like it.
No. Beautiful. Happy to be herself.
That’s a little too close to home for me.
And we are losing focus. I found things for you for Great Gatsby.
I pull up the study guide I put together from those online sources earlier and paste them into our thread. Hit send.
Let me know if these help.
OMG This. Is. Awesome. You are awesome. I started reading earlier, and I didn’t get all of this…stuff. I was totally stuck. Thank you! Thank you!
That doesn’t mean you can cheat and not read the actual book, you know.
I don’t cheat.
I laugh.
So tell me something personal about you?
Like what?
Something no one else knows.
I think hard. What would sum me up?
I still believe in magic.
Who doesn’t?
I release a breath. I didn’t out myself. But then there’s this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, a disappointment that he didn’t figure it out. Like I believed on some level that he has also just been waiting for us to have that mock wedding from first grade.
He texts again.
You mean like magicians? I love magicians but I don’t think that’s real magic.
Sorry if you’re a magician.
I laugh.
I’m not a magician. I mean like mysticism, I guess.
There’s the kind of magic when I take the ice and I’ve got the puck and I know I’m going to score. Everything falls away. Nothing matters. Just me and the net.
That’s what I mean. Finding things that are bigger than just you. You know?
Yes! What do you have?
I guess I have stories.
Tell me one.
I swear I feel my heart swell and crack at the same time. Man, this is stupid. It’s not even real, but it feels so perfect. So personal.
Have you ever heard of the 36 saints?
No. Are they DC or Marvel?
They are a myth, maybe. A belief that at any given time there are 36 saints that serve to keep the world in balance. If one of them dies, another is born to replace them.
Wow.
Wait. Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
kinda
That’s very cool. And you believe in these saints?
I think so. I want to.
Are you one of these saints?
Can I tell you something? Without you thinking I’m an idiot?
?
I have dyslexia.
That’s no big deal. A lot of people have that.
It sucks. But I deal with it. It’s different for everybody, but for me it makes it hard to tell the difference between some of the emojis, especially the faces. The smiley face ones, the crying ones, the winky face ones, I can’t always reliably tell the difference between them, and I’m worried I’m going to send the wrong one at the wrong time.
I didn’t even know that was a thing. How about this—from now on, we’ll use the words. Like smiley face. Sad face. Laughing my ass off face. That work?
Yeah. Def. You don’t mind?
Not at all. It’ll be our thing.
Our thing?
Every superhero team needs a thing. This will be ours.
So we’re a team now?
Yup. Smiley face emoji.
You really are a saint. Smiley face emoji.
As he says that I can feel that breeze against my cheek. I hear the birds in the forest that day. I feel his hand in mine.
You’ve helped me so much. I’m here for you if you need. Ok? Any time. I never turn my phone off. Keep it right next to me. Day and night. So if you need to talk…
I laugh.
Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.
So tell me about Gatsby. Will it end happy?
No! You have to read it. And no fair skipping to the end. That’s for cheaters.
I told you. I never cheat. Don’t ride dirty. Don’t crease the paint. Don’t…
Like a hero. Going to sleep now.
Gnite Sweet Dreams.
I put my phone down and stare at the ceiling. After the tests, I’ve got to get real. The next few days are the last ones I can live as this Jennifer. I’ve got to face it. I promise myself I will. Which is why I do actually send an email to that Brittany Cox person.