The Other Half || Jerrie

Chapter Ten

Jade hadn’t been on her email address from elementary school in four years, but one weekend during the fall of her senior year, she logged into her account on a whim. It wasn’t exactly a whim, but rather after having a discussion with Danielle about what their elementary school experiences had been like.

Jade had spoken about Leigh-Anne and fencing and her pen pal from the States.

“I’d felt awkward about having two dads, so I never responded to her email,” Jade explained to her girlfriend.

“Can I read the email she sent?” Danielle asked.

“Oh god, I haven’t been on that email account in forever, I hope I remember my password,” Jade laughed as she leaned over her girlfriend and grabbed her laptop from the side table and opened her Hotmail account.

Too lazy to go through the pages of spam emails, she typed ‘grandmasterartist’ into the search bar, impressed by the fact that she’d remembered her pen pal’s email address.

Jade was surprised to find not one, but two emails from her pen pal in her inbox. One of which was unread. She quickly glanced at the date the email was sent. July 30th, 2010. She’d received the email less than four months ago.

“So, are you going to open it?” Danielle asked, her chin resting on Jade’s shoulder as she looked over it at the screen.

“Yeah,” Jade responded. “It’s just so weird that she would email me again after all this time and I’d check the email address only a few months later.”

“Fate is weird like that,” Danielle chuckled. “Now open it.”

Jade promptly complied and clicked on the unread email.

Biscuit,

I have no idea if you even check this email address anymore. Actually, I don’t know if this was ever even the correct email address considering the fact that you never responded to my first email. That being said, I recently found your old letters and I think I figured out why. Silly nine-year-old me didn’t exactly catch on to the fact that you mentioned “Dads” multiple times in your letters, plural. And you never mentioned having a mom. So I’m just going to go out on a limb and guess that I made you feel awkward when I asked if your mom was getting fat (which was rude regardless) if your parents are two dads.

You’re probably wondering why I’m sending an email to you, eight years after we last communicated. To an email address I highly doubt you’ve checked since probably before Britney Spears went crazy. Well to answer that question, one I’m not even sure you’re asking because at this point this letter is more a shout into the void anyway, I have no idea.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. My dad died almost two and a half years ago, and I had a hard time dealing with it and now I’m moving to D.C. with my mom and new step-dad. I’m moving away from the town I lived in my entire life and while I’ve told everyone that I’m excited and not at all nervous, that’s far from the truth. It wasn’t until after I came across your old letters when packing up my room that I remembered that you moved around a lot growing up and had the hope that maybe you could give me some sage advice. Or maybe I just wanted to tell SOMEONE that I was nervous. Even if you never even read this.

Anyway, I hope life is good with you. Wow, that sentence sounded so awkward. But I’m just going to leave it. And now I’m rambling. In an email.

Oh! And if I was right about why you never responded, seriously don’t worry about it. I’m gay just like your dads. Or rather, I’m bi, but regardless you have nothing to worry about.

Grandmaster (yes I’m signing off with my old nickname)

Danielle helped Jade craft her response to the email.

Grandmaster,

It was by pure happenstance that I checked this email address, actually it was just my girlfriend being nosey about my past (jk I love her). I’m sorry to hear about the passing of your dad. I remember you mentioning how close you were to him in your letters back in elementary school.

I guess you’ve probably already started school in D.C., but I figured I’d give you some advice anyway.

To be honest, moving isn’t easy. It was easier when I was younger, but back then we were also moving to places where a large part of the community moved around a lot. Moving back to New York was a lot harder. I didn’t exactly do the best job making friends. That being said, I learned from what I did wrong, so I actually can help you.

Be open to making new friends. Everyone always knows who the new kid is, but judgments are passed quickly. Talk to everyone in your classes and try and figure out what friend group best matches you. Don’t be afraid to leave a friend group that doesn’t fit you. Don’t forget about your old friends in Connecticut, but make sure you spend time making new friends in D.C.

I think it would be weird if you weren’t nervous about moving some place new for your senior year. It’s okay to be nervous.

Good luck!

Biscuit (yes, I’m using mine too)

Jade made a habit of checking her old email address. She received another email from Grandmaster over winter break, telling Jade all about the two friends the girl had made, Liam and Marcus, and how even delayed, Jade’s advice had been helpful.

They began to exchange emails back and forth and Jade found herself enjoying the conversations she had with her old pen pal. Neither girl even realized that they’d never exchanged real names.

One of the main focuses of their exchanges was college. Jade had heard in early fall that she would be playing lacrosse at Columbia, but she was nervous about balancing schoolwork with practices. She was nervous about the possibility of Danielle going to a college nowhere near her. Perrie was worried that her sophomore and junior year grades would prevent her from getting into the schools she liked most.

Jade received an email from her pen pal when the girl got into NYU and another two days later when she got into her father’s alma mater, UCLA and decided that was where she wanted to go.

The last email Jade received before she moved into her dorm room at Columbia told her that Grandmaster’s best friend from Connecticut had gotten off the waitlist last minute at Columbia and was hoping to walk-on to the lacrosse team there, and that she should look out for her.

Unfortunately, Grandmaster had forgotten to tell Biscuit the name of her friend, and with ten girls try to walk onto the team, six from Connecticut, Jade had no way of knowing which one knew her pen pal.

She meant to ask Grandmaster which one was her friend, after one girl, Jesy Nelson, made the team, but after October 13th, 2011, she wasn’t able to send another email. She could let herself keep up a connection with someone she knew she would just end up losing.

What she didn’t know was that the connection between herself and “Grandmaster” was one that not even a natural disaster could sever.