Letters from a stone to a Star

Dear Jasper,

We had the first school assembly today. This place is...weird. And the uniforms are kinda tacky, if you ask me. Not that anyone did. I mean, so far this place doesn't seem too bad. But then again, most things don't look that bad at a first glance. I'm sure this place's dark underbelly will surface soon enough. But yeah, for now it doesn't seem too bad. Though I did see a couple of kids here. I mean legitimate kids. Like, ten years old, Jasper. The one was a girl with silver hair (no joke, I don't think it's dyed, either). She looked fairly shy and I didn't really talk to her. The other one is apparently a kid genius who skipped two grades. I think he wants to be friends with me? He may be a kid genius, but I don't think hanging out with me is going to help his chances of doing anything in this school, so I kindly told him to buzz off. I don't think he got the hint though. And I somehow ended up rooming with him after switching rooms with these kids who were apparently related. I'm not sure what all happened with that, but it seems like I might be stuck with the kid for at least this semester. In any case, this school is already better than public school because I don't have to come home every night. I hope mom and dad don't give you too much grief now that I'm not home for them to pick on. They really love you though, so I don't think it will really be a problem. We should hang out some weekend if you're not busy. I heard they're opening up a new amusement park the next town over. So that's a thing. I'll keep you updated on what happens here at Roulette High. Probably gonna be a whole lot of drama. But it's highschool, so that's normal. You would know most about that anyways. Talk to you soon.

Your little brother,
Boreas

Dear Jasper,

Just found out that there's a school paper here. "The Newspaper Club". Do remember that girl Liz I used to hang out with in seventh grade? She's apparently the head of the club. I saw a couple of her articles. She's actually a pretty good writer. Though I guess I couldn't expect her to still be at the same level of writing she was when we were in seventh grade, right? I'm kinda surprised she's able to juggle cheerleading and leading a whole club, though. I can't see her having given up cheerleading just to run a newspaper. There's also apparently a whole social media site just for the students of RH. That's kinda crazy to think about, really. Though it was through that site (it's called "Rollr" by the way. Weird name if you ask me, but whatever) that I found out this school has its fair share of bullies too. One of them is an anonymous writer for the newspaper club. They claim to only write rumors (their actual nickname is Rumor, it's pretty damn unoriginal), but they've been writing some pretty personal secrets about other students. I know I shouldn't, but I want to find out who this person is so I can plaster their secrets all over the school paper. Let them know how it feels. It's seriously awful that people actually get a kick out of what they write. I know I'm supposed to be staying out of trouble, but you know how much bullies piss me off. Like, deal with your own problems before making fun of other people because they have problems too.

Anyways...since I've gotten here, I've had a bit of writer's block. It sucks, but I've been thinking about sending an anonymous piece to Liz to see if I can get it in the paper. Maybe the feedback will help pull me out of this slump. As always, hope you're doing okay alone with mom and dad. Kinda starting to miss you, and it's only been a couple weeks. Shoot me a message or something when you get this.

Love ya,
Boreas

Hey Jasper,

Turns out Liz actually remembers me. I wasn't really expecting as much. In fact, I was kinda hoping she didn't. She's a good girl, she shouldn't be hanging around with me, you know? I don't think I'll be able to shake her off though. She's smart, too, so she'd know what I'm trying to do if I even made an attempt to get rid of her. It's not that I don't want to hang out with her. She might be the only person here who knows me from back then. But it's just bad for her. I'm sure she has a reputation to uphold. Speaking of, it turns out she's not actually doing cheerleading anymore. She had an accident a while ago and hurt her leg, so cheering it out of the question now. She tells me she found peace with it once she became president of the Newspaper Club though, so she's okay now. As happpy-go-lucky as ever. She even wants to hang out with me over the summer, but I told her it wasn't a good idea. Even if I try to get decent grades, I doubt I'll get far. And without good grades...well, I foresee a pretty boring summer. And I ended up talking to Liz about getting my pieces put into the newspaper and she agreed! So...I guess these are my first actual publications? It's a start, I guess. I'm kinda nervous, honestly. I've never had my work read by the public before. I hope it doesn't get too much hate...

Talk to you soon,
Boreas

Jasper, are you really putting off college for me? Is that why you haven't moved away yet? You could make it on your own, I don't understand why you're staying at mom and dad's place. It's not like they need the financial aid. You don't need to hold yourself back for me. You could go so far. You're super talented, don't waste it. I don't need that on my conscience too. Stop worrying about me and actually do something with your life! I don't need your help. I don't need you to worry about me, worry about yourself. You're too smart to waste your life taking care of your idiot brother. I'm not going anywhere and I'll only end up being an anchor. I'll only hold you back. If that really is the reason you haven't left yet then please just stop. I don't need you to wait for me and I don't need you to help me. You'd make it so much farther if you just didn't worry about me.

If only I had the guts to send you these damn letters or to tell you this in person. But nah...these letters are probably just going to keep piling up in this stupid folder.

I love you, but I don't need you being dragged down because of me. Just move on.

-Boreas