Chapter Three Sixth Grade
Dear Collin,
If I pantsed Michael Dunford I would be suspended. But it’s summer break now, so I don’t have to see him for the next three months, and hopefully he won’t be in any of my classes next year in middle school.
What are you doing this summer? Are you going to be watching your younger brother and sister again?
I’m going to be going to space camp at the end of the summer, and I’m so excited!
My friend Dianna called me a nerd for wanting to go to it because she wanted me to go to some cheerleading camp with her.
I guess that would be fun, but I don’t see how learning how to jump around and shout things is going to help me get a job when I’m older. Have you ever gone to a summer camp?
Sincerely,
Glory
July 22, 2004
Dear Glory,
I learned how to play Satellite. It took me a long time, but it’s a cool song. I was surprised that you like those songs. I thought you’d like something by Britney Spears since you dressed up as her for Halloween. All of her songs are really easy to play.
I’ve never been to a summer camp. My mom said I could go to a math camp this year, but that didn’t sound very exciting to me.
And my mom decided not to work this summer, so I don’t have to watch my siblings, thank goodness.
Instead I’ve spent most of my time making money.
I’ve gone around collecting cans and taking them to the recycling center.
Then my brother Alex and I found an old wagon in the dumpster, and we cleaned it up and painted it and now we go sell bottled water and chips at Navy Pier every weekend.
It’s been really fun, and by the end of the summer I should be able to buy a new guitar.
Oh, and I finally bought all the Harry Potter books (I gave the first three to my sister since I’ve read them), and I read the fourth, fifth, and sixth books all in the last week and a half.
I haven’t really slept much, but I couldn’t help it, they are so good!
I wish I had taken my time though, because now I have to wait so long for the seventh book to come out.
I guess I can reread them a couple times.
Have fun at space camp. Maybe you’ll learn more about how to live on Mars.
Bye,
Collin
September 3, 2004
Dear Collin,
Space camp was right before school started and it was so awesome!
And I did learn about living on Mars because they had a whole simulation set up that looked like Mars and we wore special suits and we got to spend the night in it!
It was so sweaty and hot and everyone else was complaining but I loved it!
I am definitely going to live on Mars someday!
How is school going? How does it feel to be in middle school? I was a little nervous about going into a new school because everything was so much bigger and so different, but now I feel better about it. I like having so many classes and meeting lots of new people.
That’s cool that you got to make a lot of money. I get an allowance so I can spend money on stuff I want, but my parents won’t let me have a job or make money or anything. They tell me I need to spend time on school and learning right now and I can get a job after college.
I’m glad you like Satellite, and no, I don’t really like Britney Spears, even though all my friends love her songs.
When I listen to her songs, I feel weird.
I just finished the sixth Harry Potter too and it’s amazing!
I agree, it’s going to be so hard to wait for the next one.
Do you still look like Harry Potter? If you do, I know about a dozen girls that would probably be in love with you.
Did you watch the summer olympics? I can’t believe Michael Phelps won all those gold medals. Maybe if I can’t be an astronaut I can be an Olympic swimmer instead. I’ve been practicing in my pool.
Sincerely,
Glory
October 9, 2004
Dear Glory,
I really like middle school. It’s exciting to be in a bigger place with lots of people, and it doesn’t feel like someone is just babysitting me all day.
It’s not fun to be the youngest in the school, though.
Some of the older kids like to push me around and play jokes on me.
They’re mostly my brother Patrick’s friends. I wish he would tell them to stop.
I do still look like Harry Potter and I kind of hate it.
All these girls are always pointing at me and giggling or asking me to dress up in robes.
It’s stupid. I don’t want girls to be in love with me because I look like Harry Potter.
I want them to leave me alone. Bradley, this really cool kid in my English class, says that I’m lucky that I have so many girls chasing after me.
I don’t know why the girls aren’t after him.
He has shoes with wheels in the heel and can roll down the hallway. I think that’s pretty impressive.
I did watch some of the Olympics. But if I were going to be an Olympic athlete, I think I would want to do weightlifting. Those guys are intense.
I bought a new guitar and it’s so much easier to play. Also, I made friends with the janitor of our apartment building and he showed me how to get up onto the roof, so I go up there all the time to play my guitar. It’s my favorite place to be. Do you have a favorite place?
Bye,
Collin
November 15, 2004
Dear Collin,
I hope your brother will tell his friends to stop bothering you. He’s your family and he should protect you, but I’ve heard some of my friends talk about how their older brothers and sisters are mean to them.
How did you become friends with the janitor? Do you guys hang out or something? I just think it’d be weird to be friends with a janitor, but that’s awesome that you get to play your guitar on the roof. It seems like something that would be in a movie.
Do you do any sports or clubs? I’m in art club, and we get to make extra stuff that we don’t get to do in art class. Right now we’re doing pottery and I made a cat mug, although it turned out looking more like a drowning Chihuahua. I’m also going to start volleyball in January.
In my parent’s room, there’s this big desk that my mom will sit at when she’s reading, and my favorite place to be is under it right by her feet.
I’ll usually sit down there and draw or read a book of my own.
I know it probably sounds lame, but I feel safe and happy under there. I’ve never told anyone that.
Anyway, do you think we should e-mail instead?
Sincerely,
Glory
December 12, 2004
Dear Glory,
I wish I had a mug that looked like a drowning Chihuahua, but I’d probably laugh every time I tried to drink out of it and spill water everywhere.
I have an email address for school, but I forgot what it is because I hardly ever use it.
I think it’s kind of exciting to get stuff in the mail, so I think we should just keep writing this way, even though my brothers always make fun of me when one of your letters come.
They say you’re my girlfriend. They’re so stupid.
So this is how I got to be friends with the janitor.
I was coming home from school one day and when I walked up to our apartment building I saw the janitor had spilled his cart of supplies so I helped him clean them up and someone in an apartment nearby was playing a Savage Garden song and I mentioned how much I hate Savage Garden and he said he did too.
Then we started talking about music and I told him I played the guitar but I wished I had somewhere to practice alone, and he told me the access code to get onto the roof.
So we don’t really hang out like friends, but I talk to him every time I see him. He’s pretty cool. His name is Rick.
My school has clubs, but they all cost money. What other stuff do you make in art club? Do you like to draw? My friend Will is really good at drawing. He’s always making comics. I hate drawing because I can never get what’s in my head to look right on the paper.
Anyway, I hope you have a good Christmas. You’re going to Hawaii, right?
Bye,
Collin
January 7, 2005
Dear Collin,
That’s funny that your brothers think I’m your girlfriend.
Have you ever had a girlfriend? Michael Dunford keeps asking me if I’ll be his girlfriend.
He hasn’t stopped bothering me, even though he’s only in one of my classes.
I keep telling him that I don’t like him, and then he tells me that someday I will because he’s going to grow up buff and good looking like his older brother.
His older brother is actually pretty cute, but I just wish he would leave me alone.
Our trip to Hawaii was really great, even though it didn’t feel like Christmas at all.
We opened a few presents on Christmas morning and then went to the beach.
I even saw a sea turtle! It came right up on the shore while I was sitting there, and I imagined that it smiled at me and asked how my day was going.
I would love to go to Hawaii again, but probably not for Christmas.
I’ve never talked to a janitor before. What do you guys talk about?
We’ve been making foam sculptures in art club, and before that we made stuff out of paper mache.
I do like to draw, I do it whenever I’m bored.
I hope you like the picture I put in this letter.
It’s supposed to be you playing your guitar on the roof.
Are you still going up there even though it’s winter?
Sincerely,
Glory
February 25, 2005
Dear Glory,
Thanks for the picture! I taped it inside of my guitar case. You’re really good at drawing, but you made my eyes really big. It kind of makes me look like an alien. I do still go up to the roof, I just wear all my snow clothes.
I’ve never had a girlfriend. I don’t really like girls that way.
But if I did, I’d probably end up wanting to go out with someone like you.
My brother Patrick has a girlfriend. Sometimes I see them holding hands in the hallway.
He thinks she’s really pretty, but I think she’s mean.
She’s always making fun of what other people are wearing.
I mostly talk to Rick about music, but sometimes we’ll talk about cool places he’s been to in Chicago or his girlfriend.
A few days ago he told me his girlfriend was pregnant and that he was going to break up with her.
I told him he’d be a big jerk if he did that.
I don’t know too much about how these things work because we don’t get sex education class until eighth grade, but I’m pretty sure he had something to do with her being pregnant.
Last week we went on a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry and we went to the space exhibit and it made me think of you.
It would be really cool to be an astronaut, but I couldn’t imagine being away from earth for so long.
A lot could happen in two years. What if you went into space and when you came back to earth zombies had taken over? That’d be crazy.
Bye,
Collin
March 30, 2005
Dear Collin,
I don’t think zombies will ever take over the earth, it would be more likely that genetically altered monster mosquitos would infest the planet, but if they did, we could just go to Mars.
Your janitor friend should definitely not break up with his girlfriend.
He needs to marry her. My mom says it’s important to know about this stuff early, so I know all about how sex works.
Your friend Rick and his girlfriend were body kissing, and then he put his magic fish in her and those fish found her eggs and made a baby, so half of that baby is his and he’s responsible for it.
We never get to go on field trips, except for a couple years ago when we went to the State Capital building. It was pretty boring. I wish we would go to the museum.
What’s your favorite food? I like nachos and sushi. Not together.
Sincerely,
Glory
April 17, 2005
Dear Glory,
Thanks for telling me about how sex works, even though it sounds totally weird. I wonder when I’ll get magical fish that make babies. Maybe I’ll ask my mom about it, but whenever I ask her about stuff like this she makes a face and changes the subject.
My favorite food is Italian Beef Sandwiches.
The best ones are at this ugly little food stand downtown, but I’ve only been able to go there a couple times.
There’s a restaurant down the street that has them, and sometimes my mom will make them, but they’re not as good.
What my mom is really good at making is cinnamon rolls.
I can eat those until I get a stomachache.
Sometimes she makes a whole bunch and sells them to the neighbors.
I’ve never tried sushi. It sounds gross.
I can’t wait until summer. Middle school was fun at first, but now I just want the year to be over already.
At least all the girls have stopped bothering me about looking like Harry Potter.
My friend Shawn Garrity plays the drums and over the summer we’re going to get together in his garage and jam.
It must be nice to have a garage. Have you made any new friends this year?
Bye,
Collin
May 20, 2005
Dear Collin,
The only thing my mom ever makes is eggs. She’ll make eggs a lot for breakfast and sometimes for dinner, but other than that, we always order take out or have microwave dinners.
I’ve made a few new friends from doing volleyball, but none of them have ever invited me to their house.
My favorite new friend is Allie Morrison.
She’s in my science class and she has nine pets.
Two dogs, a cat, a turtle, two hamsters, a parakeet, and three fish.
I wish I could have a pet, but my parents always say they’re smelly.
Have you ever had any pets? Anyway, Allie is coming to space camp with me this summer. It’s going to be so fun!
That’s cool that you’re going to play music with your friend. Maybe you could start a band and be famous. It would be awesome to have a famous friend.
Sincerely,
Glory