#but i wanted to write the letters themselves dhdhNDND

[purposefully-lost]

Jack,

School is starting again soon. Its crazy to think that the whole summer is over already. I went on that camping trip I told you about. It was only for a night, because Steph and Claire weren't really interested in making it any longer and our parents agreed we shouldn't be out by ourselves for so long anyway. I don't know, I think we'd have been fine for another night. The day we went home, there was this rain storm in the late afternoon, and I'm sure the woods would've looked real nice in the aftermath of it. You know, when the sky is kind of gray, but everything else is a little more vibrant?

I did still get some cool pictures though! I'm sending a couple to you. I flipped over this log at our campsite and found it crawling with beetles and stuff- I think the colors in the picture look so bright. I don't think I've identified everything that was under there, yet. I was hoping maybe you could.

I hope you're doing okay. The talk about you seems to have died down around here since school ended. Which is kind of a good thing, people were being really mean, but I don't know, it kind of makes me miss you, too. I don't want you to get left behind, or something. I'm a little worried about getting back into school, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Your friend,

Chris.

-----

Jack,

You'll never believe who I got as a chemistry teacher. It's Miller. He's still over the swim team, too, but it's a lot smaller than it was last year. I can see why you stuck with it if he was your coach, though, I really like him. He's been really lax about when we turn things in, which has been really nice. I know we're only a couple of months in, but I've been having trouble keeping up. They just keep piling more on top of us.

I actually spoke to him about you. I got pulled back after class because of a stupid fight- I'll tell you the details later- and you just kind of came up. He says he hasn't heard from or about you, either. Which I didn't really expect, but he did seem curious about how you were doing. He still seems sort of shocked about everything that happened.

I'm sending you a few more pictures. I haven't gotten back out to the trails, yet, but I've been taking a lot of walks past the park after school, and I've snapped a few photos of the birds there. My favorite is of the bluejay. Give it a look.

Oh! Do you remember that book I told you about, The Left Hand of Darkness? The author has this fantasy series, too. It starts with A Wizard of Earthsea. If you can, I think you should check it out. It makes me think a lot of you. I guess it's kind of more of a kid's book, but I still really like it.

I hope things haven't been too bad. I'll write again soon.

Your friend,

Chris.

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To whom it concerns,

Hi. My name is Christine Prescott, and I'm a junior at Greendale High School. I've addressed this to Jennifer Stanton, who I believe is a case worker for Jonathan Stone, but honestly, all that matters is that this reaches someone who knows him. It's very important. Jonathan was arrested almost eight months ago and, as I understand it, now resides in the city juvenile detention center. I've been trying to write him since then, but I don't know if he's been receiving my letters. I need you to tell me that he has. And if he hasn't, I need to know why.

I understand that his case and his trial were highly publicized and that, as a result, reaching him might be difficult. But he is my friend. I don't even really care if he writes back, I'm sure he's having a rough time, but I want to know that he at least knows that I've been trying to reach him.

Thank you for your time. Please write back. I have also provided a phone number.

Christine Prescott