As soon as Ashley entered the english classroom she went directly for the bin where the letters were to be placed. To her slight surprise there were already several letters in it, both for the boys side and the girls side. To her greater surprise she already had a letter of her own. She picked it up and brought it to her desk, all thoughts of the letter she had brought forgotten. She opened the letter as soon as she had sat down. It was on white paper and looked like it had been typed with an old typewriter. The only part that was handwritten was the name Charmed all the way at the bottom. Ashley's eyes scanned the page.

Hello Cinder,

It is my very great pleasure to meet you. As you know, my pen name is Charmed. I'm honored to be able to be your writing partner until December. I'm hoping we get to know each other through these letters. It's always nice to have another friend.

I suppose I should start by telling you a little about me. I can't tell you my real name of course. As you probably know, I'm in 10th grade. I hang out a lot with my friends on the weekends, play video games, and for the most part I'm a good student. My best subject is either science or History.  I'm actually more excited about this project than I care to admit.

Tell me a bit about yourself. Any interests? Hobbies? Favorite school subject? Anything you want to say, I want to know.

Looking forward to hearing from you
Charmed

Well I can't mail my letter now, Ashley thought as she folded up the letter and put it in her backpack. The letter had been more thoughtful than she had expected. Her own letter sounded cold and uninterested in comparison.

Just as the bell rang, Johann entered the classroom. He glanced at the empty teacher's desk before sitting at his own.

"You're lucky he isn't here whenever you're late," Ashley told him.

"Ah, but I'm not late," Johann pointed out. "I entered the classroom right when the bell rang."

"Why are you always late?"

"Bathroom."

"Never mind, I don't need to know details."

Johann pulled his notebook and pen out as Ashley stared into the distance.

"I really wish I knew who my writing partner was," Ashley said.

"You already got a letter?" Johann asked.

"Yeah. I'm actually surprised by how many people put letters in the bin already."

"Maybe they all turned their first letters in yesterday, like me," Johann suggested. "That way the risk that our partner would see it was smaller."

"I could never be a good student long enough to do that," Ashley joked.

"Settle down, class," Mr. Cliffton announced as he entered the room.  "Settle down!"

Ashley turned her attention back to their teacher as he began to teach, but her mind was burning with thoughts of Charmed's letter.  Maybe she'd been to quick to judge.  Maybe this project really would be fun.