The Note in the Snow

Lydia and Jackson walked over to a snow bank that was melting outside of their school. It had just transitioned to spring! But there was something there, a piece of paper. Jackson picked it up and started reading it out loud.

" Dear Fluffy, I'm sorry for what I did. Please take me back! Love, Softy. What kind of pet names are those?"

“I dont know, but does it really matter?”

“ Not really, just thought they were kinda, you know, funky!” he said in a disco voice. Lydia rolled her eyes, she hated that voice. 

“ Jackson, dont you think we should get them back together?” 

“ Not really, wait, do you want this for the newspaper?” 

“ No!” Lydia exclaimed. But truthfully, she did. She wanted that story so bad. And she was going to get a story for the newspaper no matter how many hearts were broken. She wanted them together in the end, even if it meant lying about it. But she also wanted drama. She wanted a good story, she wanted to be chief of the newspaper. The best writer on that team. Even better than the teacher running it, Mr. Tikes. But of course she couldnt tell Jackson any of this. She’d sound so selfish and crazy. She’d sound obsessed with this job in the newspaper. She was not. 

Jackson on the otherhand wasn’t as interested in this story as Lydia was. He just wanted to throw away the note. He didn’t care. It sounded like Softy deserved what they got. Sounds like they did something terrible to Fluffy. He wanted nothing to do with it. He just wanted to get on the bus without worrying about anything. He already had enough drama waiting for him at home. He didnt want to plop one more thing onto the pile. 

They walked to their buses together in silence. They knew each other enough to know that they had completley different opinions on the subject matter and just tried to ignore it. Each of them tried to think of a thing they had in common. Not alot came to mind. Why were they friends with eachother then? It didn’t matter, they just needed to shake this.

“ So, you gonna watch the Patriots game tonight?” Jackson asked, trying to lighten up the mood. 

“ You know I hate football,” just another difference to add to the list. 

“Oh right, yeah,” at this point they both just decided to stay quiet. There was really no point in trying. And luckily, Lydia had the note so she didn’t need to ask for that. They parted ways to get to their buses. Thank God they weren’t on the same bus. 

Once Lydia was home, she headed straight to her room and opened up her computer. She took a picture of the note and uploaded it to her Google Drive. She started typing vigurously, getting every word down without mispelling any of them. When she was finished with her article, she emailed it to Mr. Tikes and sat there waiting for him to respond.

As soon as Jackson got home he grabbed the car keys and jumped in the white Chevy his mom bought for him on his sixteenth birthday. He had to pick up his six year old sister. On the way to his sister's school, a thought about the note popped into his head. Why doesn’t Lydia just respect peoples space? If she knew that note was mine from Tammy she would’ve dropped it right away, but she didn’t know, so here we go. Another one of her crazy mystery stories. But he knew Lydia was going to eventually find out why he really broke up with Tammy. And it wasn’t ‘cause Tammy and him had a fight. 

The email from Mr. Tikes popped up on Lydia’s computer screen. The story was approved! Front page! She was so excited, she jumped out of her chair and ran down stairs yelling, “ front page! Front page! Front page!” 

“ What are you so excited about?” Lydia’s mom had no clue what she was talking about.

“ My story’s gonna be the front page of the newspaper!” Lydia had a smile from ear to ear. 

“ That's great sweetpea, but please just calm down.”

“ Okay, sorry! Just so excited!” Lydia said, while trying to catch her breath. 

“ I can see that, now go get your homework done before daddy gets here.” Lydia’s mom waved her away. 

The next morning during home room, Lydia told Jackson all about the newspaper and the article. Jackson gave an internal groan. He didn’t need the whole world knowing about him and Tammy. And he really didn’t want anyone knowing his pet name was Fluffy. But seriously, Softy and Fluffy, they are one messed up couple. 

Lydia was hunting for either Softy or Fluffy, while at the same time trying to understand what in the world they were thinking when they came up with these pet names. Were they drunk or something? She kept getting no upon no, until finally she asked Tammy about it. 

“ oh yeah, I’m Softy!” Tammy revealed. Lydia gasped inside her head. 

“ Was this with your boyfriend before or after Jackson?” Lydia was so curious. 

 “ Ummm, I can't say. Sorry.” Tammy clenched her jaw.she knew Jackson hated that name. Well that was that, and Lydia didn’t want to pester her. She needed this story. And plus, revealing them one at a time would keep people reading. The whole school was buzzing with predictions about who was who and what Softy did. So that night, Lydia went home and wrote up about Tammy being Softy. Next week it will be Fluffy. 

Jackson was stressing about this article, he hoped that no one would find out he was Fluffy. Or maybe he should just give the people what they want and reveal who he is. But then on the otherhand his friends would make fun of him. But seriously, Fluffy? They’ll eventually get over it though, right? He was so conflicted about what to do, so he did the only thing that he could. Text Tammy. 

Jackson: Hey, should I tell Lydia I'm Fluffy?

Tammy: Sure, she was super chill about me being softy, and I’m the one who kissed another guy!

Tammy: Sorry, too soon?

Jackson: Yeah

Did she have to bring that up again? It's only been a month. But he should be over it, right? So it’s decided. He’s going to tell Lydia his secret identity. 

Lydia came into school that morning super confident. Jackson texted Lydia his secret identy last night and she’ll put out that article next week. But now it’s time to figure out what damage has been done. Time to pry. 

Lydia: Hey! Can you guys tell me what happened between you?

Tammy: I kissed David Smith while I was with Jackson. :(

Lydia: Really?

Jackson: Yup. 

Lydia: What type of kiss? Like make out and tongue or like a little peck or just a kiss?

Tammy: Makeout and tongue :( 

Lydia: OML 

Jackson: Really guys? 

Tammy: Sorry :(

Lydia: Sorry. 

That was all the information she needed, the next step was just fixing it. How would she do that? But that's for later, she just needed to write up these two articles and get them in. Which she accomplished in a day or so. Now the whole school was practically begging them to get back together. 

Were Jackson and Tammy really going to get back together or not? This question floated in and out of Jacksons head for the next couple days. 

What was happening? That's when he got the text from Lydia. 

Lydia: I changed my mind, you too need to stay apart maybe even date different people! 

Tammy: Kk ;) 

Jackson: Coolio. 

Lydia: No one says coolio anymore *eye roll* 

Jackson: Sorry. 

Tammy: So that's it, that's the end?

Jackson: I guess so. 

Lydia: Yeah, I found a goat that plays the piano. Sorry. 

Tammy: Ummm okay.

Jackson: LOL 

Tammy: Jackson, r we even friends?

Jackson: If you wanna be. 

Tammy: Can we? 

Jackson: Sure

Lydia: Awww, what a great ending ;)