letters from jessica.

prologue.

Hi.

My name is Tessa Andrews, I was 19, and I went to Columbia University in New York.

I decided it would be the time that I came back home. Back to the town that I shared many problems with.

You see... I was known as the 'girl with problems'. The town hated me, and I hated them. They saw my clothing style as sin, and slutty.

Just because they are black and skirts doesn't mean they are slutty, okay?!

Anyway...

Jessica Shellings, she was the town mayor's daughter, straight-A student, Captain of the Cheerleader team, and the school's president.

And a former nerd in middle school.

She was the perfect person for any parent to have.

Instead of her little preppy friends in the cheer squad or her delegate friends in the Model United Nations group, she decided she wanted to talk to me.

Yes, me.

Ever since freshman year, we have been inseparable. We were always doing things together, having fun together, and eventually, I got my grades to As, I was the school's Vice President (courtesy of Jess) and had earned the school's respect.

But that didn't stop me from what my dream was,

It was to be a writer.

My parents had never agreed to this idea, they wanted me to go into Penn State, the university they went to. And they wanted me to be a lawyer, like them.

Endless nights, I would cry and fight my way through them, and Jess was the one who sent my application to Columbia for Literature.

How's that for best friend?

Instead, I didn't get the entry form back.

One night, I looked to my parent's drawers because I was looking for the entry letter that was supposed to come into the mail. I saw in the drawer that the letter had came in.

I read around... 5 words and I started crying, filled with happiness and joy.

I just got a full scholarship in Creative Writing and Literature.

Two majors! TWO!

But then that happiness died down. I started to wonder why my parents were hiding this, but then I saw a letter from Penn State on my mum's vanity table.

I also got a 50% scholarship in Law.

I never sent in my application, so I ran down the stairs and decided I would confront my parents.

They started yelling at me, telling me my dreams were absurd, and that there were no such things as 'dreams', and I had to do everything they said.

I never did.

I fought back, telling them that Law is boring, I wanted to follow my dreams and that it was everything I wanted.

I ran to my room crying. Jess then called me later that night, and she heard my sobs on the phone, and she demanded me to give my phone to my mum.

And I did.

My mum talked with Jess for 2 hours, and trying to convince her that I should go to Columbia. Jess would sometimes yell at my mum and she wasn't afraid of doing it.

My mum then got off the phone, and told me that she went to Penn State, but got a Law and Literature scholarship. She had to choose one. She chose law by my grandparent's orders, and she was unhappy.