The Ocean Between Us

Chapter 1

Joanna

It had been a week since Joanna started talking to Toshinori, the man she met online. She was surprised to learn that he lived all the way on the other side of the world.

Jojobear: Japan? Wow.

Toshi46: Yeah lol.

Jojobear: I live in Canada so that's veeeery far away from me xD

Toshi46: Oh that's cool! I've never met anyone from Canada before. I heard you guys are really polite people.

Jojobear: hahaha that's a funny stereotype, but I suppose it's true in most cases.

Toshi46: well it makes sense, judging by how kind you are.

Joanna blushed after reading what he wrote. He really is so sweet. She began typing in her reply.

Jojobear: I suppose so :P

Toshi46: 😁

Jojobear: so if you don't mind me asking, what time is it over there? It's 12:30 pm here.

Toshi46: I don't mind 😅 it's 3:30 am

Joanna's eyes widened. She began to quickly type out a response.

Jojobear: hey that's late af! You should go to sleep Toshinori.

Toshi46: aw don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just can't seem to sleep.

Jojobear: maybe you should put your phone away and close your eyes 😛

Toshi46: 😒 I've obviously tried that, but then you texted me and I couldn't just ignore you.

Joanna grinned. Seriously, what a goof.

Jojobear: I'm telling you this now, prioritize your health over texting me, got it? If you need to sleep, then go to sleep! I don't wanna be responsible for your exhaustion.

There was a pause for about 6 minutes.

Toshi46 is typing...

Toshi46: ok Jojo, I will 👍🏼

Joanna smiled.

Jojobear: now how do I know you're not just saying that?

Toshi46: I suppose you'll just have to trust me 😛

Joanna giggled. Yeah, definitely a goofball. She quickly typed in a goodnight, and once she was sure Toshinori wasn't going to reply after his final text, she put her phone away and grabbed her laptop, intent on finishing her essay for school.

"Hmmm.. let's see. I have to use personal experience to back up my earlier statement about children with autism." Joanna thought out loud as she booted up her crappy laptop. "I've got tons of experience taking care of Tommy for the last 15 years." She smiled as she thought about her younger brother, Thomas. It took so much hard work and extra love to take care of someone as difficult as him, but it was worth it in the end to see his bright smile. She loved him more than any other person in the world. She gazed at the photo of him on her wall. He was standing on the street next to a pro hero, with his arms thrown up in the air in excitement as the pro hero laughed.

Joanna chuckled. How lucky that Tommy got to meet All Might, MY favourite hero, right after I moved away to Canada. She shook her head. Her parents had sent her that picture as soon as she'd gotten settled into her new apartment. She couldn't forget how jealous she was of Thomas, every time she spoke on the phone with him she mentioned how cool it was that he got to meet the greatest pro hero in the world. Thomas would scream excitedly from the memory, and Joanna would just laugh.

Although she was jealous, she certainly wasn't bitter. He deserved to meet someone so inspiring and symbolic, and it certainly seemed like All Might had a nice time meeting Tommy as well. According to her mom, All Might had commented on Tommy's childish innocence, despite Tommy being 21 years old. When her mom had explained that Tommy was autistic, she told Joanna that All Might had a very warm look in his eyes, as if he was feeling heart-warmed from such an innocent soul's happiness from meeting him.

Joanna sighed and watched her laptop struggle to function. God I need a new computer. I can't go on like this much longer. But... I don't have that kind of money.

She tapped her fingers on her table and sighed. I guess I'm writing my essay the old fashioned way. She got up and searched for some paper and a pen.

I'll write it all out as a rough draft and then go to the school and type it there. I still have a couple of days until it's due, so that works I guess. Joanna sat down and began to write her essay. After about an hour had passed, she stood up, papers in hand and grabbed her purse and keys, promptly exiting the apartment, forgetting her phone on the table.