Loony

Luna came over to my house last night. (It wasn't quite dark out yet because it's summer, but it was still late evening. Later than I think Luna is allowed out.) She didn't knock on the door or anything, just stood outside — I guess she was waiting for me to notice her. I didn't know she was out there until my dad came up to my room and told me, "I think Luna's outside."

I went out to talk to her. "Hey, you're out late. Is everything alright?"

Luna shrugged.

"Do your parents know you're over here?"

"I left a note," Luna said.

"Do you know that they actually saw the note?"

Luna just shrugged again. The evening air was chilly, but she was just wearing a tank top and shorts — no sweater, and no shoes.

I had no idea what was going on and why she was there, and I wasn't sure how to ask that without seeming rude.

"Maybe you should call home," I tried. "Just so your parents know you're over here."

She nodded. I went inside and got the phone. Luna followed me and watched as I dialed. I tried to hand her the phone, but she pushed it away. "You tell them."

Luna's dad answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi," I said, "it's Jack. Luna's over at my house, and she's okay. I just wanted to be sure you knew."

There was a brief silence. When Luna's dad spoke again, he sounded surprised. "Luna's at your house?"

"Yes. She walked over here."

"Can I talk to her?"

I held the phone out to Luna, who took it reluctantly.

"Hi, Dad," she said. "Yeah. No, I'm alright. I just wanted to take a walk, Dad, I left you a note. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Sorry. Okay. Bye."

She hung up.

"Dad's gonna come pick me up," she told me.

"Okay," I said, still confused.

Luna didn't say anything for a minute. Then, "He sounded worried about me."

"Well, yeah," I said, surprised, "of course he is. You wandered off and he didn't know where you were."

"I used to go places by myself all the time when I lived in Manhattan," Luna said.

"There's public transportation in Manhattan. That's different."

"My parents are weird," Luna continued, ignoring me. "They've gotten so much more protective of me since we moved here."

"They don't strike me as the particularly protective sort."

"I'm not supposed to be out after dark," Luna told me, "and they make me lock my bedroom door at night."

The last bit seemed weird. "Why? There haven't been any burglaries lately, have there?"

"I used to be allowed to stay out after dark," Luna said. She stared out the window dejectedly. "I liked going out at night. I like seeing the moon."

"You could always look in the mirror, Loony," I teased her, trying to lighten the mood. The joke sounded dumb, even to me, and I was glad when she didn't acknowledge it.

"I used to take lots of pictures of the moon," Luna told me. "All the different phases. Did you know the moon is..." she paused, searching for the right word, "tidally locked to the earth? You only ever see one side of it. There's a whole other half of the moon we can't see."

"Everyone knows that," I said.

"But isn't that weird? We get to see the moon all the time, but there's a whole other side that no one gets to see."

"Some people are like that," I told her.

"No," Luna said decisively, "I don't think so. People try to keep things hidden but they aren't as good at hiding their other side as the moon is."

"You sure seem to know a lot about the moon."

"I'm named after the moon." Luna rocked back and forth on her heels. "I guess that's why I like it so much."

I didn't say anything.

"It's just so weird that there's a whole other world right out there and only a few people have been there."

"It's not the nicest place to go to," I pointed out. "No air. Not much gravity. Take off your spacesuit and you'll either burn or freeze to death."

"The people who've been to the moon, do you think they've ever seen its dark side?"

I frowned. "I don't know. I'd have to look it up."

Luna's dad showed up then. He was wearing another one of his band T-shirts (this one proclaiming him to be a fan of The Killers) and another pair of what looked like pajama pants. At this hour, I suppose it was somewhat justified.

"Hi, Jackie," he said to me. "Hi, Cerise," to my mother, who had just entered the room. "Ready to go?" he asked Luna.

"Sure you don't want to stay and have a drink?" my mother asked, smiling brightly at him.

He scratched his head. "Nah, I gotta get back to work. Thanks."

He gestured to Luna, who followed him out the door reluctantly. I waved, but she didn't turn to look.

Well, that was odd...

Met up with Donna as per usual today. Everything was going pretty normally when out of the blue she asked me if I think Luna's been acting strange lately.

"No," I said quickly, "she seems fine, why?"

"That's good to hear," Donna told me. She lowered her voice. "To be honest with you, Jackie, I'm not the world's most observant parent. Sometimes I feel like I could use a second opinion."

I was surprised, not ever having heard an adult confess to being a mediocre parent before.

"I'm sure you're not unobservant," I said, because I wasn't sure what else to say. "Luna's a private person, like you said, and—"

"Oh, I know," Donna cut me off, "I know there's a lot she likes to keep hidden, but she isn't always good at hiding her feelings. And, you know, I don't really think she wants to hide all the time, either, she's just not sure how to get her feelings across. You know what I mean?"

I nodded.

"You're her friend," Donna told me. "You get to see her in a way that I don't. I just want you to... well, if you think anything's wrong, just let me know. Okay? Can you promise me that?"

I wasn't sure what I was promising to, but I promised.

Erin is right.

I was definitely overreacting. I've been over to Luna's house twice in the past two days and it's been like normal. We've watched movies, talked, hung out, the normal stuff we do. She doesn't seem as upbeat as she was before I left, but she seems fine.

I'm just going to post this and go to bed.

[7/26/12 10:23:51 PM] Jack Q: You changed your Skype name again?
[7/26/12 10:24:00 PM] erin out of gas: yeah
[7/26/12 10:24:06 PM] erin out of gas: what of it
[7/26/12 10:24:13 PM] Jack Q: I don't get it.
[7/26/12 10:24:28 PM] erin out of gas: like "i ran out of gas" idk it seemed clever at the time
[7/26/12 10:24:47 PM] Jack Q: I'll take your word for it. :P
[7/26/12 10:24:52 PM] Jack Q: Hey, I wanted to talk to you about Luna.
[7/26/12 10:25:04 PM] erin out of gas: is something up?
[7/26/12 10:25:09 PM] erin out of gas: with luna, I mean?
[7/26/12 10:25:35 PM] Jack Q: It's probably nothing. But she's been acting a bit strangely since we got back. She seems... kind of detached, I guess. Like, I don't feel like I'm connecting with her.
[7/26/12 10:25:42 PM] erin out of gas: in what way?
[7/26/12 10:26:17 PM] Jack Q: Well, when I talk to her sometimes I get the sense that she's not listening, because often she won't look at me in the eye. She does that thing cats do sometimes — you know when they stare at a fixed point in space like there's something there that only they can see?
[7/26/12 10:26:34 PM] Jack Q: And then when she does look at me and give me her full attention, it's kind of intense, almost freaky, you know? Kind of gives me the creeps
[7/26/12 10:26:48 PM] erin out of gas: whoa man hold up
[7/26/12 10:27:01 PM] erin out of gas: we've only been back a couple days! how much time have you even had to see luna??
[7/26/12 10:27:07 PM] erin out of gas: i mean is all of this new behavior? bc if it is she could just be havin g a bad day or something/
[7/26/12 10:27:10 PM] erin out of gas: ?
[7/26/12 10:27:30 PM] Jack Q: I know it sounds like I'm overreacting. Maybe I am.
[7/26/12 10:27:49 PM] Jack Q: I didn't go over to her house today, but I saw her yesterday, and the way she was acting reminded me of my initial impression of her.
[7/26/12 10:27:53 PM] erin out of gas: which was?
[7/26/12 10:28:12 PM] Jack Q: I don't know how to describe it. It's more of a feeling. It's just that she's... kind of a spooky kid, I guess.
[7/26/12 10:28:16 PM] Jack Q: Odd, you know.
[7/26/12 10:28:27 PM] Jack Q: I like her, don't get me wrong, but...
[7/26/12 10:28:33 PM] erin out of gas: i think i know what you mean, dude, she's sweet but there is something a little off-putting about her
[7/26/12 10:28:40 PM] erin out of gas: however i still think you're probably overreacting
[7/26/12 10:29:45 PM] erin out of gas: if she keeps acting all weird lemme know but man it's probably nothing
[7/26/12 10:29:56 PM] Jack Q: Yeah, you're probably right.
[7/26/12 10:29:02 PM] Jack Q: Thanks.

Erin finally emailed me back and said that maybe we can Skype later tonight. I'm probably going to post our conversation here again because I think we're going to end up talking about Luna. At least, I want to talk to her about Luna.

Luna

I went over to Luna's house. Their car wasn't in the driveway, and no one answered when I knocked on the door. I was about to turn around and go home when I thought that maybe Luna was outside; it was a nice day, after all. So I headed over to the pond.

I can't remember if I've described the pond here before, but I'll describe it again if I have to. It's a large pond, roughly oval-shaped, surrounded by cattails at one end and with a large weeping willow occupying much of the space at the other end. This isn't really a pond you'd want to go swimming in; the surface of the water is largely coated with algae. (Once some neighborhood kids tried to go swimming in it when I was over at Luna's house. The two of us watched from her window as they got absolutely covered in slime and muck. The kids never came back after that.)

Anyway, Luna was there, down by the weeping willow. Not sitting on a branch like she was when I first met her; just standing underneath it, leaning against its trunk.

I said hello to her, but she didn't seem to hear me at first. She finally looked up, seemingly startled, when I was standing right in front of her.

"I'm back from vacation," I said to her, which seemed a bit silly to point out. "How're you?"

"Fine," Luna said absently, not looking at me.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't reply to all your emails. I was pretty busy on the trip."

"With Erin?" Luna asked. She still wasn't looking at me. She was staring out across the water at the other end of the pond, almost like she could see something there that I couldn't.

"Yeah, with Erin." I started to wonder if she was mad at me for not writing back, or jealous that I'd been spending time with another friend instead of with her. "What've you been doing while I was away?"

She finally looked at me then, but didn't say anything for a while. Suddenly, she took a step forward and threw her arms around me, hugging me tight. I was caught off-guard and didn't say anything.

"I'm glad you're back," Luna said, with her face pressed against me.

"I missed you," I said awkwardly.

She released me from the hug, then, taking me by the hand, started to pull me away from the pond. When I realized she was leading me in the direction of her old house, I was hesitant, but she tugged on my arm harder. "Come on."

I'd never actually been over to Luna's old house before. There's barely anything left standing; just the blackened foundation. Plants are starting to reclaim it already. Now that I was up close to it, I was having trouble imagining that it could ever have been a house. I barely remembered what the house had looked like; though I'd been down Luna's street prior to knowing her, I never had any real reason to pay attention to an unremarkable house at the end of a cul-de-sac.

For Luna, though, I imagine she must have been able to envision her old house all too vividly.

She didn't say anything to me, just walked around to one side of the house and stood staring as if in a trance. I came around to stand next to her. She must have been standing right where the front door used to be; I could see charred pieces of what looked like a doorframe.

"Are you okay?" I asked after a while.

"Yeah," Luna said slowly, drawing the word out. "I just..." She took a deep breath. "I need to come over here sometimes, so I can see it. You know? Otherwise sometimes I forget that it's..."

She gestured to the burned ruins.

"I wanted you to see it," Luna said, looking straight at me. Her gray eyes were almost unnervingly serious. "I mean, how it used to be, before it burned down. But I guess I can't show you that."

"You could show me pictures," I ventured.

She shook her head. "No. I don't like pictures. They never mean anything except to the people who took them."

I didn't really know what to say to that.

We headed back to Luna's house — her new one, that is. Donna had returned home in the interim. She seemed delighted to see me, and invited me in for a snack. Donna fixed Luna and I a plate of cheese and crackers, and I started telling Luna about my vacation. Luna didn't say much, just nodded to show she was listening. When I eventually ran out of things to say, I awkwardly excused myself, saying I had things to do at home, and left.

The truth was, I didn't have anything to do at home. I just felt like I needed to get away. I haven't felt like that in a long time, and it worries me. Luna worries me a little bit, too. She seemed almost like a stranger again today, like I couldn't quite reach her. I hope nothing bad happened while I was gone.

While I was away, I kept up an email correspondence with Luna... well, I did for a couple of days, then I got sidetracked and forgot to.

I guess I should reply to her emails.

Or maybe I'll go over to her house and see how she's doing.

Cape Cod

The Cape Cod trip was maybe the best vacation of my life, or at least the best one I've had in a long time. It was nice to get away from home (and my parents, especially).

We stayed at an inn a short drive away from the beach. The water was nice; cold, but not too cold to swim. The weather was pretty good, too; we had a couple overcast days and one thunderstorm, but it was usually sunny and warm.

The best part, though, was hanging out with Erin. We'd never spent that much time together, and I feel like I really got to know her better. It's hard to put a handle on what exactly brought us closer together, it was just... talking and having fun together, I guess, and the shared memories we'll have now.

I miss her already. I sent her an email, but she hasn't replied yet.

I just got back from Cape Cod!

I'm tired; it's been a long day. I'll post more tomorrow. The trip was a ton of fun, though.

I could tell my mother was reluctant to let me go, but she told me she'd talked it over with my dad last night (thank you, Dad) and after seeing what a "good role model" Erin is for me (thank you, Erin) they've decided to let me go spend the week with her in Cape Cod. I'm really excited!

I just called up Erin to thank her. She didn't pick up, but I left a voicemail. It's going to be so much fun! I'm really glad she was able to get my parents to like her. I didn't doubt that she could. Erin is very smart and is good at making adults like her. They always think she's such a bright upstanding young lady. (Which is funny, because I've known her to be not nearly so polite around her friends. Though she is genuinely a nice person, she's not the goody two-shoes she sometimes pretends to be.)

Anyway, I probably won't be blogging much at all until I get back.

She said yes!

I'm going to Cape Cod in two days!

It's been a crazy weekend!

Hanging out with Erin was a lot of fun. It was a little awkward at first because we hadn't hung out in person for a while, though. Erin is also... well, a little confusing to me sometimes, I guess, because we don't have a lot of interests in common. But we still had a lot of fun.

She made a good impression on my parents, too. They both seemed to like her a lot. Fingers crossed that they'll let me go. (My mother is out right now, but I'm going to try asking again as soon as she gets home. It's her decision whether I can go or not.)

Also, this morning I called up Luna and arranged for us to meet somewhere in town for brunch (Erin and I, as the ones with jobs, would be splitting the bill). The food was good, the conversation... well, again, it was a little awkward. Don't get me wrong, it didn't go badly, but the age gap between Erin and Luna seemed a bit too big. Everybody was friendly and we had a good time, but I couldn't help but notice that Erin and Luna seemed to have difficulty finding things to talk about with each other. I'm glad I'm right in the middle.

Mother's going to be home in about an hour. I've already got my bags packed in case she says yes.

Sleepover!

It's official! Erin is going to be coming over to my house tomorrow at five o'clock, and staying until around noon on Sunday. I can't wait! We haven't hung out in person in a long time.

We might be able to hang out with Luna on Sunday, too. She should be feeling better by then.

Erin might be able to come over this weekend for a sleepover, which would help convince my parents to let me go on vacation with her, in theory.

I guess maybe we could have that planned hangout with the two of us and Luna, if Luna's feeling better by this weekend. I called her house yesterday to check up on her, and Donna told me she still isn't doing too good but that she's on the mend.

Luna is still pretty sick.

When I went over, Donna was out, and I don't know where her dad was. (I don't often interact with Luna's dad; though he's usually around, he's also usually preoccupied with something or other.) I let myself in, since I've become accustomed to doing so. 

Luna was upstairs in her bedroom, sitting up in bed with the blankets pulled around her, though it was hot out and her house isn't air-conditioned. She had her stuffed animals lined up along the end of her bed, and she was staring at them intently when I walked in. It was a little weird.

I said something like, "Hey, I just came over to check on you," and that seemed to snap Luna out of it. She looked at me, blinked several times, then laid down with her face turned away from me. I walked around to the other side of the bed. She'd shut her eyes and was already breathing deeply, as though asleep.

"Luna?" I said. I didn't get a response.

I stood there for a minute, feeling worried and wondering if there was anything I should do, before she slowly opened her eyes. "Jack?" she said, her voice raspy from illness. "Hi."

"Are you okay? I came over to see how you were doing."

Luna shook her head slowly from side to side. "Sorry," she told me. "I thought you were someone else when you came in."

"So you pretended to be sleeping?"

"I wanted them to go away," Luna said. Her eyes looked glassy — you know how sick people's eyes look sometimes, almost like they aren't real. "I thought they'd leave me alone if I pretended I was..." She trailed off. "It's nice to see you," she added. "It was nice of you to come over."

"You seem really sick. Can I get you anything?" I didn't ask her who she wanted to go away. The whole thing was starting to creep me out a little.

"Just water," Luna said, rolling onto her back and closing her eyes.

I got her a glass of water from the kitchen, but when I returned to her room it looked like she'd fallen asleep for real. I left the glass on her nightstand.

To be honest, the entire incident gave me the creeps. I know people sometimes have delusions when feverish, but it's strange seeing a friend like that. The whole experience felt kind of surreal.

I talked to Dad about it, and he helped me calm down a little. He pointed out that my mother has only met Erin a few times (as has he), and maybe if Erin came over and got to know my parents better they'd feel more comfortable letting me go on vacation with her. So there's still hope.

Erin is leaving the 17th. That gives me time.

Also, I forgot to say, but Luna's been sick for a few days. Running a fever, according to Donna, who called yesterday to let me know she couldn't make it to lunch. I'm going to swing by her house today and see if she's feeling any better.

I'm sorry. I said some nasty things last night. I was upset.

Ugh.

I just asked my mother about going on vacation with Erin, and she all but told me no. "I don't even know Erin that well, honey," she told me. Which is bullshit, because it's not about how well she knows Erin, and I know she really wouldn't give a rat's ass except that this vacation is a chance for me to be happy away from home. She's so possessive, she can't stand to see me having fun with someone who isn't her. Sometimes I honestly just can't stand her at all.

Turns out Erin's family is going to Cape Cod for a week, and she was told she could bring a friend along. She was planning to go with someone else, but turns out that friend couldn't come, and her other friends are either out of town or busy. So I might get to go with her!

I still have to ask my parents. I really hope they'll let me go, though. Fingers crossed!

Erin just called me! I didn't get to the phone in time, but I know it was her — we have caller ID. I called back, but she didn't pick up. I wonder what it was about?

Explaining my URL

This is a bit of a random post, but I just realized I've never explained why my URL is "trickyjack".

I've mentioned before that my full name is Patricia Jacqueline. With a name like that, as you might imagine, there are a lot of possible nicknames. When I was little my mother favored calling me by a shortened version of my middle name (Jackie — she still calls me that, though I've asked her not to). My dad, on the other hand, liked to call me nicknames based off my first name (I suspect he did so as a way of playfully annoying my mother). For a while he would call me Tricia or Tricie — the latter of which sounds something like "tricky". I had trouble with the "sh" sound when I was little, so when I tried to pronounce my nickname it sounded like I was saying the word "tricky". My dad thought that was very funny and began calling me Tricky as well. It stuck for a while until I went off to school and my mother told my dad to stop calling me Tricky because it was a silly nickname and I'd get teased for having it.

Dad still calls me Tricky sometimes, when my mother isn't around.

Thoughts on Opheliac

I'm writing this down in case Luna asks me what I think, so I can have a good talk about it with her. (Even though I consider us to be friends now, we still have awkward silences sometimes. The longer I can keep a conversation going, the better.)

So here's what I think of the album, song-by-song:

1. "Opheliac": I thought this was one of the most lyrically interesting tracks. It paints an interesting picture of a character — though the title refers to Ophelia, the line "it's the Opheliac in me" seems to suggest that Emilie Autumn is also singing from personal experience. I think the song may quote Hamlet directly at one point, but I'm not sure; it's been a while since I read Hamlet. I'll have to look it up, or ask Dad. He'd know. (I wonder if Luna has read Hamlet?)
2. "Swallow": I suppose this is a song about depression. I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics the first time, but upon looking them up it seems clear that it's about being clinically depressed. (Or perhaps bipolar?) At one point she says that her "torment" isn't romantic, which I liked.
3. "Liar": This is probably my favorite. It sounds angrier than the other tracks to me; a little more raw, perhaps. It's also a song about being emotionally manipulated, which I can relate to.
4. "The Art of Suicide": Pretty, though melancholy. I don't have any strong feelings about it.
5. "I Want My Innocence Back": I like this one a lot, though more for musical reasons than because of the lyrics.
6. "Misery Loves Company": I like this one too; again, more for musical reasons. I'm not sure what it's about. I'll ask Luna if she has any ideas.
7. "God Help Me": This one sounds like it's about abuse or rape.
8. "Shalott": This is a very pretty song; very poetic and the melody is lovely. I don't know what the title is in reference to. I'll look it up later.
9. "Gothic Lolita": I haven't read Lolita, though, again, I wonder if the literary reference is central, because it seems to also stem from personal experience. Her singing on this track is quite... hammy, I suppose is the word. It'd be funny if not for the subject matter. This one is genuinely creepy and disturbing.
10. "Dead Is The New Alive": I didn't like this one the first time I heard it. Now I think it may be my other favorite, besides "Liar". The lyrics are clever and it's also quite catchy.
11. "I Know Where You Sleep": Creepy, but funny, too.
12. "Let the Record Show": Also creepy, but decidedly less funny.
13. This track is a bunch of recording outtakes. It's pretty entertaining.
14. "Thank God I'm Pretty": Normally I would find this song annoying, because it's a pretty woman bemoaning her prettiness, but she does make a case for it, and it's a funny song too.
15. "Dominant": This is an instrumental track. It's pretty but I'm not much for instrumentals.
16. "306": I skipped this track the first time because I thought it was another instrumental, but it isn't. The lyrics are quite strange. I'm not quite sure what it's about. Somebody drowning, I guess?
17. "Gloomy Sunday": The violin part to this is beautiful. I didn't pay too much attention to the lyrics.
18. "Asleep": I've listened to this song twice now and I still haven't formed much of an impression of it.
19. "Mad Girl (Acoustic Version)": Probably another one about Ophelia. I should really see if Luna's read Hamlet.
20. "The Art of Suicide (Acoustic Version)": Well, I already said what I think of the non-acoustic version, so...
21. "Thank God I'm Pretty (Shoegaze Version)": I'm not sure what shoegaze is and even less sure that I like it.
22. "Largo For Violin": Another instrumental track. I must say that it's a beautiful one, though.
23. "Marry Me": I like this song a lot; it's funny, and the lyrics are clever.
24. This track is an excerpt from her book.
25. This track's an interview. Emilie Autumn seems more than slightly crazy in it. I expect that's on purpose.
26. This track is a poem. It's hard to listen to because of the way it's edited.
27. "Miss Lucy Had Some Leeches": This is a variation on that jumprope rhyme, "Miss Lucy Had A Tugboat" or whatever it was called. It's very dark and humorous. I enjoyed it.
28. Some sort of hidden track. It startled me the first time. In the track, a male narrator explains that all women run the risk of becoming mad, and none are immune.

Yesterday

I went over to Luna's house yesterday. Her parents weren't home, as is sometimes the case. It's funny, because sometimes they call me when they leave her home alone, and sometimes they don't. (Though when they do call me, it's usually in the evening — maybe Luna gets lonelier at night, or something? Or maybe they feel she's less safe being left alone at night?)

We goofed around for a while, played board games, watched videos on YouTube, that kind of stuff. When I left, Luna handed me an album and asked me to listen to it. "You can keep it until the next time we hang out," she said. "Don't scratch it, though. It's my favorite."

I just listened to the album all the way through. It's Opheliac by Emilie Autumn, and though it's not my usual thing I did enjoy it. A bit goth and depressing for my tastes — though also funny at times.

I wonder if Luna is going to want to discuss the album with me? It seems likely that she will. I'm going to give it another couple of listens, in that case.

I still don't know when Erin, Luna, and I are going to get the chance to hang out together. I hope it's soon.

It's going to happen!

Today I talked to Erin on Skype. I'll just copy+paste the chatlog again.

[7/02/12 4:58:20 PM] Jack Q: Hey, Erin, can I ask you something?
[7/02/12 5:03:38 PM] erineous: looks like you already did bro
[7/02/12 5:03:56 PM] Jack Q: Haha, good point.
[7/02/12 5:04:02 PM] Jack Q: Any chance that Luna could hang out with the two of us sometime?
[7/02/12 5:04:31 PM] Jack Q: I know it's a weird request.
[7/02/12 5:06:09 PM] erineous: back up a sec. who's luna again?
[7/02/12 5:06:28 PM] erineous: that kid you're pretending to be friends with?
[7/02/12 5:07:07 PM] Jack Q: I'm not pretending to be friends with her. We ARE friends. I'm just getting paid to watch her in addition.
[7/02/12 5:08:26 PM] erineous: if you say so
[7/02/12 5:08:45 PM] erineous: i mean sure I guess i could hang with u/her but is there any reason you want me to??
[7/02/12 5:09:00 PM] erineous: i dont make a habit of chillin with 12 yr olds
[7/02/12 5:10:05 PM] Jack Q: It's just that Luna doesn't really have anyone to hang out with but me, and I think it might be nice for her to see someone else once in a while.
[7/02/12 5:10:31 PM] Jack Q: I told her you were one of my friends and she wanted to meet you.
[7/02/12 5:11:00 PM] Jack Q: Is that okay?
[7/02/12 5:11:17 PM] Jack Q: If it's an inconvenience, I understand.
[7/02/12 5:13:12 PM] erineous: nah man it's fine. next time im in town we can all go hang somewhere. sound good?
[7/02/12 5:13:26 PM] Jack Q: Sounds great. Thanks for doing this, Erin.
[7/02/12 5:15:41 PM] erineous: no prob. i watch out for my former middle school buddies
[7/02/12 5:15:50 PM] erineous: i g2g kid talk later

So it looks like we're going to hang out — the three of us, that is. I'm excited!

Disregard the end of my previous post. That wasn't fair of me to say.

Erin wouldn't rat me out to Luna, even though she may not approve of what I'm doing.

And I think she and Luna would get along just fine. They're both my friends, after all.