The Journal of Curious Letters (The 13th Reality #1) by James Dashner

account?” Mom asked.
    Tick almost choked on his potatoes, for a split second worried that somehow his mom had logged into his account and seen the e-mail from Sofia. But then he realized he was just being a worrywart, her question totally innocent. He’d been doing the Pen Pal thing for a couple of years, still having never really connected with anyone for more than a few letters here and there. No one had ever seemed interesting enough for him to want to stay in touch—or maybe it was the other way around.
    “Not really. I got an e-mail from some girl in Italy, but she seems kind of psycho.”
    “Psycho?” Dad asked. “Why, what did she say?”
    “She called me an Americanese boy and asked me a million dumb questions.”
    Mom tsked. “Last time I checked, not speaking English well and being curious did not make someone a psycho. Give her a chance. Maybe she likes chess.”
    “Maybe she’s cute,” Lisa added. “You could marry her and join the mafia.”
    “Sweetheart,” Dad said. “I don’t think everyone from Italy is in the mob.”
    “Yeah, it’s probably only like half,” Tick said. He expected Lisa to laugh at his joke, but was disappointed to see she thought he’d been serious.
    “Really?” she asked.
    “It was a joke, sis.”
    “Oh. Yeah, I knew that.”
    “Well, anyway,” Dad said, moving on. “I think this weekend we should all go see a movie, go bowling or something. Who’s in?”
    By habit, everyone around the table raised their hand. Kayla shrieked as she waved both arms in the air.
    “All right, plan on it. Everyone meet right here at noon on Saturday.”
    For some reason, right at that moment, the thought hit Tick that he should tell his dad about everything. Keeping the secret was eating away at his insides and now with nothing but silence from Sofia, the feeling was getting worse, not better. Just thinking about telling someone seemed to take a thirty-pound dumbbell off his shoulders.
    Next time Mom’s out shopping, he thought. I’ll tell him. Maybe he can help me figure everything out. If he believes me.
    Tick put his dishes away, then watched some ridiculous game show on TV with his family. The whole time, he thought of one thing and one thing only.
    Midnight.
    ~
    It was time for bed, but Tick wanted to check his e-mail one more time. He felt obsessed, checking it constantly in hopes that Sofia would finally write him back.
    He sipped a cup of hot chocolate as he logged into the computer in the living room, almost spilling his drink when he saw Sofia’s name in the INBOX. He put his cup down and leaned forward, clicking on her e-mail.
Dear Tick,
Someone needs to teach you how to answer a stinking question. I asked you many and all you did was write back asking me more. If I lived in the USA, I would smack your head with a pogo stick. I am a good, smart Italian girl, and so I will actually answer your questions.
First, I have to tell you that I had a very hard week. Something is chasing me, and I’m very scared. I almost burned the letter five times. Well, not really. When a Pacini makes a decision, a Pacini never goes back. I made my choice, and I’ll stick to it like butter on a peanut, or whatever you crazy Americans say.
Anyway, I will now answer your questions.
I have four clues now. I got the last one last night. Maybe you did, too. It’s about dead people, which doesn’t sound good.
We should definitely help each other.
Saw the ghost thing, but not the rat thing. Don’t want to talk about it.
I’m twelve years old, almost thirteen.
I like your journal idea. I made one, too. Hope it’s okay to steal your name. Mine is called Sofia Pacini’s Journal of Curious Letters. I even used English to make it seem like yours.
I joke a lot, and if we meet you will think I’m crazy. Last summer I beat up seventeen boys. Glad we can be friends.
Ciao (that’s Italiano, smart boy)
Sofia
     
    He’d just finished reading the e-mail when his dad told him to log off and go up to