Way I See It: an Email Novella
Page 3
Sarah
From: Mick
To: Tristan
Date: Sun 9 Feb 2003 3:27:39
Subject: (none)
heay man wat iz up? i wuz just riting to ask if u new anything about eric and sarah b/c i really have ben worying about it lately. dude, please tell me if they are dating b/c i will have to take immediate action, u no? ok, well, that’s all. i have to go and mess around with my playstation for awhile. talk atcha l8er.
~m
From: Eric
To: Sarah
Date: Mon 10 Feb 2003 4:29:11
Subject: yeah
I knew. Tristan has been telling me to lose you for a while now. He’s worried about Mick Menel. He thinks if Mick Menel finds out, he can convince his dad to fire Tristan and Tristan’s dad. That is, if Tristan goes along with our relationship. So Tristan’s taking Mick’s side. He’s obviously pretty dumb if he’s willing to risk his friendships and his girlfriend over a job. That’s not the kind of stuff that’s important to me.
look, Sarah, don’t worry about tristan. it’s gonna be okay. I really think it will. you and i have something really special and it would be stupid of us to throw it away. We owe the hero stories this. We owe them a noble act, you know?
Eric
hey, P.S. There is a party at Josh’s this weekend. Can you get out?
From: Sarah
To: Dana
Date: Mon 10 Feb 2003 3:50:01
Subject: (none)
Dear Dana,
I’m really sorry Tristan is being a dork. Have you heard from him since yesterday? I’m sorry I didn’t e-mail you sooner. We’ll talk about this at lunch, okay?
Also, btw, Eric says there is a party at Josh’s this weekend. Are you going to go? I really want to, but I don’t think my parents are going to say yes. I can’t say I’m staying over at Lisa’s again, because my parents called there last time and Lisa (luckily!!!) answered the phone and said I was in the bathroom, but she would give me a message. Anyway, she told me she’s not covering for me anymore, so I have to find some other way to get out of the house. It has to be somebody who doesn’t have a telephone. Augh!!
But if you and Tristan aren’t speaking and you don’t want to go, then I’ll stay here, if you want me to.
Anyway, let me know what you’re doing this weekend. Talk to you soon.
LYLAS,
Sarah
From: Eric
To: Sarah
Date: Tue 11 Feb 2003 4:00:00
Subject: hey
hey sarah,
so i ran into tristan today and he was pissed at me. He said that I had fucked up his relationship and that now dana wasn’t speaking to him and it was all my fault.
I told him not to mess with girls who were best friends cause that was dumb. But then I said that maybe it was a sign that he should try and let things go, because obviously, he was fighting Mick’s battle and that just wasn’t fair.
tristan seemed really upset. he just shrugged a lot and then he was like, “dude, i miss you.” So I thought everything was maybe going to be cool again. but then he said if I would break up with you—and he called you, well...okay, you can guess what he called you—then everything would be cool.
Of course, I got real mad when he said that and we started shoving each other and now we have ISS for a day. My parents are not going to happy when they find that out, especially because I’ve never had iss before. Anyway, if my parents get really mad, I might be grounded this weekend, and I don’t know what that would mean about the party...
I was thinking about stuff today. Like how all of this has gotten so out of hand, and I’ve lost my best friend for no good reason and your best friend is mad at her boyfriend and how silly all of this is. Why do the stupidest, littlest things always end up getting blown out of proportion? (Not that I’m saying that us is a stupid, little thing, because it’s monumental). i don’t know. anyway, i just finished The Once and Future King, and that didn’t help at all, because Camelot got destroyed for no good reason either. I mean, I almost got the impression that Arthur even knew that lancelot and guinevere were screwing. how could he not know? she was giving him her favor at all the jousts and stuff. But then, all because mordred was a dumbass and wanted his dad to give him the throne, everything got totally messed up and arthur died and it was just dumb! I just kept feeling like if everyone could have sat down and talked they could have figured something out...
right, well, i did like the book. i just got frustrated. i’ll keep you posted on the whole iss thing, okay?
i’m out,
eric
From: Dana
To: Sarah
Date: Tue 11 Feb 2003 4:18:08
Subject: i have a better idea.
My parents are going out of town for the weekend. Screw Josh’s party. Let’s get together here. Bring Eric and tell him 2 bring some people from Reetown and we’ll invite Lisa and Cara and some other people over here! It’ll be like a way for all our friends 2 get 2 know each other!
Then u can tell ur parents u are coming here and it won’t be a lie. How’s that?
Tristan still hasn’t e-mailed me. i don’t know what to think. i don’t want 2 break up with him, i just want him 2 be cool and not be all rude 2 u and eric. i came really close to calling him today. god!! this is killing me sarah. i don’t know what 2 do. hopefully a party this weekend will help.
talk to u in class tomorrow.
l8er,
dana
From: Sarah
To: Eric
Date: Wed 12 Feb 2003 3:22:29
Subject: hi
Hi Eric!
Wow. You went to ISS for me? That’s sort of sweet in a very barbaric way. I’m touched. He he. Look, I really hope you can convince your parents to let you come out this weekend, because Dana is going to have a party at her house. We want you to come and to bring some of our friends from Reetown. Then you can meet some of our friends from here. I think Dana just doesn’t want to have to face Tristan yet, but she is really upset about it. Tristan, I mean.
She really, really likes him. I don’t want to come between their relationship, because it’s a good relationship, and it’s very upsetting for me to feel like it’s my fault. I told her that, but she said that it wasn’t really about that, it was more about how he blew her off and that’s what upset her. Anyway, I don’t know.
I totally agree with you about the TH White. All tragedies are like that though. They’re so frustrating. Hm. Maybe that’s the difference between Star Wars and mythology. Oedipus and Arthurian legends are tragedies. Star Wars is like a fairy tale with a happy ending. Of course, Star Wars is a quest story, whereas King Arthur isn’t. (Except for the Holy Grail part, I guess, but then…they don’t get the Holy Grail, do they? Sorry. Thinking out loud. (typing out sight???)
Well, e-mail me back and tell me how your weekend stands.
Sarah
From: Eric
To: Sarah
Date: Thu 13 Feb 2003 3:48:24
Subject: Re: hi
Sarah,
Hey! I asked my parents about going out this weekend, and miraculously, they do not know about my ISS!!! So, definitely, party at dana’s. Sounds fun. I’ll round up some of the crew here and we’ll be out in the afternoon Friday. cool?
right then. maybe stories like king arthur aren’t really hero stories, the way star wars is a hero story? Because when you think about it, King Arthur isn’t all that heroic. lancelot is kind of a jerk and guinevere is kind of a snob. and altogether it’s just a story about a bunch of idiotic people who we feel sorry for. on the other hand, Luke Skywalker’s biggest weakness is that he’s really young and impulsiv
e. Other than that, he really is heroic. you believe that when he does stuff it’s for the best.
we’ll continue this conversation tomorrow, huh? see ya! Oh and Happy Early Valentine’s Day!!!
Eric
From: Mick
To: Tristan
Date: Thu 13 Feb 2003 4:15:26
Subject: dude
hey tristan, wat’sup? i am just riting b/c i have been hearin some stuf about this party at ur girlfreinds house and i don’t like how it sounds b/c eric is telling people to go and ur girlfriend is best freinds w/sarah. so sarah must be w/eric and that realy pisses me off. u no? are u having problems w/ ur girl that is wat i heard. is it tru? if it is, we shuld go and crash the party b/c it wuld be fun and we culd get back at eric and also ur girl.
u no dude, i will not let eric have sarah b/c she is mine so we have to go stop them tomorow at the party. well dude, i have to go mess around w/my playstation for awile so i will talk atcha l8er
~m
From: Tristan
To: Eric
Date: Fri 14 Feb 2003 4:55:21
Subject: Fwd: forget it
Okay, guys, so this is what the wonderful eric really thinks about dana.
tri$t@n
-----Original Message----
From: Eric [mail to:
Sent: Tue 4 Feb 2003 6:12:32
To: Tristan
Subject: forget it
Tristan,
This is so like you, dude. let me tell you something, tristan, that dana chick of yours is no huge catch. you are only into her because she has a nice rack. i don’t want to date some chick i think is stupid, and i’m not gonna. So you date the brainless babe with boobs, and let me decide who i want to date, okay?
Lay the fuck off!!!
Eric
From: Eric
To: Dana
Date: Fri 14 Feb 2003 4:22:22
Subject: Wait!!
Dana,
Wow, I am really sorry that you had to receive that e-mail. there are a couple of things that I want to say up front. tristan did not send you the entire e-mail. (surprise, surprise!) My point in that email was not that you were stupid, but that tristan has told me many times that he thinks your stupid and he only dates you cause he likes your breasts. i’m not lying. I know you are going to me more inclined to believe Tristan than me and that’s natural, because he’s your boyfriend. Also, I did type some fucked up stuff and i can see why this would really hurt your feelings. i feel really horrible. just please, understand that you didn’t see the whole email first of all.
Second, i just want to say this. i don’t know you very well, dana, and I’ve only ever known you as my best friend’s girlfriend. Your sarah’s best friend, and sarah is a really smart chick, so I know that she would never be best friends with a moron. I know that you’ve got to be smarter than i gave you credit for. Also, the way you’ve handled yourself in the situation with tristan and me and sarah is really mature. you aren’t being petty and you aren’t just choosing sides with your boyfriend. All of this leads me to conclude that what i wrote in that e-mail was wrong and that i needed to look alot more closely at the kind of person you are. I made some very hasty, angry, and ignorant decisions about you and i see now that they were wrong. I’m sorry that i ever said any of those things because they aren’t true.
please believe me when i say that what Tristan sent you is very far from the truth about what i think about you. please accept my apology for saying what I said and let me try to show you that i don’t think that at all.
i am copying this message to sarah, because I think she deserves an explanation as well.
i am very very very sorry.
eric
From: Dana
To: Eric
Date: Sat 15 Feb 2003 2:01:30
Subject: (none)
eric,
as u know i didn’t have either of these messages before the party. i just got them now. well, we all know what happened at the party, so this is a kind of pointless message. just stay out of my face, okay?
dana
From: Tristan
To: Dana
Date: Sun 16 Feb 2003 1:37:20
Subject: hey
hey doll!!
look, i’m just droppin u a line, cause i feel like we should talk after that mess at the party this weekend. i know u said all was cool yesterday morning, but hey, chica, i feel like showin up at ur little soiree unannounced with mick, adam, and odin was kinda cold, so i just want to apologize again. i’m also sorry about the crashing and the big fight that heath and mick got into. it wasn’t cool and i know that.
sweetness, i’m really grateful that ur still into me and u still want stuff to work out. how are u and sarah? are u chicks still cool with each other? cause if so, considering the kind of fuck up that eric is, u should try to get that chick to dump the dude. i say this because if u care about her, u’ve gotta realize that eric is bad news and nothin she needs. so if u can use some influence on ur main girl, then have her get out of that situation before she gets messed up!! aight, i gotta go. i’ll talk to u later, beautiful.
out—tri$t@n
From: Dana
To: Sarah
Date: Mon 17 Feb 2003 4:23:07
Subject: let’s still be cool?
sarah,
hi there what is up, not much here. i know we didn’t get a chance to talk 2day and i just want u to know that it has nothing to do with u and i’m not mad at u. sarah, u have been my best friend for three years and we have been through alot 2gether. i don’t want something silly like this coming between our freindship. i love u girl. ur like the sister i don’t have and i don’t want to lose u. so look, can we still be freinds even if our boyfreinds don’t like each other? that’s what i want. i want us to still be cool and still be as tight as we’ve ever been.
e-mail me.
l8er,
dana
From: Sarah
To: Dana
Date: Mon 17 Feb 2003 5:29:59
Subject: Of course!
Dana!
Of course we’re still friends. I totally agree with you. Even if you hate Eric and I hate Tristan, we still care about each other. I never want to lose our friendship either, especially over something so dumb. Boys will never take the place of my best friend.
I know the party was a bust. I wish it hadn’t been like that. But you and Tristan are okay now, so at least something good came out of it, I guess. I still just never thought everything would be like this. I cannot believe that all the people we were all friends with have split apart like this and are fighting on sides over something as silly as my dating Eric. Don’t get me wrong, Dana. I really do love Eric and all of this is worth it to be with him, but I still feel like it’s so silly.
I also wish Eric hadn’t said that stuff about you. He told me at the party that he feels wretched. I can also understand why you would hate him. I know how sensitive you are about your body and I know that for him to write an e-mail like that is basically unforgivable. I bet, though, that you are going to have to deal with stuff like this all your life. You just show them, girl! You show everyone that even if you do have a big chest, that doesn’t mean your brain isn’t as big! I know that you are a really sweet and smart girl. Eric tells me that he knows that too, and he was just angry at Tristan and trying to hurt him. It really didn’t have anything to do with you. But I know that it must still really hurt and you must really want to not have anything to do with him, and I understand. I hope we can still be cool with all of this.
&
nbsp; In fact, I know we can, but it’s going to be hard. Because Tristan has really hurt me too. But we are way stronger than those guys and our friendship is stronger than that too! So let’s just hold onto that with both hands and forget them, because they don’t know what they are messing with when they try to mess with our kind of bond.
I love you, Dana. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.
LYLAS
Sarah
From: Dana
To: Tristan
Date: Mon 17 Feb 2003 7:35:23
Subject: no way
hi tristan.
look. u gotta understand something okay? me and sarah have been freinds a really long time and i won’t do anything that would hurt her and i won’t betray her. even though u don’t want sarah and eric to date, and i really don’t like eric, sarah and i are still going 2 be freinds and we’re still going to back each other up. she says she loves eric and i’m going to trust her enough 2 know if it’s a good idea to be with him or not. i want her to be happy, most of all. so don’t try and pull me into ur little scheme against eric, because it’s none of my business, it’s between the 2 of u. that’s all i have to say about that, okay?