Planet Janet in Orbit (23 page)

Went round to Disha’s to get away from all the singing and crying at our house. Told her about Christmas Eve and she
WAS ASTOUNDED
! She said you really kissed him back? I said twice. Disha wanted to know if that was it then and Marcus and I are officially an item. I said I’ve been giving it
TONS
of thought (which I have – when it’s quiet enough in the
House of Horror
to think). I said I’d decided that when he gets back I’m going to tell him that I thought we both got swept away in the moment with the singing and the rain and the clock and all and that it wouldn’t be a good idea to add snogging to our personal itinerary. She said that’s v mature of me. I said I know.

Disha came over to meet the Piglet today. D thinks she’s cute. I said she’s been hitting the Christmas eggnog too hard. The Piglet’s only cute if you’re comparing her to the rest of the barnyard. Showed Disha my Oxfam Christmas presents. She said I did v well. At least I didn’t get any bath gel or anything like that (she got three bottles of gel, two of foaming bubbles, and four lots of oil balls!). Disha thinks it’s cool to have things
MADE
for you. It shows people are really thinking about you. I said they could think about me in any major department store as well.

Went with D to exchange some of her Christmas toiletries today. Lila was in the Body Shop, exchanging some stuff she’d been given. I said, “You’re still not speaking to the Hendley even in this season of goodwill?” She said she can’t speak to her because she’s in Bali. I said, “
SHE’S WHAT
?
ANOTHER HOLIDAY
?” Lila said not exactly. She said Catriona
Fell in Love
with a waiter in the hotel where she stayed in the summer and has run off to be with him. Disha and I were both pretty
GOBSMACKED
. But I could see some good news for me personally in all this. I said so she’s not coming back to school in the New Year?
WHAT A SHAME
. Lila said she’ll be back. The parent Hendleys have gone after her. I said well, you kept pretty quiet about this. Lila said she’d been
SWORN TO SECRECY
. I said fancy the Hendley falling for a Balinese waiter! Lila said he was Australian. I said well, at least we know it isn’t Ethan, and Disha and I cracked up in a major way. Lila said she didn’t see what was so funny.

Was just getting ready to go over to Disha’s for New Year’s Eve (it’s becoming our tradition!) when the phone rang. It was Marcus. He said he would’ve rung me sooner but there’s no phone in the lighthouse and this was the first chance he’d had. He wanted to know if I’d been thinking about
US
. I said a bit. He said he hadn’t been able to put Christmas Eve out of his mind. He says it was the best night of his life! And I must know how much he likes me since he’s never tried to hide his feelings. He said he thought we should go out properly. He wanted to know if that was what I thought too. I surprised myself by saying yes.

ANOTHER NEW YEAR BEGINS
! (I’m not sure whether I should rush out to greet it or duck for cover!) Disha and I talked so much last night that midnight came and went before we even noticed! We certainly had
QUITE A YEAR
!!! D said that even though there was a certain amount of
emotional turmoil
and
pain and suffering
she actually found it all sort of exciting. She said at least we’ve started to really live. I agreed. I said but I thought that, all things considered, it was just as well we’d jacked in the Dark Phase, since Life is dark enough without having to egg it on.

Books by the same author

And Baby Makes Two

The Boy of My Dreams

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

My Perfect Life

Planet Janet

Ride On, Sister Vincent

Sophie Pitt-Turnbull Discovers America

Tall, Thin and Blonde

Undercover Angel

Undercover Angel Strikes Again

Dyan Sheldon is the author of many books for young people, including
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen; And Baby Makes Two; The Crazy Things Girls Do for Love;
and
My Worst Best Friend;
as well as a number of stories for younger readers. American by birth, Dyan lives in North London.