Dear Diary Read Free

her parents’ wedding photos was smashed on the hallway carpet.
    Squeezing her eyes shut, she was besieged by nameless fears. Something dreadful was happening to her parents. Sometimes she didn’t think they even liked each other. Once more she blanked out her mind and continued to her room, though it was difficult with Mom sobbing quietly in the kitchen.
    After retrieving the camera she stopped at her sister’s door, pushing it open a crack to peek in on her. Michelle was playing tea party with her dolls and glared at Rory. “You’re not invited, so shut the door!” she demanded.
    “Sorreee.”
    Back at the bathroom, Rory said, “Here,” and handed Nick the camera. He held it in front of them, as far as his arm could reach, pointing the lens their way. “Get in close,” he ordered. “Make sure we’re both in the picture.”
    Rory squished up next to him, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Flash. “Better take another,” she suggested. “Just in case.”
    Flash. “How about one more?” he asked.
    “Sure.”
    Flash. He handed her back the camera and grinned.
    “You wanna be friends?” asked Rory.
    “Sure. Why not?”
    Rory managed to grin back. Nick was so cool. He hadn’t made fun of her once for being a girl. She grabbed his hand and pumped it hard. “Pleased to meet you, Nick… what’s your last name?”
    “Shard.”
    “Pleased to meet you, Nick Shard. Whenever I need help, I’ll call on you.”
    “Same here,” he said, and they both grinned at the sight of each other’s battered face.
    It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

DEAR DIARY — NANCY BUSH
    Chapter Two

Piper Point High School
Tonight I’m going out with Nick. No big deal. We’ll probably just go to see a movie. I think Nick is bored. Why else would he ask me to go with him? He just broke up with Vicki Fischer. Never liked her. Never will, but she’s got big boobs and it’s hard to compete. Not that I want to. Nick and I are friends. Just friends and that’s the way it should be.
    “Mom?” Rory called, pushing open the kitchen door. It was hot. Way too hot for June, but then, sometimes the weather in Piper Point could be unpredictable. She felt scratchy and sticky all over. “Mom?”
    There was no answer and the house was so quiet she could hear the hum of the refrigerator. Rory could tell she was alone. It was just as well, she supposed, taking the stairs two at a time to her room. Mom wouldn’t appreciate her coming home from school at noon, even though she only had study hall and pep assemblies the rest of the day. The end of the school year was only a few days away.
    Stripping off her hot sweater and jeans, she stood beneath the needle-sharp spray of the cooling shower, then quickly donned a pair of white shorts and a pink tank top. Later she planned to wear something a little more sophisticated. Why, she didn’t analyze. It was just Nick she was going out with, but she wanted to look better anyway.
    Her hair lay hot on her shoulders, so she sat down at her vanity and wound it into a bun, staring hard at her own reflection as she did so. She really didn’t like looking at herself. All her flaws were there to see. She was too gangly; her arms and legs didn’t seem to fit the rest of her. Her nose was too pugged, her lips too wide, her eyes too direct. More than one guy complained about her sarcastic sense of humor, which Rory preferred to think of as wry, and she’d spent most of this year watching the boys hover around her sweeter, precocious thirteen-year-old sister, Michelle, who was also well-endowed, rather than take a second look at her. Not that big boobs were the answer necessarily, but it sure felt sometimes like they helped.
    Rory leaned her elbows on the vanity top, propped her chin on her hand and sighed deeply. She didn’t really care whether she had guys looking at her or not, she reminded herself. The boys at Piper Point were all geeks, anyway‌—‌except for Nick‌—‌and