SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER

Spent the morning packing. Mum made me stick name labels on every item of clothing I was taking – even my underwear!

I said, ‘Mum, why would anyone try and steal my pants?!’

And she said, ‘You’d be surprised, Lottie!’

Like what does that even mean?!

The worst part of all is that she had the name labels made when I was in Year Three, so not only do they say my full name on them but they also have a picture of a unicorn next to it. MEGA CRINGE.

I told her that Year Eights are not into having unicorns on their knickers, but she said it was wasteful to throw them away and I’d have to wait until they’d run out before I could choose a more age-appropriate favourite animal!

I tried to explain that soon-to-be teenagers don’t really like animal stickers in their pants AT ALL and she just laughed. Hmph.

I bet she’ll still be nagging me to label my underwear when I’m twenty-five.

Oh, great. Bella has come to help me pack and when I say ‘help’, I mean ‘be REALLY annoying’.

I suppose I should be glad she’s not trying to terrorize the hamsters again.

Oh, wait. I spoke too soon!

Right – I’m all packed and ready to go! I hope that I haven’t forgotten anything. I made a list to make double sure and I’ve taken …

• Jeans
• Denim shorts
• Hoodies (2)
• Trackie Bs
• T-shirts (4)
• Pyjamas
• Socks (4 pairs)
• Knickers (6 pairs – inc. 2 for emergencies!)
• Bras (2)
• Waterproof coat
• Trainers (1 old pair and 1 new pair)
• Towel
• Toiletries
• Hairbrush
• Hairbands
• Make-up (mascara, concealer, lip gloss, blusher)
• My favourite fleecy blanket
• Teddy One-Eye (Yes. I know I’m twelve years old but I might miss him! I’ve stuffed him right at the bottom of my suitcase, just in case I need a little cuddle.)

And now the most important part … SNACKS! I have:

• KitKat Chunky multipack (4 bars)
• Pickled-onion Monster Munch multipack (6 bags)
• Sugar-free chewing gum (1 tub, strawberry flavour)
• Sour belts (3 packs, watermelon flavour)
• Wotsits Giants (1 packet)
• Apples (3)

(I didn’t want the apples, but Mum made me put some fruit in. I will put them in the bin as soon as we arrive.)

Right, I’d better go and do my final checks, but don’t worry – I’m packing my diary too so I can keep you updated along the way. This is my first proper trip away from home and I don’t want to forget a single thing!

I just checked my email because I won’t get a chance to do it for the next week. I guess I must have been hoping to have received something from Antoine because I couldn’t help feeling disappointed that all I had was an email from my ‘Great-Uncle Bartholomew’ informing me that I was the sole heir to a £3.5 billion fortune. I got excited when I first read it, but then I remembered Mum telling me that those messages are always a scam (which is a shame as I could have used £3.5 billion – think of all the bubble tea it could buy!).

I’m not even sure why I’m disappointed not to have heard from the HFLR … I know I could do SO much better, but I just thought that he’d care enough to wish me a good trip. Oh well, his loss – au revoir, Antoine! I hope you have a terrible* mediocre life.

*I crossed out the ‘terrible’ because that felt a bit harsh. I mean, maybe ‘mediocre’ does too, but you can’t seriously expect me to want him to become an Oscar-winning actor or an F1 racing-car driver, can you?!

Mum came in to tell me to turn my light off and go to sleep and I burst into tears. I don’t even know where it came from. I was snuggled in my bed and suddenly realized that for the next few days I had no idea what kind of bed I would be sleeping in and there would be no one to come and tuck me in.

‘Oh, love, what’s wrong?’ asked Mum.

‘I just … I just … I don’t know if I want to go. I know this sounds so silly because I’m at high school now, but I’m really going to miss you.’

She gave me a big hug and started stroking my hair. ‘It doesn’t sound silly at all. You’ve never been away from home before and we’re all going to miss you too, but you’re going to have so much fun.’

‘But what if I get really homesick?’ I said.

‘Do you remember what we used to do when you were little and you got nervous before school or nursery?’

I wiped my eyes with my pyjama sleeve and shook my head.

Mum stood up and went over to my desk and picked up a pen, then she sat back down on my bed and drew a little heart on the inside of her wrist.

I smiled as the memory came flooding back. I gave her my arm and she drew an identical heart on my wrist.

‘What does this mean?’ she asked, tapping the hearts.

‘It means, whenever I miss you, I just need to look at the heart and know you’re right there with me, loving me as always.’

‘Exactly! You can do this, Lottie Brooks. I know you can!’

‘Thanks, Mum.’

OK, I’m switching my lights off now. I need to get some sleep as I have a big day tomorrow! Byeeeeee x