Tomorrow is Dad’s birthday. He’ll be thirty-six, I think. I was going to get him a bottle of the aftershave he always uses, when I realised that it would make him smell nice for Marjorie Baloney, so I didn’t. He’s getting a book token now, which is really far more useful.
I’m sure he’d love to read a book, if the newspaper didn’t take him so long every day. He’ll have plenty of time for reading during the Christmas holidays, when he’s off work.
Can you believe that he’s still meeting Marjorie? Even though I’m pretty sure they’re just friends, it’s still a bit embarrassing, at their age. I’m not sure how old Marjorie is, but I’m willing to bet she’s at least thirty-six. Probably a lot more. I bet that’s why she dyes her hair, to disguise the grey.
Mam did not have one single bit of grey – that was definitely NOT the reason she coloured her hair. And Mam’s looked really natural anyway, not a bit fake.
I haven’t seen Bumble since the first day of school, but we’ve been on the phone a lot. At least, I’ve been ringing him a lot – he isn’t great at phoning, which I suppose is typical of boys. He says he really likes the Comp. He says they get lots of homework, especially science, but he’s good at that, so he doesn’t really mind.
It’s kind of cool to have different teachers for every subject. A lot better than having to look at Santa all day long, with his wonky eyes and red-haired ears. We have a lovely teacher for English and social studies called Miss Purtill. She’s youngish, only about twenty-three or four I’d say, and she’s got bobbed blonde hair and grey eyes, and she has real classy clothes that you know didn’t come from Penney’s.
She smells great too – sort of flowery, but not too strong. And her nails are always perfectly done. (I’ve stopped biting mine again, by the way. We’re allowed nail varnish in this school, so I’m going to get a bottle of pearly pink, like Miss Purtill wears. It’s so feminine.)
So anyway, I’ve decided that Miss Purtill is just what Dad needs to get him away from Marjorie – which is why I’ve been mentioning her a lot at home (Miss Purtill obviously, not Marjorie). I’ve been saying what a great teacher she is too, so he’ll be going in to see her with a really positive attitude.
And next to art, English is my best subject – I’ve always got high marks in it. And everyone does well at social studies; it’s just that kind of subject, so Miss Purtill will be giving Dad a good report. The more I think about it, the more certain I am that Dad will ask her out to dinner or something, and that’ll be the end of him and Marjorie Baloney.
Now I’d better stop. I have an essay on the War of Independence to finish, and history is far from my best subject, so it’s going to take quite a while.
Oh by the way, I’m planning to cook Dad a birthday dinner on Friday night, which should be interesting, as I’ve never really cooked a full meal on my own before.