Diary of a Lottery Winner's Daughter by Penelope Bush

very conscious that I’m a long way from any of the others, stuck at the back of the house, as my room is. I make sure that the door to Morticia’s boudoir is always firmly shut, because I don’t much like walking past it in the dark if I have to get up to go to the loo in the middle of the night.
    After the third night of waking up with a beating heart because I thought I heard scratching at the window, I’m beginning to wonder if that fortune card was right and you should be careful what you wish for. I’d give anything to go and get into Mum and Dad’s bed but I’m way too old for that. Besides, I’ve been harping on about having my own room for so long it would be way too embarrassing to admit that, now I’ve got it, I’ve discovered I’m terrified of the dark.

Sunday 31st October
    The half-term week has gone far too quickly. Lauren and Pam came over yesterday to see the new house. I had hoped that Lauren could stay over for the night but Mum said to wait until the house is sorted out. Apparently there’s a new family in our old house already.
    Lauren didn’t seem too impressed by my new bedroom. I know it looks a bit old-fashioned at the moment, but I didn’t tell her I like it as it is in case she thinks I’m being weird. She didn’t want to go and explore the garden or help me pick out a new bed for my room. I think she’s still sulking because I’ve moved away - as if it was my fault! Which got me thinking about those wishes again and how it might actually be my fault, but there was no way I could explain to Lauren about Gypsy Ginny.
    I wish I could have another week off school so I can get used to living in our new house. I love it. I love sitting by the Aga in the kitchen while Mum cooks and best of all I love the fact that, if there’s something on telly I don’t want to watch, I can just go in the other room and read my book and I can’t even hear the telly. Chelsea’s been on at Mum and Dad to give us our own tellies in our bedrooms, but Mum says if they did that they’d never see any of us again. In Chelsea’s case that would surely be a good thing. Maybe, when we get our new HD flatscreen, I can persuade Mum and Dad to let Chelsea have the old one.

Monday 1st November
    Back to school today.
    I was on my own this morning because Spencer catches an earlier bus and Chelsea was going in later.
    I was a bit nervous. Lauren and I used to catch a bus into town sometimes, but I’ve never had to get one on my own before. As it turned out, I wasn’t completely alone because when I got to the bus stop there were loads of Avon Comp kids there. I did a quick recce to see if there was anyone I knew. There was a girl who I was sure was in my form, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember her name. She was fairly overweight and had stringy ginger hair and - embarrassingly - knee-length socks and sensible shoes. She saw me looking and smiled shyly at me. I decided it would be social suicide to get too pally with her so I kept my distance. Also, I didn’t want to turn up at school with a ‘new best friend’ and upset Lauren, who might think I was abandoning her and who would have had to walk to school on her own now, if she missed Karly and Tiffany.
    I needn’t have bothered being so sensitive about Lauren’s feelings, as it turned out. When I got to school I was earlier than I would have been walking from the estate so I hung around the gate, waiting impatiently for Lauren to arrive. She finally turned up, walking slowly and chatting avidly to a girl I’d never seen before. When Lauren eventually saw me she waved and came hurrying over.
    ‘Hey, Charlotte, this is Stacy. Guess where she lives.’ I must have looked blank. ‘In your old house!’ said Lauren triumphantly, like she was pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Actually Stacy does look a bit like a rabbit. She has abnormally large teeth, and her eyes are impossibly huge. Maybe she is half Manga.
    What’s wrong with me? Why am I suddenly