o beffeb09ea4a9fd9 by Unknown

California Diaries #13: Maggie, Diary Three
    Ann M. Martin
    The author gratefully acknowledges Jeanne Betancourt for her help in preparing this
    manuscript.
    ISBN 0-439-09547-6
    Copyright © 1999 by Ann M. Martin.
    All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.
    SCHOLASTIC, CALIFORNIA DIARIES, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered
    trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
    Printed in the U.S.A.
    First Scholastic printing, December 1999
    This eBook is for educational and reference purposes only. It is not intended to infringe on or circumvent copyright. No monetary gain is made from the distribution of this eBook.
    Tuesday 4/20
    6:00 P.M.
    I just read over this journal from the last few months and am reminded of all the intense things that have happened lately. The worst was Sunny’s mother dying. It’s been a whole month since Mrs. Winslow died and I still get teary thinking about it. She was so full of life and love. It’s had to believe that she’s not around anymore.
    I remember so many happy times at Sunny’s house. Mrs. Winslow always came up with cool
    projects for us to do — like tie-dying or making veggie burgers before anyone else knew about them. We never said, “There’s nothing to do,” when we were at Sunny’s.
    We were four best friends then — Sunny, Dawn, Jill, and me. Of course, Jill isn’t part of our group anymore. And for awhile [sic] I thought Sunny was going to go off in a different direction too. Now she’s more like herself again. She’s stopped running away from her problems.
    I guess in the past few months I’ve stopped running away from my problems too. Or at least I’ve stopped running from some of them. I look back at the entries where I wrote down everything that I ate — even a carrot stick. I kept writing that I was FAT FAT FAT. How could I not have realized that I had a problem? It seemed so normal to me then.
    Now it’s so strange. It seems like that was a long time ago.
    I’m glad it seems that way.
    I’m a lot better about food. My friends are a great help — especially Amalia and Ducky. And of course Dr. Fuentes. Being in therapy is like writing in a diary that talks back.
    What surprises me the most is how much I’ve written about Justin lately. First I liked him and he didn’t even notice me. When he finally did notice me and sort of liked me, all I could think about was not eating. Needless to say, he was not impressed. Now I’m better about eating, but Justin doesn’t seem to be interested in me anymore.
    Do I care?
    I’m not sure. Especially after what happened in school today.
    I was in a stall in the bathroom. I heard two girls come in. They were talking about Justin, so I stayed in the stall and listened.
    STALLED
    GIRL IN SHINY BLACK BOOTS: Justin Randall is crazy about you, Nancy. You should have
    seen the way he looked at you when you came into math. You know it’s true.
    NANCY (brown loafers): Shhh.
    BLACK BOOTS: Look, you’re blushing.
    NANCY (lowers voice): We’re just friends. It’s no big deal.
    (Sound of flushing toilet drowns out rest of dialogue.)
    BLACK BOOTS and NANCY exit bathroom.
    Who’s Nancy? Does Justin like her? Or is it really a “friend” thing?
    I don’t have a crush on Justin like I used to. But I felt sort of sick to my stomach when I heard he might have a new girlfriend.
    Dad just came home. He’s calling Zeke and me to come downstairs. Now!
    I better go see what he wants.
    8:00 P.M.
    Well, Dad’s done it again. The big spender gives his kids the newest, the latest, the best.
    Actually, what he gave us is pretty amazing. Zeke and I each now have a Handy palm computer.
    It really does fit in the palm of my hand. When I open the Handy, there’s a tiny keyboard on one side and a screen on the other. I can also actually write on the little screen with this special pointer that converts my handwriting into type.
    Dad said I should use the Handy for my address book, daily planner, assignment book, and to check my