He stopped hugging me.

Why was he making me meet one of his mates from college?

What was this mate in the field for?

Maybe she’d come to collect mushrooms because she liked them, and as she was a mate of his, he’d said …

Then a girl with long blond hair appeared from the field. She had ordinary length legs. He kissed her on the lips.

Every cloud does not have a silver lining. It has another even darker, cloudier lining.

The hamster slippers of life

ONCE AGAIN, BACK IN my squirrel room. Alone with my slippers. They are not golden slippers. They are squirrel-cum-hamster slippers.

It’s so dark and miserable outside. And inside come to that.

I wonder what Cousin Georgia would do now? About Alex. She told me that she dyed a piece of her hair blond when she really liked a Sex God–type boy who was older than her. But she used toilet cleaner because her mum wouldn’t give her money to get real hair dye. And then the Sex God came round to see her and the blond streak worked because the Sex God kissed her. But then the Sex God ran his hand through her hair and the blond streak snapped off. In his hand. Like a little hamster.

And he was a bit surprised, but he thought it was funny. And he liked her and snogged her even more because of her quirkiness.

Maybe that is the thing to do, be more quirky. So that Alex will see that I am not just some silly little girl, I am the girl for him.

I don’t think I will do the blond streak thing though.

That might be a quirk too far.

Should I wear a cloak?

Hmmm.

Perhaps not. I don’t want him to think I’m a lunatic, just a bit interesting.

I need to emphasize my good bits.

He likes my eyes.

Maybe I should wear eye makeup.

I’m going to try it.

I went and got my makeup bag. I put black eyeliner on the top of my lids. Hmmmm, quite nice. It does make your eyes stand out. It’s a bit crooked though so I look slightly surprised in one eye.

I’ll even it up.

The lines are quite thick but that might be good.

Honey said you had to use a softer shade on the bottom lid.

So maybe a softy, blurry dark purple line underneath my eye and then joining the black line at the corner.

Like so.

Yes. That is good.

I look about ten years older, I think.

I wonder if my corkers are still on the move. I could do some measuring and …

There was the sound of shouting from outside my window.

It was a girl’s voice. Maybe Beverley Bottomly. Out there. Shouting at me. Tracking me down. When she’s finished shouting, she’s going to climb up the drainpipe to get me.

She’s going to climb up and make me eat my slippers.