Inside the binder are places to put all of your pens and pencils and erasers and a ruler punched with three holes, which Morgan says is definitely going to be on the school supply list. She said that when we get the list we can go shopping together. I asked Mom when we can order the binder and she said, Soon, which I hope she means because Morgan says the binders sell out very quickly, and sometimes Mom says, Soon, about something and then it never happens. She is distracted a lot since we moved here.

I’ve never had a diary before. I always thought they were kind of dumb. Morgan gave me this notebook when I went over to her house. She has a lot of notebooks. She also has a bed with a canopy and a trampoline in her backyard and a big beautiful kitchen that reminds me of the kitchen we used to have before we moved. Morgan’s house makes me miss our old house, which I am not supposed to think about anymore.

She also has an older sister who is really beautiful and fancy.

(Alexa smiled at this.)

And also a little bit scary.

(Alexa frowned.)

When I brought the notebook home I thought I would draw in it. The lady with the brown eyes told me it would be good for me to draw whenever I was feeling sad or confused.

(The lady with the brown eyes was probably some sort of child psychologist Katie saw because of the divorce.)

So, hello, diary. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for keeping all of my secrets.

Here is secret #1:

Even though I don’t miss Daddy that much I miss him sometimes. Also sometimes I have bad dreams. I don’t like to talk about what the dreams are about, even to Mom. When I scream in the night Miss Josephine bangs on the wall and then I try to quiet down.

Here is secret #2:

I was allowed to keep my hair because I’m a kid. I just wear it in a braid all the time now instead of down and curly the way I liked it. Mom had to change hers. She used to have beautiful blond hair and now she has boring ugly brown hair. She changed it for the first time in the motel room and when she came out of the bathroom I cried and cried because I wanted my old mother back, the glamorous one who used to wear dresses and super-high heels and always had nail polish on her fingers and her toes and wore a gold bikini on vacation. But I can’t have her back because of the crime.

Here is secret #3: