365 Days
Page 22
I think that’s all! I know I can stick to numbers 1, 2, and 8 but I can’t guarantee I’ll stick to the others. Certainly not number 5. I’m only human after all.
Monday 31 December
Mum and Dad are off to Aunt Marie and Uncle Bob’s annual shindig tonight. Thank God I don’t have to go this year, dear diary, for I have been cordially invited to spend the evening having a civilized meal with Han and her parents, which means I don’t have to be a part of the annual humiliation that is Mum getting arse-holed on Campari and kissing any man who has the misfortune to stray into her path.
2 a.m.
Had a really grown-up and sophisticated New Year’s Eve meal at Han’s tonight. What a difference from last year! We had three courses (we usually have only two at ours—and that’s depending whether or not Mum can be arsed to rustle us up a pudding) with a respectable delay between each course so we could have polite conversation. If it wasn’t for the fact I was wearing ripped jeans and a sweatshirt with ‘Pimp My Ho’ written on it, I could quite have imagined myself in some sort of Jane Austen novel, squeezed into a corset and nibbling on roast swan or some such. We made it to midnight, then watched Big Ben bong, toasting each other with Cava, which was a bit dry and made my eye wink. Han’s mum and dad just hugged me rather than kissing me, which I was glad of! Her mum’s okay but her dad’s got a beard and I’m always worried he might have the remains of his dinner lurking in it. Then me and Han snuck out into the garden and stole a kiss round the back of the shed. We stood arm in arm and looked up at the moon, and Han whispered, ‘Thank you for the best year of my life, Clemmykins,’ which made my tummy turn to mush.
Then she said, ‘Just always remember what I told you the other day, okay? I love you so much, you know that? I’d be nothing without you,’ and I thought I’d never felt happier.
Han’s dad dropped me back home at around 1 a.m., and when he’d parked up, he squeezed my hand and thanked me for being such a good friend to his daughter. He told me that ‘he and Jeanette had been worried about Han fitting in at her new school, but that they were both so relieved she’d found such a good friend as me’. I smiled weakly at him and felt a rush of guilt inside. I bet if he knew the truth it’d be my throat he’d be squeezing, not my hand.
Tuesday 1 January
Another diary! Yay! I really do promise to keep this one neater than last year’s! I also promise not to assume Mum is going to get hammered every New Year from now until eternity, as she actually arrived home at a reasonable hour last night. She was slightly merry, granted, and her right eye kept looking at her left eye, and there was the faintest of faint whiffs of Campari on her breath—but she was completely empty-handed! Result!
So, another day, another year! What a year it’s been! 365 days of fun, angst, excitement, nervousness, sofas, and LOVE! I went out with a boy for all of three weeks, got over my J obsession, had my best friend tell me she fancied me and…I was lucky enough to fall in love with the most perfect, lovely, funny, beautiful girl in all the world. Who’d have thought it, hey?
It seems crazy to me that just a year ago I was so unhappy and so confused about who I was, confused about my feelings for J, confused about who I wanted to be, or who I thought I ought to be. A year later and here I am. So I finally accepted that I’m gay (and boy, didn’t I take my time coming to THAT conclusion??!!) and now I’ve admitted that to myself, and actually fallen in love, I feel happier and more settled than I’ve ever been.
And who’d have guessed just a year ago that I would have ended up so complete? That this gorgeous Goth—sorry, EMO—who loves me as much as I love her would walk into my life, turn it upside down and yet make it so perfect and complete? Life’s just wonderful and it’s all down to that one girl…
I’m going over to Han’s this afternoon. She says she’s going to buy me something special to celebrate the New Year, and to celebrate our love for each other.
OMG! I hope it’s not a tattoo!!!
About the Author
KE Payne was born in Bath (the English city, not the tub), and after leaving school she worked for the British government for fifteen years, which probably sounds a lot more exciting than it really was.
Fed up with spending her days moving paperwork around her desk and making models of the Taj Mahal out of paperclips, she packed it all in to go to university in Bristol and graduated as a mature student in 2006 with a degree in linguistics and history.
After graduating, she worked at a university in the Midlands for a while, again moving all that paperwork around, before finally leaving to embark on her dream career as a writer.
She moved to the idyllic English countryside in 2007 where she now lives and works happily surrounded by dogs and guinea pigs..
Soliloquy Titles From Bold Strokes Books
365 Days by K.E. Payne. Life sucks when you’re seventeen years old and confused about your sexuality, and the girl of your dreams doesn’t even know you exist. Then in walks sexy new emo girl, Hannah Harrison. Clemmie Atkins has exactly 365 days to discover herself, and she’s going to have a blast doing it! (978-1-60282-540-6)
Cursebusters! by Julie Smith. Budding-psychic Reeno is the most accomplished teenage burglar in California, but one tiny screw-up and poof!—she’s sentenced to Bad Girl School. And that isn’t even her worst problem. Her sister Haley’s dying of an illness no one can diagnose, and now she can’t even help. (978- 1-60282-559-8)
Who I Am by M.L. Rice. Devin Kelly’s senior year is a disaster. She’s in a new school in a new town, and the school bully is making her life miserable—but then she meets his sister Melanie and realizes her feelings for her are more than platonic. (978-1- 60282-231-3)
Sleeping Angel by Greg Herren. Eric Matthews survives a terrible car accident only to find out everyone in town thinks he’s a murderer—and he has to clear his name even though he has no memories of what happened. (978-1-60282-214-6)
Mesmerized by David-Matthew Barnes. Through her close friendship with Brodie and Lance, Serena Albright learns about the many forms of love and finds comfort for the grief and guilt she feels over the brutal death of her older brother, the victim of a hate crime. (978-1-60282-191-0)
The Perfect Family by Kathryn Shay. A mother and her gay son stand hand in hand as the storms of change engulf their perfect family and the life they knew. (978-1-60282-181-1)
Father Knows Best by Lynda Sandoval. High school juniors and best friends Lila Moreno, Meryl Morganstern, and Caressa Thibodoux plan to make the most of the summer before senior year. What they discover that amazing summer about girl power, growing up, and trusting friends and family more than prepares them to tackle that all-important senior year! (978-1-60282-147- 7)