Diary,

Not much is going as I’d like it to these days. I had a psycho at lunch and the group thinks I’m nuts – well, better they know now than later! Only Ewan came looking for me and I’m wondering if he actually did care or if he needed a ride home. I’m not looking for attention, it just feels as though I should be getting some and I’m not. I’m a shrinking violet, fading into the background. I’m going insane, I tell ya!

So anyway, today was dad’s birthday. I forgot completely until Merrick rang to wish dad birthday blessings. He’s moved to Newfarm, or Newmarket, or Newtown, or Newsomethingorother, I can’t remember. He tells me I’m not allowed to visit him because he’s living with this total sleaze and he’s worried about me. I think the real story is that he’s got this absolutely gorgeous chick rooming with him and he’s told her he’s an only child, or an orphan, or something to make her feel really attached to him, and if I showed up I’d ruin their ‘relationship’. Oh well, that’s Merrick for you.

So as I was saying, today was dad’s birthday. I think I can still get away with it, cos he isn’t home yet. I’ve got a cake in the oven, it’s supposed to be chocolate but I only had a cup and a half of self-raising flour and I needed two, so the other half’s plain flour. Mum never cooked either so I never learnt any tricks of the trade and I never did anything in Home Ec except mash up everything I could get my hands on then put it in a blender, but I’m hoping the cake should still work. Actually, I’d better go check it. Gimme a second.

Yeah, it looks okay. I’ll give it ten more minutes, hopefully dad won’t be back by then. I put my candles all through the house so it looks all pretty, and I made a poster that says ‘Happy Birthday, you old geezer!’ I think it looks cool, anyway. I don’t have a present for him, and I can’t just grab anything out of my room that I don’t want any more, like I do with my friends. That’s mainly because he bought 90% of the stuff in my room. I was thinking of giving him an I.O.U for One Birthday Present, but I think he thinks I’m too old for giving my folks presents any more. So I’ll just stick with the cake.

Hang on, I think that’s his car pulling up. Yep, it is. Okay, better go.

P.S. Michael told me to call him! Should I?