I have something else to tell you, though, and I just don’t know how you’re going to take it.
[PAGE TORN OUT]
September 23, 19—
Dear Phoebe,
I love high school so far! I have really cool teachers and it’s fun to pick all my classes. I have Joel in two of them, and mostly none of the bullies in any of them. Mr. Otis, the drama teacher, asked me to stay after class today and said he’d been talking to Miss Peach at the middle school about me, and she thinks I’m one of the best acting students she’s ever had. Imagine that! The first production of the year will be Our Town and he wants me to try out, and I need to figure out how to get my dad to let me do it. It doesn’t work to do it behind his back—he just kicks my ass and I hate that. Lately, he’s really spending a lot of time with Karen, Mrs. Armstrong, and I think they might actually get married. She’s pretty nice to me, and maybe I’ll see if she can help me talk to my dad. I’ll offer to do extra Sunday school classes or use Murphy’s oil soap on all the pews or whatever he wants. If he sees the play, he’ll see it’s not anything bad.
Or maybe I should offer to do a play with all the kids in the church! That’s a good idea, too.
Anyway. I’m excited for the new year. Hope you are, too.
Love,
Suze
PS Joel says you should read DANDELION WINE. You would like it. I thought it was kind of boring, honestly, but you might like it.
October 1, 19—
Dear Phoebe,
I never knew kissing could feel so good. Kissing and kissing and kissing, until my lips are sore and every part of me is buzzing. I never knew that [PAGE TORN OUT]
October 2, 19—
Dear Phoebe,
I tried out for the play, and Mr. Otis said he would talk to my dad if I get a part. Which I will. I know I will. They are going away （！） to a conference for two weeks and they said I could stay with Beryl. I’m so excited. I wish you could be here, but it will be way more fun to stay with her than in my own house. You are so lucky to have such good parents and a great grandmother. I want to be like her when I’m old, kind of eccentric （which I mean in a good way） and full of good ideas and wise and not all shriveled up like so many old women get. Why does that happen? The old ladies in the church are either so tiny a good wind would blow them away or they can’t walk very well and are bent over or they’re bitter. Beryl isn’t any of those things—she even has a boyfriend she says she’ll never marry. Do you think it’s because she’s an artist? Will it keep us young to be artists?
I’ll put this in the mail today.
Love,
Suze
October 8, 19—
Dear Suze,
Did you tear out some pages? It kinda looks like it. You can scribble things out if you want. I don’t really like it to have pages torn out. I think it might not be very good for the spine and other pages.
High school here is pretty much the same as junior high. I like my art class （painting） and English. We’re going to read OLD MAN AND THE SEA, by Ernest Hemingway, which looked boring but I read a couple of pages and it’s good. In art, I’m working with oils and Mr. Jain said I can come up with my own project because I’ve been taking all the art classes on the side. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. Anthony is in my class and we have lunch together, and also science, so at least I have a partner. It’s funny that both of us have a good friend who is a boy. I think Anthony likes me, but I don’t like him in that way. He did say that we should go to the homecoming dance together, just to mess around, so I’m going.
Amma is the best person in the world and I’m jealous that you can see her whenever you want and that you are staying with her for 2 weeks without me!
So happy for you and the play. Tell me what part you get.
Love,
Phoebe
October 15, 19—
I’m sorry I haven’t written very much. I’m just depressed. My parents had a gigantic fight and my dad left for a few days, and I was stuck with my mother who wanted to try to make everything good, but I hate her. She always nags my dad to be somebody he’s not, and she nags me, too, and not everything is supposed to be all perfect like she wants it. I’m even more sad now that I think of you with Amma, living the life I want to live, while I’m stuck here with two parents who hate each other.
October 17, 19—
Sorry. That was kind of a mean entry. I’m just sad. My dad is really sad, too, I can tell. I don’t know why they are fighting so much. I mean, they’ve always fought, but they make up and it’s okay, but lately, they have these big stupid fights and then they don’t talk to each other for days.