She was quiet for a few minutes until she finally said “I wouldn’t encourage a friendship with her.”

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D ear Diary

I feel almost sacrilegious scarring your fancy pages with an unpleasant entry but how dare she! I never dreamed Faigy Marks would do this to me! And now I’m bored to bits during midwinter vacation because of her.

Imagine last week we were inseparable! And only last year she was simply one of my 25 classmates in ninth grade. It all started in the beginning of last year when she happened to sit next to me. Faigy’s compliments flowed like water from a faucet. “Suri your notebooks are a work of art!” “I love your shoes are they new?” Or “Suri how did you manage to follow Mrs. Bloom’s dikduk class so seamlessly?”

I must admit it felt good. At home I was the dutiful daughter who faithfully took out the garbage cleared the supper dishes and helped put the little ones to bed and no one said a word.

Before long my new friend suggested “Let’s walk home together.”

“Sure” I answered flattered. A few days later I found myself joining her for a morning walk lunchtime and phone conversations at least three times a day.

The first morning of midwinter vacation the phone rang at seven thirty. “Suri you up?”

“Yeah” I answered groggily.

“Perfect. Be ready at nine. First we’ll go roller skating then window shopping at Mega-Mall and we’ll top things off at Sam’s Pizza. My treat okay?”

“Hey slow down I have to ask permission from my parents. I’ll call you soon.”

I took a deep breath. We were the type of family who rarely went on excursions during vacation. Instead Ma made her famous family breakfasts with hot chocolate topped with whipped cream fresh pancakes with maple syrup and the smoothest chocolate pudding you could only dream about. The latest novel baking cookies and living up the lack of schedule totally filled my free time. Technically my parents weren’t against outside activities but we had two rules: One ask permission and two pay your own way.

“Ma,” I began tentatively “can I spend the day with Faigy Marks?”

“Faigy Marks” she said slowly as she was mixing the pancake batter. “You mean the Marks who live on the next block?”

“Yeah.”

She was quiet for a few minutes until she finally said “I wouldn’t encourage a friendship with her.”