THE STORY OF ME AND MY LIFE ENTRY EIGHT

5TH March, 1999

Dear Abi,

I know that I never stay and chat with you for long, but today so many things have happened that it'll take ages to tell you:

I woke up at 8 today, to the sound of frying. Normally, I'd stay in bed til ten at a weekend, but I'd heard the frying and knew Nanna was cooking a fry-up for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, tost, tomatoes, yummy yum!
Anyway, ignoring my usual stay-in-bed-til-ten rule, I leapt out of bed and raced down to the kitchen.
"Morning, Ali!" Nanna greeted me, cheerily. I was right, she was cooking a fry-up, I could see the fat spitting up from the pan.
"Sit down at the table dear. Now, One egg or two?"
"Oooh, two please, Nanna."
"Right you are, Poppet." Nanna proceeded to break four eggs into another pan, and start frying them.
When the breakfast was cooked, we all sat down - Nanna, Grandad and I - to eat.
"Now, then, Ali, after breakfast, we were thinking of going into town and doing our weekly shopping. Would you like to come with us, and wander round the town by yourself?"
I quickly swallowed a piece of bacon I'd just popped in my mouth. In fact, I popped it in my mouth so fast, I very burnt my tongue.
"Oh, yes, Nanna, I'd like that very much."

After breakfast, and a very large traffic jam, we went into town.
Nanna parked the car and let me out.
"Now, Ali, I must warn you, this is a large town, with bad people everywhere, please be careful. We'll meet back here at three o clock this afternoon."
She slapped a crisp twenty quid into my sweaty palm, and waved me goodbye.
I had a wonderful time. With the twenty quid, I went to a sweetshop, and brought two big boxes of fudge, one for Mum, one for Hannah, just to say sorry for the Childline joke. Then, with the change, I went into a bookshop, and brought two books for myself. Jacqueline Wilson's latest, "The Illustrated Mum", and then I also got "The Story Of Tracy Beaker" for half-price!
What I didn't know, as I was buying all my treats, there was someone watching me and following me around.
As I left the bookshop, I heard a voice:
"Hey! Hey, little girlie! Turn around!"
So I turned. Leaning against a window of the bookshop, was a rather tall girl. She had brown hair pulled into a ponytail and she was wearing sort of Gothic clothes.
"Yeah, you. Come here a minute."
So I did. I don't know, I wish I didn't but, Abi, you must understand, she was like a witch casting me under an evil spell.
"What's your name? Never seen you round here before."
"My name's Ali. I'm new round here."
"Ah. I see. Well, my name's Chantelle. I've been watching you, you seem kind of lonely."
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do."
I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore. I rustled my carrier bags, and was just about to tell her goodbye, when:
"Well, I'm lonely as well. Would you like to come with me?"
She made it sound more like a statement than a question, so I nodded.
She stopped leaning against the window, and just walked in the opposite direction.
She turned when she was quite a way away, and shouted: "I thought you was coming with me!"
I ran after her, then resumed walking when she carried on doing so.
She led me all over town, and we wound up sitting next to a river. We sat and watched the ducks for a few minutes and then Chantelle said: "You will be my new friend. Let's meet up here tomorrow."
So I went home with Nanna and Grandad at three o clock, and somehow, I'll go visit Chantelle by the river tomorrow.
Goodnight, Abi, I'm getting really tired now.

Find out what happens next in Entry Nine...