California Diaries #7: Dawn, Diary Two Read Online Free PDF Page A

the house.
    True Ducky chivalry.
    Noon on Saturday 6/13
    Last night and this morning Dad and I painted the spare bedroom. It is now
    officially known as The Nursery. The Nursery is across the hall from Dad and Carol’s room. Carol supervised us from her bed while we worked. We painted the walls a pale, pale yellow and the trim bright white. The room glows.
    This afternoon the baby furniture is being delivered. It’s all white. The rocker cushions and curtains are blue-and-white-checkered. The walls look bare, but Carol said as soon as she’s “on her feet” she’ll pick out some artwork for them.
    We ordered pizza for lunch. I paid the delivery guy, then brought a tray with pizza and sodas to Dad and Carol. They didn’t see me come in the room. Dad was lying across the bed with his head on Carol’s belly. She was stroking his hair. He was humming a lullaby to Belly Baby. I felt like I was an intruder. I put the tray on the bureau and turned to leave.
    My dad saw me and sat up. “Aren’t you going to eat with us, Dawn?” he asked.
    “I better study for exams,” I told him. “I’ll eat in my room. Call me when the furniture comes.”
    So here I am, eating pizza and writing in my journal. I’m studying for my math final next.
    I miss studying with Sunny. We used to make snacks, lock ourselves in her room, and not leave until we thought we were ready for the test. We had fun and we got our work done. The new Sunny would never do anything like that. I miss the old Sunny. I wish she would come back.
    Later 6/13
    Fabulous news. Maggie’s dad just gave her three tickets to the Flash concert, and she invited me and Amalia to go with her. We’re sleeping over at Maggie’s house afterward. Maybe Maggie and I can become better friends. I love Flash.
    I am going to get dressed now, try to forget about Sunny, Belly Baby, exams, and Stoneybrook—and have some FUN! AT least for one evening…
    At Maggie’s after the concert 6/13
    What a night! The concert was fabulous, extraordinary, GREAT! I’m so wound
    up I can’t fall asleep.
    Even though there are about a thousand rooms in this house, Amalia and I are
    sleeping in Maggie’s room. It’s a sleepover, after all. Besides, Maggie’s room is so big the whole eighth grade could stay there. At the moment, though, I’m in the living room (one of them), writing about what happened tonight.
    First of all, we met at Maggie’s.
    “My dad’s still at work and he has the tickets,” Maggie explained. “But Reg
    drove over to pick them up. He’ll be back for us.” (Reg is the Blumes’ new chauffeur.)
    “I should say hello to your mother,” I told Maggie.
    “She’s by the pool.”
    Before we went out to the pool, Pilar, the Blumes’ maid, offered us fresh-
    squeezed orange juice. Amalia and I both took a glass.
    “Don’t you want some?” I asked Maggie.
    “I just ate,” she said. “I’m full.”
    Mrs. Blume was sitting on a lounge chair next to another woman, who turned out to be the actor Mel Rand’s wife. Famous people are always hanging out at the Blumes’, so I’m used to it. Amalia, who hasn’t been around the Blumes that long, was very cool about meeting Mrs. Rand, which shows how cool she is. Mrs. Blume loved my dress (borrowed from Carol’s prematernity wardrobe, I must admit) and couldn’t stop raving about Amalia’s hair. “I know a woman who spends two hundred dollars every four weeks to try to have color like that,” she told us.
    Maggie had this frozen smile on her face. She always seems uncomfortable
    around her mom. And in her fancy house. It’s like she’s embarrassed by everything.
    Some kids at school think having a lot of money is a big deal. Maggie does not like this.
    Which I can understand.
    “It’s seven-thirty,” Maggie told us. “We better go.”
    “You girls have some of the best seats in the house,” Maggie’s mother gushed.
    “Just show your tickets and mention your father’s name, and you won’t have to deal