Dear Diary,

Today is my birthday. I got an assortment of things; the fishing rod I always wanted, a nice pillow for my bed, and a 50 year-old diary with pages ripped out. I am pretty sure there is a water stain from a denture on the last page. Anyways, I turned 15, and I found out my grandma didn’t write anything about me turning 15 because she didn’t know how old I was. Wow grandma. I did get a t-shirt that my best friend ordered in the mail for me… but I lost it. All I remember doing was opening the package and leaving it on the table to show Maisy, my older sister. Then I went back and it was gone.

P. S. My life is pretty boring so if you're reading this I apologize. I would also suggest that you put it back under my mattress when your done.   

Dear Diary,

Let me tell you about my older sister. She’s a jerk. Nothing more to say, except that she’s a pretty, athletic, smart, and artistic jerk. Well, this Monday morning, I was sleeping comfortably. when she comes in, turns on the lights, and yells in my face! “GET UP ELIZABETH! IT’S 8:45!”

I freaked, school started in 15 minutes and my Mom had to drive yet. I jumped out of bed, grabbing a pair of socks and tripping on my face as I changed into my pants. I had thought that my alarm didn’t go off properly. I grabbed a yogurt, which happened to have a hole in it, and ran out the door. It was still dark outside. I stood on our porch with yogurt dripping down my pants and onto my mismatched socks. What a great way to start the week. I went back inside and saw that it was 3:45, I ran upstairs boiling mad. I threw Maisy’s door open and hit my sister with a pillow. She was laughing, “You should have seen your face!”

Then the worst thing happened.

“What’s going on here?” My Dad was in the doorway. “Elizabeth what are you doing?” He looked down at me.

“I, no Maisy, was, no Dad, she tried to-”

“I don’t want to hear it, you woke your mother who has to get up in an hour.” He sighed, “Just get to bed.” He left the room, then I heard him again. “Uggghhh! What is on the floor!”

I looked down at my socks seeing that the orange mango yogurt trail led right to the culprit.

He came in Maisy’s room again. “Clean it up,” his finger shaking at me, “Now!”

I looked down at Maisy, who had hid under her blankets to hide her smirk. She peeked over the blankets, “Have fun Lizzy.”

How am I supposed to react to that? She was the one who was to blame! She started this whole thing!

It’s about 9:30 pm now I am writing with the flickering flashlight that my Dad found at a garage sale, I should probably change the batteries.

Dear Diary,

Today I got to sit beside Adam Coleman in history class. Adam Coleman! It was just a teacher planned seating arrangement but it was Adam Coleman. I have liked him ever since he helped me with math last year. Yes, he needed the volunteer hours, and yes, he was forced to because his Mom was the math teacher, but still, Adam Coleman.

Dear Diary,

Did I ever tell you about my first day of highschool? When I walked off the bus in September I didn’t know what to expect. I thought highschool would be scary because I was always scared of high schoolers. I was scared of them because they were a lot bigger than I was. But, if you think about it you go into high school with people who are only three years older than you, not that scary. Like obviously, if you are in grade 3 you would be kind of intimidated by someone in grade 11. Someone in grade 6 on the other hand… probably not. Anyways, I didn’t know what to expect, but one thing I was wrong about was having a fresh start. I thought that finally nobody would remember me picking my nose or peeing my pants, like some still did in grade school. I was wrong, not about the peeing pants, but about the fresh start. As soon as I walked through my high school's doors I heard,

“Hi Maisy, have a good summer?”

Literally right as I stepped into the building somebody thought I was Maisy, I had about .6 seconds to myself. I don’t understand how she thought I was Maisy, I have frizzier brown hair, a crooked nose, and a lot more freckles.

“No, I’m Lizzy.” I held out my hand. (I still can’t believe I held out my hand to introduce myself to my sister’s friend. Was this the seventeenth century?)

The girl tried to disguise her look of disgust with a smile.

That wasn’t the only time Maisy was mentioned either. In math, Mrs. Coleman had asked if any of us had older siblings. I said Maisy and this is what she responded with,

“So you will be trying out for baseball with Maisy this year, right?”

“Maybe.” Let me make my own decisions please, I thought.

“Pitcher, I assume?”

Don’t assume.

Dear Diary,

Today I had no shoes to wear, so I wore Maisy’s. Mistake. Me, knowing that would not be a good idea said to myself, “What she doesn’t know won’t kill her.” So I went wearing my old flip flops in the van and then as soon as we got to school I went into the bathroom to change into her nice running shoes. But, I forgot to change back into the flip flops when Mom picked us up after school.

“Liz you took my shoes!” She said in a whiny, two year old voice.

“I didn’t wear them outside and I promise to put them back where they belong.”

“But Mom, she didn’t even ask!” She glared at me, “And I just got them.”

“What pair of shoes didn’t you ‘just get.’?” I mumbled.

“Elizabeth that was not very considerate of you. Take them off right now,” my Mom looked down at me through the rearview mirror.

Can you guess what happened next, like within the hour? I walked passed her room and saw her taking off her sweater, to reveal my shirt beneath it! My shirt! The one I thought I lost that I had been given on my birthday! The one ordered specifically for me!

“Are you serious right now?” I felt violated, “You made it sound like such a big deal when I took your shoes that I know you don’t even like anymore.”

“Let it go,” Maisy laid down on her bed and started to text some people, not even caring enough to look at me.

“I am not leaving until I get my shirt back,” I crossed my arms. This was going to be the last time she messed with me.

“You’re going to be here all night,” Maisy still wasn’t looking up from her stupid phone.

“This isn’t a joke.”

“This isn’t a joke.” She mocked me, then laughed at something she saw on her phone. I was speechless. Did she seriously think she had the right to treat me like this? I realize now that I probably shouldn’t have done what I did next but I am still shook from her response. I ran over to Maisy took her phone and threw it out the window.

SMASH.

The window was open. The smash that we heard next was from my Mom’s vase, the one which had been given to her by her great Aunt Lucy.

“Nice going Lizzy.” Maisy looked slightly amused, I think she would have been more amused if she was sure her phone hadn’t been broken in the process. Which it hadn’t been, sadly.

I could hear my Mom crying through the vents. She hadn’t even got me into trouble, but I wish she had. I find the look of disappointment from your own mother a lot worse then added chores or being grounded. I heard my Dad go halfway down the stairs a couple times, like he debated with himself whether or not it would be a good idea to talk to me. In the end I think he decided to give me some time to myself.

Dear Diary,

Today I was driven to school, in silence, with my old flip flops on. I got my Chemistry test back, I failed, like usual, and then I went on the bus home and slept through the whole ride. I got home and ran for the remote, but Maisy grabbed it first. I was just about to sit down, but she snuck right underneath me.

“Fine. I’ll sit on the floor.” I spat

But then she turned on a horror show, which she knew I had absolutely no interest in watching. So here I am, writing to you from up in my treehouse. The screams coming from the open rec room window wrecking the tranquility of the barn boards. I have so many memories in this treehouse, my grandpa built it for me. When I was 11 I had drawn him a picture of the two of us  in a treehouse. Then that summer when he came to watch our house while we were away on a vacation he built it how I had drawn it. (Except the boards weren’t crooked or fluorescent pink.)

Dear Diary,

Been pretty busy lately with school coming to an end and everything. I have only two exams this year: Chemistry and English. It’s great because Adam sucks at English, and I suck at Chemistry, so we tutor each other. He’s quite funny.

Dear Diary,

Finally summer has arrived! My family is going on a camping trip around the end of July, and I will be babysitting about three days a week! I am pretty happy about this job is because usually Maisy gets all the babysitting jobs. She gets first dibs because, “Well, she’s the oldest.” Trust me Mom I don’t need any more reminders. The people I am babysitting for are from our church, they have three kids, and I will babysit from about 5-10pm. The oldest name is James, I think he’s about 6, then Emma, 4, and then Jackson, 2. Maisy has babysat there since she started babysitting and she said that they are pretty easy to handle. Which is good seeing as I have never done this before.

Dear Diary,

Today is Canada Day! My family went to go see fireworks. Guess who was there, Adam! He came right up and sat with me on our family’s blanket. He even introduced himself to my Dad.

“So you’re the guy my Elizabeth keeps talking about.” My Dad chuckled, “Of course only about homework.” He winked at me when Adam looked away. All of us were sitting there, Mom, Dad, Maisy, Adam, and I. It was too good.

Dear Diary,

Maisy’s babysitting advice:

Be sure to always have a spare soother
Bring candies to bribe the kids with
Know how to turn the T.V. on
Put the clocks behind an hour so you can put them to bed earlier

Dear Diary,

Yesterday night didn’t go so well. Where do I start? Well I forgot the candies that I had set out to bring because I had to rush outside. They must have been sitting in the driveway for at least five minutes waiting for me, I didn’t notice them. Then when we got to their house they had to leave right away, without showing me where the extra soother was. Oh great. Supper time was the next issue. I made the pizza exactly how the Mom said too, but supposedly it was burnt, and the kids wouldn’t even take a bite of it. I knew it wasn’t burnt so I told them that if they didn’t eat it they wouldn’t get dessert. They all ended up eating half their slice, James crossed his arms, “I ate it, so I get dessert.” How could I argue with that? So I gave them cheetos for dessert, because that’s what the Mom said to give them. She probably didn’t want to deal with the mess she knew the kids would make afterwards. Then Emma grabbed a handful of them threw them up in the air and yells, “Confetti!”

By this time it was bedtime, and I tried to put Jackson to bed first. I changed his diaper, I gave him his bottle, and then I remembered the soother. I searched for at least 45 minutes then I found it under the couch. “How did it get there?” As soon as I asked that James ran out of the room giggling. He saw me struggling to find the soother and all he did was watch. He knew where it was the whole time! After about 10 minutes of crying Jackson finally fell asleep. Then it was Emma’s turn. I got her in her pj’s, then I helped her brush her teeth, and then I read her a story. Then another, and another. She said she wouldn’t go to sleep without all of them. (Now that I think about it I probably should have stopped after the first, seeing as it was already at least an hour and a half past her bedtime.) When she finally had enough stories, I left. Just as I was going up the stairs I heard noises. Creeeeek, patter, patter, patter. I went back down the stairs just in time to see her going into the bathroom.

“What are you doing?” I asked, “You already went to the washroom.”

“I just need to go again.” She slammed the bathroom door.

Okay, I thought, I’ll just put James to bed now. So I went upstairs and urged him to go to bed now too.

“No, I always go to bed after she does.” He was contently playing with his toy trucks.

“Well you just have to be ready for bed then,” I explained. “You don’t actually have to go to bed until she’s in bed.”

“Okay.”

That was easy, I thought.

So we went downstairs together, and she still hadn’t come out of the washroom yet. I put my ear against the door and heard her singing,

“My little pony-”

“It’s time for bed! Now!” I was angry but at least it worked.

The innocent looking girl finally came out of the washroom, head down, and with three ponies behind her back. I saw her to her room. After they were finally all in bed I went upstairs and spent 20 minutes cleaning up the ‘confetti.’ Then I heard the noises again. Creeek, patter, patter. Oh great she’s out of bed again! Then I heard another door opening, creek. Then some more footsteps, patter, patter. I stood on the top of the stairs wondering what I should do. Then I heard they were doing the same thing.

“Let’s just tell her we’re thirsty.” I heard just as the parents were walking through the front doors. They came in and saw me at the top of the stairs and their two kids at the bottom, smiling sweetly.

It was an awkward car drive on the way home as I tried to explain the kid’s behaviour. I think we both came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be babysitting for them again. It’s awful, I mean Maisy babysat for them for 2 years now and I try to babysit once and screw everything up! When I told Maisy what happened she just laughed at me, pointing out everything I did wrong. I am really not looking forward to seeing them again on Sunday.

Dear Diary,

Summer has started and I am already bored. Everybody is working so I am left at home with a list of things to do from my Mom:

Hey sweetie, hope you didn’t sleep in too late today as I have a lot planned for you to do! Have a good day and try to get this done by the time I get home @ 2          

Everyone’s laundry
Weed gardens (vegetable and flower)
Clean kitchen & bathrooms
Vacuum
Organize the effects of a earthquake in your room
♥️mom

Man, I’d better get started.

Dear Diary,

Did I ever tell you how much I hate family reunions? Why? Well I’ll tell you: they’re always the same.

Our family never gets together for any particular reason, like normal families. Thanksgiving, Christmas time, Easter, nope. This weekend happened to be one of the two weekends that are randomly chosen by our grandma to get together. This was the car conversation on the way to my grandma’s house.

“Elizabeth they are not so bad.” I had just finished describing my experience of family reunions as like being a class pet. The first stage is when you first get there, everybody talks about you, pokes at you, looks you over, and then poof. You get put into a corner and everybody forgets to do so much as feed you.

Maisy piped, “You’re probably a little taller, and your braces are off, somebody will notice.”

Walking up the front steps I saw Uncle Dean’s truck parked in grandma’s driveway. I braced myself.

“Well look who showed up!” He bellowed as soon as we walked through the door, “My two favourite nieces.” I went into the hug and got squished between Maisy and him.

“Maisy, you just don’t stop growing do you?” Maisy sweetly smiled as Uncle Dean looked

at her. Then to me he said, “You’ll get there pipsqueak.” Pipsqueak, I shutter whenever I think of the nickname I somehow inherited.

“Thanks.” I muttered under my breath.

Maisy and I walked into the kitchen. Again I was squished, again I was called the dreaded word, and again I was looked over.

“Elizabeth when will you cut your hair?” This was my Aunt Sue’s way of telling me my hair looked awful.

“You need to stop biting your nails!” My cousin, Dorothy, who is 24, always has to have her input.

“Your teeth are definitely an improvement dear,” my Grandma grabbed my chin and yanked it close so that she could get a good look. I can still feel her fingers digging into me, hours later.

“Did it hurt?” Dorothy asked about the braces.

“A little bit.” She didn’t hear me say this however. Maisy had pulled out her phone and was showing the ladies the latest new trophy her baseball team had got.

“Well, isn’t that grand,” my Aunt said.

“Almost as grand as Uncle Dean’s stomach.” Again nobody heard me, but this time I was glad.  

Dear Diary,

The strangest thing happened today. Adam came over just to “say hi.” We watched The Princess Diaries together and ate some popcorn. Then when Maisy came home from work we all played cards and laughed till our sides hurt. He stayed for supper and my Mom invited him to go on our family camping trip next week! Now I have another reason to look forward to it.

Dear Diary,

Can’t believe were going camping tomorrow!

Packing List:

Swimsuit
Clothes
Sunscreen
Books I’ve already read five times
Flashlight *change batteries

Dear Diary,

We officially made it. After 4.5 hours in the car, 6.2 hours packing our trailer and picking up last minute items, and 358 days of waiting anxiously to return.

They just got the campfire going, I am going to get some marshmallows before they disappear.

Dear Diary,

I caught 3 bass! I just didn’t take them off the hook, I got Adam to do it for me. I can’t imagine how different this trip would have been if he didn’t come along. I talked to Maisy about this and she agreed. Then I told her. I told her everything I thought about Adam. I said he is more than just a friend to me.

“You made a good choice Lizzy.” Maisy smirked and sang a song under her breath, “Lizzy and Adam sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a ba-”

“Oh stop!” I blushed.

Dear Diary,

Really don’t know how to start this one.

6:00 pm

I do the dishes

30 minutes later…

“Where are you guys?” I texted Maisy even though I knew she never answers her phone on vacations. I hopped on my bike thinking they were throwing a ball around at the baseball diamonds.  

“Shoot.” I didn’t see them anywhere.

“Mom have you seen Maisy and Adam?”

“Nope.”

Might as well get these books read, I thought. I opened the flap to our tent, searched through my suitcase, and pulled out my own mini vacation.

9:30pm

BUZZ BUZZ

“What now?” My phone interrupted my stay right as it was getting good.

“Sorry didn’t see this till now,” Maisy replied to my text.

So where are you? I decided to play detective as I looked where Maisy was on her phone’s gps.. I again chose my bike as my mode of transportation and rode out, watching as my little green dot got closer to her red one. I stopped my bike when I realized that they were obviously on the trial I was following, then I spotted something. Good thing there is a full moon tonight, I thought when I saw their bikes parked in the trees. I walked closer and closer through the brush, my dot getting closer and closer to the edge of the lake. Then I saw them, sitting on the end of a abandoned dock, eating their ice cream without me. I was going to run up and scare them, instead I almost puked. Adam got a little bit of ice cream on his lip and Maisy leaned in to clean it up. They didn’t stop there.

I went back through the brush as fast as I could wishing tonight hadn’t been a full moon.

12:30am

Maisy just slipped back into the tent and I hid the empty kleenex box.

Dear Diary,

I hid my puffy eyes with a pair on sunglasses while we packed up the campsite. I also volunteered to sit in the back seat by myself to avoid any conversation. I am just so mad at her! She must think that I have no feelings to betray me like that! Adam is even younger than her! Who does she think she is? She was the one who leaned in! Gag. But, Adam didn’t stop her. Why didn’t Adam stop her? We were the ones who spent hours together! He was the one who I caught gazing at me from across the classroom! Now I can’t stand to look at him.

Dear Diary,

Spent the last few days in my books. I think Maisy knows something’s wrong but hasn’t talked to me yet.

Dear Diary,

Instead of coming to me about what was bothering me, Maisy snooped. The hiding place under the mattress wasn’t good enough.

“I, uhh, see you know what happened between Adam and I.” She looked at her feet.

“I just wanted to say that I hadn’t meant for it to happen that way. I know you would have never done that to me!” When she looked at me I saw tears in her eyes, “I am so sorry Lizzy.”

“It’s okay,” I was surprised at how calm I was.

“No it’s not okay. Lately I have been putting you aside, treating you like crap, and you never did anything to get back at me!”

“I did throw your phone out the window.”

“Yeah but who caused you to become that angry? Me. And did you even tell on me for wearing your shirt? No.” I could tell she was really upset. “You would never have done that to me!”

“Really it’s fine.” But Maisy continued,

“No it’s not fine. You would have confessed to Dad if you had pulled me out of bed, you probably would have even cleaned up the yogurt spill, and when I put the kids to bed I don’t read them stories, because I never’ like the ones they chose, and whenever you have the remote you chose a show we both like, and-”

“Maisy, stop-”

“And worst of all, I was the one who broke my sister’s heart,” She burst into tears.

“It’s okay Maisy,” I gave her a hug. “You just saved me from falling in love with somebody who isn’t worth my time.”

She laughed between sobs.

Dear Diary,

I’ve given these past few weeks some thought. Maisy might always be the best (and the smartest, prettiest, and the more athletic and artistic one) in the sight of others but I know now that that is okay. We are different, I know it, and that is all that matters. In fact I am glad that she helped me learn this lesson. Looking back she actually taught me many important lessons, just in these past few months. She taught me how to be patient, forgiving, how to walk away, and how to love me for who I am, not for who others say I am. To be honest I don’t know where I’d be without Maisy, and I am blessed to call her my sister.

P. S. If you got this far into my diary I hope you enjoyed your snooping. I decided that I am going to get a new diary with a key, so that people like you won’t be able to snoop anymore.