On 31st December 1998 I met a guy called Macey from the year above me at school. I go on to talk about Macey for 116 of the 365 days of 1999. If I heard he was going out, I would go out, I would sit at home imagining he would call my landline, despite him not having my phone number, I learnt his lesson plan and knew that when I walked along the school path between my Psychology and Art classes I would pass him. Every time I would prepare myself to look up, lock eye contact and smile, it’s a simple concept, it makes you look more attractive, but, every time I would fail.

Macey plays a big role in this story, but this is really all about a 17 year old who wants to be noticed, I wanted people to call me pretty, I wanted people to describe me as fun, I wanted people to recognise how hard I worked, I wanted to be rewarded with the role of house captain for my sporting achievements, I wanted to be patted on the back for organising a charity fashion show, and embarrassingly I wanted people to notice my family's wealth.

As I’m 17 I am lazy and use the word ‘cos’ instead of ‘because,’ my writing is quite chaotic and I am also very unaware of my white privilege. I was brought up in a white middle class area, a bubble of security. I’m ashamed to say I thought it was normal to live in a semi detached house, to have annual family holidays, to never have to think about where the next meal was coming from. When I went to university I began to understand that this was not the case, but it still took me a good 10 years to really start to unpick this. I’ve learnt from friends I’ve met along the way, I’ve learnt from reading, listening, following activists and I still have a lot to learn.

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Key Characters:

Macey - My school crush

Beth - My best mate

Lily, Holly, Georgie, Ashley, Erica, Susie, Ben - Some of my oldest friends

Polly - A friend at school

Mum, Dad - Family

Annabelle - Macey’s school crush

Kev - Another school crush

Locations:

Wetherspoons Cheadle Hulme

https://www.greatukpubs.co.uk/kings-tap-cheadle-hulme?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local_seo_gmb&utm_content=website

Governors House

https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/pubs/cheshire/governors-house/

Zest, Wilmslow

Now closed down

Surrey Institute of Art & Design

https://www.uca.ac.uk/

Bar Med, Manchester

Now closed down

Pizza Express

https://www.pizzaexpress.com/

Renaissance

Now closed down

Cultural References:

UCAS

https://www.ucas.com/

Entertainment References:

Saving Private Ryan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Private_Ryan

Shakespeare In Love

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_in_Love

There’s Something About Mary

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_Something_About_Mary

Prince, 1999

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_(Prince_album)

S Club 7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S_Club_7

Five

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_(group)

Seven

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_(1995_film)

Robbie Williams

https://www.robbiewilliams.com/

White Men Can’t Jump

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Men_Can't_Jump

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel

https://open.spotify.com/album/0JwHz5SSvpYWuuCNbtYZoV

Gatecrasher

https://www.gatecrasher.com/

Kylie Minogue

https://www.kylie.com/

Ally McBeal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_McBeal

Now and Then

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_and_Then_(film)

Diary, She Wrote was produced by Liz Beardsell in partnership with Bird Lime Media with original music by Ethan Illingworth