The Week Before High School

August 12, 1996

Dear Diary,

Today is Monday. I just got back from riding Jennifer home. It was hilarious. We stopped at Dennis'. We sat there forever trying to find a rock or piece of mulch to throw at his window. Then when we found one and threw it, he didn't even do anything.

Last night was so much fun. Yesterday was Sunday and because of volleyball it's our only day off right now. Until school starts, we have two practices a day. School starts in 8 days. this summer has flown by. I am not ready to go back. Kind of I am, but mostly I'm not. It's not just the going back to school thing that bothers me. We are going to be freshman. We're going to Central. I'm kind of scared. My dad said if I could go from Burris to Northside, I could definitely go from Northside to Central.

Last night was so much fun. Meredith, Jennifer, Nikki, Stacy, Courtney, Kelly and I all went putt-putting (in one car). We had country night, and we didn't listen to anything but country. It was so fun. Kelly broke a couple of driving rules, but hey it was worth it. Next week we're going bowling. It's gonna be "oldies night". I can't wait.

I don't know who I like. I might like Bryan, but I don't know. The other day, I went over to Meredith's. Then Bryan came over. He got there two hours later than he said he was coming. He didn't stay very long. Then we went to his house to jump on the trampoline. Then we left.

This was obviously the summer before Freshman year. I was fourteen. I really like this entry. I feel like it gives a good picture of what this summer was about. When I said I rode Jennifer home, that was on my bike. I'm not sure why that was necessary, but we spent a lot of time on our bikes that summer. A lot of people I knew lived within biking distance so that bicycle gave me a lot of independence. I'm amused by how amusing I found the Dennis' house incident. It didn't take much, I guess.

I know I was scared to go to high school. Everything scared me then. I was scared to transfer to Northside in 8th grade. I was scared if high school. It was all very scary. I thought people were going to make me smoke and drink. Seriously, this is what I was afraid of. In my defense, I did see people smoke and drink after I transferred, but nobody made me do it.

My favorite part is the part about putt-putting. This is one of the stories in this old diary that I actually remember. As many of you know, I don't have a great memory, and many of my old memories are hiding in my brain somewhere. For this reason, I guess it's good I kept a diary. Anyway, I remember this night. Meredith's older sister took us out with them. They were going to be seniors and therefore beyond cool in my mind. I don't have any recollection of the putt-putting, but I remember that car ride. It looks like there were seven of us in one car. I remember it being crowded. This was also my first exposure to country music, and the first time I'd ever heard John Michael Montgomery's "Sold". We listened to that song more than once and I loved it. I still love it, and now I know all the words. Again all I remember was that car ride, which was thrilling and involved Kelly driving the wrong way down McGalliard for a short way just west of Oakwood.

I don't have much to say about the last paragraph, except that we spent a lot of time talking about who likes whom so I needed to keep my diary abreast on such topics as well.