Friday 21st July

When I arrived home from school I staggered up the stairs to my bedroom and dumped my rucksack onto the bed. I was pleased that the summer holidays had finally come and that I didn’t have any more exams to do. Then I changed out of my school uniform and into my favourite gothic outfit, which were a black strappy top, dark blue jeans, black boots and a black cardigan.

Just as I was about to open my make-up bag the phone started ringing. “Hi Mum” I said as I sat down at the bottom of the stairs. “Hi sweetheart, I’m going to be a bit late because I’m stuck in traffic, but Auntie Rose is coming over this evening, so she’ll keep you company” said Mum. “Thanks, I’ll see you later, bye” I said as I placed the phone back and then I went into the kitchen and made myself a nice warm mug of cocoa, but just as I was about to sit down I heard someone opening the front door. It was only Auntie Rose with her enormous brown suitcase. “Hi Auntie Rose, it’s nice to see you again. Can I help you with your suitcase?” I asked “No, I can manage it” she replied as she started climbing up the stairs.

While I was washing out my favourite mug Auntie Rose entered the kitchen and asked me: “You look pale, are you feeling alright?” “Yeah, I’m fine, its just make-up I’m wearing” I replied. After a few seconds my Mum arrived back from the local beauty salon. “Sorry I’m a bit late, the traffic was awful and I felt like I was going to be stuck there for ages” she said as she dumped her jacket onto the back of the chair. A few minutes later my Dad arrived back from his office and then we talked for ages about what we would like to do during the holidays and also caught up with the local gossip.

Saturday 22nd July

This morning I decided to go shopping in Birmingham, so I wrote a list of things that I wanted to buy with my pocket money, but when I had finished writing Auntie Rose started peering over my shoulder to see what I had written. “Are you okay?” I asked her when I noticed that she was staring at me “Yes, I’m fine” Auntie Rose firmly replied as she continued dusting. When I went to get ready I thought “Why is she acting so oddly?”

Afterwards Mum dropped me off at the entrance to the Bullring shopping centre. I went inside and just as I was about to go onto the escalator my mobile started vibrating in my pocket. It was a text message from Auntie Rose and it said: “I’m keeping an eye on you”. I was starting to feel a bit scared, but I didn’t want it to ruin my fun. One of the shops I went to was called the Oasis market, it was quite big and it had about 4-5 floors. It sold all sorts of clothes, gothic jewellery, accessories, make-up and it also had a little café. There I bought a short sleeved black t-shirt that had a picture of a dragon on the front and a Celtic cross pendant on a black leather cord.

When I arrived home I went to show Auntie Rose the t-shirt I bought “What do you think of it?” I asked. “Take that thing off and put something more appropriate on!” she scorned as she picked up a garden catalogue. “What’s wrong with it?” I asked, but Auntie Rose didn’t reply. At dinner time Mum and Dad made us a fantastic tuna pasta bake and salad. We all thought it was scrumptious, so we decided to have seconds. While we were eating I could feel Auntie Rose watching me like an eagle watching its prey.

Sunday 23rd July

Today was a quiet sort of day, so I went into the lounge to look for an interesting book to read. “Hello, niece” sneered Auntie Rose as she passed behind me. I could feel her cold breath on the back of my neck, which made me shiver and I was starting to dislike the way she spoke to me, so I decided to sit outside in the back garden and then I started drawing a picture of my favourite creatures e.g. fairies, unicorns, dolphins and angels for Mum and Dad. After a few seconds I heard the cat flap rattle, it was our cat Blackie who had been asleep on my bed all morning.

Suddenly I heard “What are you doing?!” I turned around and saw Auntie Rose walking towards me. “I’m drawing” I replied as I handed the piece of paper to her and at that very second she ripped it into a million pieces. “There are more important things to do than drawing silly childish pictures!” she yelled. I couldn’t believe what I heard and then I said “Of all the things I’ve done for you, why are you treating me like this?” As I walked back inside I could feel tears rolling down my cheek like rain trickling down a window.

Monday 24th July

After breakfast I redrew the picture and then as I gave it to Mum she said that I’m just like Dad. At 11:30am everyone was getting ready for a trip out to Stratford, so I fetched my rucksack and it contained my portable CD player, my puzzle book and my booklet about St. Jude (not the one who betrayed Jesus). I’m became very interested about the saints when I learned about them in one of my RE lessons at school.

Soon we stopped at a service station to buy some cold drinks and snacks. While we were waiting I was starting to feel bored, so I took out CD player out of my rucksack and started listening to my favourite band called Nightwish. After a few seconds Mum and Dad arrived back with the drinks and some crisps. “You can’t drink that stuff, it’ll rot your teeth” said Auntie Rose as Mum handed me a bottle of diet coke. I gave a sigh and then placed it into the rucksack, so I could save it till later.

Finally we arrived in Stratford and when Dad had packed the car we went to the Red Lion pub for lunch. “Today is going to be a fun day and nothing is going to wrong” I thought, but when our drinks had arrived Auntie Rose carried my drink towards the table then she suddenly tripped over the table leg and spilt it all over my t-shirt. I could feel my face going bright red. “Don’t worry dear, it’ll soon dry,” said Mum as she handed me some napkins.

After lunch we went for a walk by the canal and we weren’t the only ones who had the same idea. When we arrived, there were parents pushing their toddlers in pushchairs, a group of teenagers were playing football and some dogs were chasing a yellow tennis ball. Then we sat in the shade underneath a willow tree and watched the world go by.

Tuesday 25th July

Today I decided to give my room a good clear out. First I sorted my magazines into a pile and threw away the ones I didn’t want any more, next my exercise books, (which were a bit tatty) into another pile and so on. While I was doing that I put a Bon Jovi CD on and started singing along with it, but I didn’t noticed that Auntie Rose had entered my bedroom. “What are you doing?” I asked as she switched my CD player off. “Keep it down, I can’t hear myself think!” she yelled. Then I picked up my keys and walked towards the front door “I’m just popping out to the Newsagents!” I called “See you in a bit!” Dad replied.

I wish that Auntie Rose would give me some space without her having a go at me or making me do something that I don’t want to do. I’m trying to think of some ways to stop her bullying me. When I was a little kid she was more polite and understanding, but now I don’t know why she’s being nasty towards me. I wonder if Mum and Dad have noticed something odd about her.

I’ve tried putting up a “KEEP OUT” sign on my bedroom door, but it only worked for about 30 seconds and it ended up in the kitchen bin. When I came back to my room I found a note on my bed saying: “Nice Try”. I’ve tried ignoring Auntie Rose, but it’s not as easy as you may think, so I have decided to write a poem to show her that I don’t like being bullied just because I’m different.

After dinner Mum and Auntie Rose were having an argument in the lounge and it was about me. I heard Auntie Rose called me a lazy ungrateful little brat and that Mum should be stricter with me; I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. If I was lazy I wouldn’t have helped her paint her garden fence and tidy up her garden last half term. After that Auntie Rose started making offensive marks and lies about me then Mum pronounced “Crystal is older enough to make choices for herself!” After a few seconds I hurried upstairs to my bedroom, buried my face into the pillow and wept.

Wednesday 26th July

While Auntie Rose was out I started typing out my poem. It took me quite a while to get it just right and a couple of times I had to reword it too. After 20 minutes I finally finished it. This is what it said:

Why are you bullying me?
Why can’t you see?
Just because I’m different from you doesn’t mean that I don’t have feelings too.
So what if I stand out from the crowd, I’m not a freak; I’m a normal person who is humble in everything I do.

Next I carefully put inside an envelope and placed it onto Auntie Rose’s bed. “I hope this’ll work” I thought as I slowly closed the door behind me and walked downstairs for dinner. When I went to get ready for my shower there was a knock on my bedroom door. I opened it and there stood Auntie Rose holding the poem in her hand. “Crystal, I want to say that I’m very sorry about how I’ve been treating you these past few days and the horrible things I said about you” she said “I forgive you” I replied as I gave her a great big hug. “I promise that I’ll never judge you again” said Auntie Rose with a smile.

The End

Note: There’s a moral to this story: Don’t judge a book by its cover.