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. Follow Instagram for more extracts from my Diaries: https://www.instagram.com/diaryshewrote/ 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