"You didn't invite them in, did you, Sheila?" Grandfather Jessup clasped my biceps in his feeble grip and searched my face, worry akin to fear darkening his eyes. I patted his liver-stained hand and ... [+]
Translated by Wendy Cross
You are my favorite cousin, and as this is the worst day of my life, you are the only person I can talk to about it. I've been missing you, ever since the vacation at Gran and Grandad's over the summer. Going to middle school was a really big change. Even though I do like being in seventh grade, I found it a bit hard to get used to. Like finding the classrooms, when every lesson is in a different place. There are a thousand of us in this school, can you believe it?! In our class, the boys are really awful. Just kids and half of them are smaller than the girls! Not very nice to look at at all!