Letters to a Princess Read Online Free Page A

argued.
    I felt angry that Babs was harping on to me about this and even angrier that Martin had stuck his oar in.
    ‘I’m already seeing another counsellor about Mum and all of that,’ I said and told her about Leila, lying just a little about how often I see her.
    ‘Why didn’t you say, love?’ she sounded relieved.
    ‘I’ve got to keep it a secret from Marcus or he’ll give me heaps. Like he used to when I couldn’t stop crying about Mum.’
    ‘That boy has no right! I should give him a piece of my mind.’
    ‘Please Babs, don’t make trouble. You’ve tried before and it just makes it worse.’ She pursed her lips and I thought I was in for trouble but then she gave me a smile. The Leila news must have satisfied her because she got off my case.
    ‘I’ve something very good to tell you. You’ll like this, Diana!’
    ‘What? I could do with some good news.’
    ‘It’s about Princess Diana. I’ve just read it in
Australian Woman’s Weekly
so it has to be true. She’s coming to Australia! To Sydney too!’
    ‘No way!’ It took all my willpower not to grab for the phone right then to tell Zoë the good news.
    ‘She’ll be here in a few weeks, in time to open a wing of that medical centre right next to St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst. The one near that café you and Zoë like so much. You might get to see her, Di. You might even get to talk to her!’ Babs exclaimed.
    My heart was beating wildly. Maybe I could find out where she’d be staying while she was in Sydney and send the letters to her there. Better still, go there myself and hand them to her. But who would ever let a 15-year-old schoolgirl anywhere near a real live princess? And even if they did, why would she be interested? But to see her in the flesh, wow!
    When I finally told her about Princess Di’s visit, Zoë topped it with news of her own. As of Thursday at 5.30 pm she and Jason Chee were officially ‘an item’. Zoë was ecstatic and I was more than a bit pissed off. Suddenly my Diana news didn’t seem so exciting.
    ‘After the movie he asked me to go out with him. Just him and I,’ Zoë babbled on.
    ‘You and Jason—no way!’ I was jealous and she must have heard it in my voice.
    ‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘D’you have a problem or what?’
    ‘No problem. He’s nice. But you said you thought he was a bit of a shortie and …’ my voice trailed off.
    ‘He’s exactly my height,’ she said coldly. And even if he weren’t, everyone knows he’s a pretty cool guy with a great sense of humour. And anyway, I said yes!’
    ‘That’s great!’ I replied.
    She just looked at me.
    ‘I mean it Zoë. It’s great for both of you.’
    She slipped her arm through mine. ‘That’s really good news about the Princess visit Di-Di,’ she said, obviously trying to make me feel better. ‘We’ll have to work it with Miss Pate so that we can go to that medical centre to see her. We can write it up for our Journalism assignment.’
    I agreed that it was a great idea but I didn’t think Miss Pate would ever let us go. Which just goes to show how wrong you can be.
    Jason is a good-looking guy, I suppose. He’s good at soccer and not so good at school work. But, hey, who cares, right? Zoë doesn’t seem to mind.
    Lots of boys like Zoë. I’ve always been in her shadow when it comes to socialising. It’s just not that easy for me to think of things to say to boys. Sometimes Zoë teases me. ‘C’mon Diana, who do you like? You can tell me …’
    There is this one guy, Seb, in our group who sometimes talks to me. I know I blush like mad when he looks at me. I think he’s pretty hot but there’s no way I’d ever tell Zoë because you can’t predict what she’ll do or say.
    Graham came home early that night with my favourite ‘Lite’ frozen dinner, but I just couldn’t eat any of it. All the talk about Zoë and Jason, and thinking about Mum, had put me off.
    ‘Not this damned no eating thing again, Diana! I won’t