Author's Note:
This fic takes place concurrently with "So Maybe I'm a Masochist,"the previous installment of the series. While you can read this fic without reading the previous one, reading them in order will probably help you understand certain aspects better.
There are typos within this story, but they are deliberate. It's my attempt to imitate how a fourteen-year-old girl who isn't particularly focused on academics would write.
August 25th 7:30 PM
Dear Diary,
It seems kinda dumb to actually begin a diary that way, but whatever. My name is Diana Lynch and right now I'm on vacation with my friends in Florida. I got this journal back in July and I never seem to be ready to start writing in it. But this is me finally getting started.
My friends and I have been having a really busy summer. We're in a club together called the Bob-Whites of the Glen. To kick off the summer, we went to Cobbett's Island together. Then, I went to California while they went to Missouri. And then all of us went to New York City together with some friends from Iowa. After that, we went to Virginia for my birthday! Then we were in Sleepyside for a while for Julianna and Hans' wedding. Then Mart, Jim, and Brian went to work at camp while I visited Uncle Monty in Arizona, and Honey and Trixie wound up going to Saratoga.
After we get back home, my family is going to visit our friends the Renfers in Minnesota. Sleepyside schools are opening later than usual because of maintenance issues at the high school that won't let us go back on schedule. I don't get why all schools need to delay opening because of problems at one school, but I guess the people in charge know what their doing. Dad's glad to be going away because he thinks something with a company called International Pine is going to cause a lot of political fighting in town, and he doesn't want to deal with it.
At the moment I'm sitting in this lounge area of the mansion we're staying at. The mansion is right by the beach and is owned by friends of the Wheelers who I think might be the Devlins or the Hollington-Chatsworths. I'm not totally sure. They were going to come here for a week or so, but then they decided to go to one of there other vacation houses. Since this house was all prepped, they offered it to the Wheelers who turned and offered to take us.
I really like this mansion. It's Italian-style, so there are all these deep colors and elegant decorations around. There's a pool in back even though the house has a private beach, and the two together like that kind of reminds me of that one old television show Fantasy Island . The porch/hallway that leads to the pool is outdoors and surrounded by all these shimmery white curtains that blow in the breeze and give this really dreamy feeling, like a perfume commercial. There's also a loft area between the upstairs and downstairs of the house that has a game room with a pool table, and also a lounge, where I'm sitting now. The lounge opens up to this outdoor balcony patio that's above this courtyard that has a gazebo.
I have the balcony doors open right now even though its muggy out because the air conditioning is to cold. I hope no birds fly into the house. My Grandma always said that was bad luck.
I can see out into the courtyard through the balcony. Mart and Dan are out there.
Dan was actually the one who gave me this diary. When we were in NYC with the rest of the BWGs, he saw me in a shop looking at a beautiful old-fashioned pen set. So he bought me this fancy fountain pen and this gorgeous diary for my birthday. Dan notices a lot of little stuff like that and big stuff to, without ever really showing that he knows until it comes up, like my gift did. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew more about me then I knew about myself. I really think he's just as good of a detective as Trixie and Honey. He sees everything but never lets anyone really know.
He was the only one of the BWGs to get me a birthday present. Even though he wasn't even on the trip to Virginia with the rest of us.
What I really like about the diary is that it closes like a jewellry box would. It has a hook that makes a circle into the keyhole to keep it closed. The cover has all of this weaving and engraving on the front. "Embossed," Mart called it.
Mart knows a lot of words like that. He's really smart. So is Dan, and I think that's why they spend so much time together. I know both of them think I'm dumb for liking the stuff I do, so they tend not really to talk to me about the movies and books I like. I read Lurlene McDaniel books mainly, and I think they think she's a bad righter even though she's not. Mart and Dan read a lot of classic books even outside of school. On the way here Mart was reading The Catcher in the Rye . But Dan was reading a book called House of Leaves , which sounds a lot like the "sappy romances" they think I shouldn't like.
Dan's been through a lot this summer. He didn't get to come with the BWGs on many trips. Then he disappeared for two weeks when we were getting ready for Hans' and Julianna's wedding. Not long after that, Regan went to Saratoga without really telling anyone. Trixie and Honey went after him while Dan stayed in Sleepyside and the other boys were at camp and I was in Arizona. Now Dan's is with us in Florida.
Dan was gone for those two weeks because he was kidnapped by criminals at the Glen Road Inn. I'm not sure what happened to him, but when we found him, he was tied to a bed. Since then, we don't really talk about it, but now he wears long sleeves and jeans all the time even though its summer, and he doesn't like being touched by anyone anymore. There's something weird about his voice now to, like he doesn't care about anything that happens to him.
I heard Brian and Jim talking a couple nights ago. When I'm sitting on the balcony, I can overhear people talking in the courtyard if their speaking loud enough They were both really worried about Dan and Brian mentioned some things I really didn't understand, like "dissociation" and "detachment." They talked about a lot of stuff and I kept getting lost, but I did get that their worried. Its because Dan's face doesn't really have an expression anymore. Its mostly just blank all the time, but sometimes I get feelings that Dan is doing that on purpose for some reason. Brian thinks Dan should see a psychologist. Or was it a psychiatrist? Anyway, they want him to talk to someone, and both Brian and Jim agreed that Dan shouldn't be left alone often.
I'm not sure if Mrs. or Mr. Wheeler thought about any of this. Jim and Brian might have talked to Mart about this, but defiantly not to any of us girls. I don't think Trixie and Honey have even noticed anything wrong with Dan.
Their rooming together. They usually do, Trixie and Honey. I'm rooming alone. That's what normally happens.
Anyway I'm gonna try to help the boys out and spend time with Dan, just so the boys can get a break and Dan has someone else to hang out with.
Right now I think Dan and Mart might be doing some kind of ritual out in the courtyard. There's some smoke and I can smell sandalwood, so I think they might be burning incense. Dan does that sometimes, he has this big old book passed down from his mom's side of the family. Its full of spells and remedies and stuff like that. I don't think Dan is actually a Wicker(?) because he says he's a Catholic, and I don't think he believes that he's doing witchcraft or anything.
He and Mart had this really long discussion on one time when Mart and I out for dinner and a movie on Mart's birthday. I didn't think Dan would be there, but Mart invited him and really wanted him there. All night they talked about stuff I didn't understand, like when they kept saying stuff about Dan's spells and free will and the Bible and "power of the self." They seemed more interested in each other than anything else, and I felt like a total third wheel. Neither of them liked the movie—some superhero flick—that much. I thought it was good. At least they liked talking about how bad they thought it was.
Mart and Dan like a lot of stuff I don't really get. Just to start, there's Portal , Lord of the Rings (books and movies), Watchmen (comic book and movie), Star Wars (movies and books), Star Trek (shows and books), Stargate (show and books), the Japan Godzilla movies, and a bunch of books I can't remember. Sometimes one of them likes something more than the other, but they both still like it. Like Firefly (Mart), Tales From the Crypt (Dan), Cosmo McNaught novels (Mart), and anything about zombies (Dan).
I can see that Mart and Dan are sitting on the ground in front of the gazebo, talking as the incense burns a couple of feet away. I can hear their voices but not the real words. I don't have any idea what their talking about, but they aren't laughing or talking loudly.
Seeing them together makes me kinda feel lonely. Everyone in the BWGs has a best friend, Mart and Dan, Jim and Brian, and Honey and Trixie, accept for me. Before my family got rich, me and Jane Sammael used to be really good friends. But after my dad got lucky in the stock market, I sort shut myself off from everyone at school and ignored everyone because I felt so awful all the time. It was that sort of weird, almost-sick type of bad that just stuck with me for a long time. I just wanted to be left alone and when I finally decided didn't, I didn't have much choice anymore.
Also there was a time when I leid to Jane and really hurt her feelings. Maybe I should of tried to explain what happened to her. But I never did, and so she still really doesn't like me even today.
Outside the sun is just beginning to go down. It's really beautiful, but something inside me feels empty when I look at it.
Tomorrow we're going down to the boardwalk while Mr. and Mrs Wheeler visit some business associates. I've already planned my outfit. Since we're going to be doing a lot of activity, I'm keeping it pretty sporty:
Pastel violet and white bikini with racerback top
Pink Nike mesh shorts
Black lycra athletic tank top
Quartz chunk stud earrings
Aviators with the matte dark lenses
I LOVE pairing pink with black. I think it looks so cool and sophisticated. Its girly, but its almost kind of edgy in a way.
I think I'm gonna wear these sandals my mom got for me. Their white and pink with low wedge heels with a bunch of straps and made mainly out of rubber. I thought they were really ugly when she gave them to me, and I still do, but their actually coming in handy with all the water activities.1
For my makeup, I'm going to use one of the summer collections. I got a bunch of them for my birthday: Elizabeth Arden, Tom Ford, Burberry, that kind of stuff. There's this one gorgeous eyeshadow palette with shimmering colors of the see and sand, the best shades of blues and browns. For hair, I'm going to try this style where I braid some parts across at the front, like a crown, and then pin up the rest in a bunch of swirled knots. I've seen it in magazines and it looks really gorgeous and pretty. I have a bunch of rhinestone bobby pins I can use for it, to.
Right now, I'm going to go get the other BWGs to play another game of Trivia Pursuit. We had a great time playing last night when everybody got really into it. I didn't really know any of the answers, but it was still really fun.
I'll be back tomorrow to right more about everything we did at the boardwalk!
XOXO,
Diana
Author's Note:
The Hollington-Chatsworths and the Devlins are a reference to characters from another Trixie Belden series of mine called "More Money, More Problems." This series can be found on Archive of Our Own.