April 3, 1981

Melissa hurt my feelings because she said, "Mary, you better put that away before people like Patricia read it." Of course I'd be interested in reading what people wrote but, I swear I wasn't ever reading anything. I couldn't even see it, and I would NOT read anything unless I had permission.

Gregg, Chris, Jed and Mary are singing "On Top of Spaghetti..." Mrs. Ayres has no sense of humour.

Wow, I got something correct in class here. She wants to see me later. I'm in trouble again.

(Author's note: Mrs. Ayres did see me and she told me that she was dropping me from class because I don't do any work and because I am disruptive. When the huge big tears welled up in my eyes, I apologized to her profusely and told her that I was deeply sorry. Being dropped from class meant failing the 10th grade and I didn't want to fail the 10th grade. It would have only added to the misery I was already in over my mother getting married. Mrs. Ayres, to her credit, gave me great sympathy and immediately rescinded her declaration. I was so grateful. I got a D in her class that year. It was geometry. And I did end up going to summer school for math just to buckle up my math skills, but thank God, I did pass.

Also, you may hear more about Melissa later. She tortured me in high school, and I swore I would never speak to her again after high school, but then we bumped into each other on the street one day, of all places, Manhattan, and we became friends again for the next 5 years).