Derry Girls: New Horizons, Part 1

England's rose

It was early afternoon on this particular Sunday; the atmosphere in the house was sombre. Erin sat in the living room as she glanced down and observed her diary. On one page of the opened book, there were a handful of paragraphs that chronicled the grounding she had endured from seeing the others along with Orla. The wain's ruse to throw Clare a surprise 18th birthday night out at Sandino's had wielded its consequences for all of them. But after a week's ban, the gang were being allowed to come back round to the Quinn house. Erin undoubtedly anticipated the wielding of the wooden spoon for them all from Ma Mary. But she took a moment to reflect on the previous week as a means of distracting herself from what she had been chronicling while watching the TV.

DAY 1

24/8/1997: Woke up this morning with an absolute RAGING headache! Christ, now I know how Clare felt when she got hungover that time. Not very fond of it if I'm completely honest. Never drunk that much when we went round Miss De Bruin's house that time. I swear I only had 3 drinks, that I can remember..... Slight confession, I boked when I got in which wasn't fun. Ma and Da were raging the next morning. Well, Mammy more so than Daddy. They've grounded us both!! It is SO UNFAIR!!! Surely we're at the age where we can't be grounded like we're still wee'uns?

I honestly feel like Claire Danes in Romeo and Juliet when she gets told she needs to marry that drip of a fella that she doesn't even like. I can't even step outside today; Mammy reckons I'll just go and see James. I wish Cousin Declan told me where he was living, I could hide out there for a wee bit. Then again, that woman, Siobhan would be there. I didn't like the way she looked at James last night. Sick auld pervert! She's old enough to be his Mammy! To make things worse, we STILL have mass this morning, then confession after that. Gd knows what Sister Michael will say if she's taking it. I have nothing to confess. We had a grand time, and last time I checked, THAT IS NOT A SIN!

Only thing I'm steaming more about is Orla doesn't seem to have a hangover. How does that work?

DAY 2:

This is ridiculous! I'm not even allowed to ring anyone. How am I supposed to find out how Clare got on? Haven't spoken to her since the other night! Same for Michelle. Mind you, I can only imagine... given how steaming she was, I wouldn't be surprised if her Mammy locks her up and throws away the key. This must be a violation of my civil rights of being denied a phone call, but I can't even ring Esther to find out if it is or not. I've seen enough of James' gangster films to know they allow criminals one phone call, but I can't even get that. This is an absolute travesty! I asked Mammy if I was allowed to take Anna to the park with Orla, but she was having none of it. Maybe I'll just go on hunger strike or something? That'll get her attention. As of right now. 11:07am, I am on hunger strike!

11:45am: Orla brought some pop tarts round, Couldn't help myself, I was starving. I only had two, but I think that still breaks the hunger strike. I'll just blame Orla.

DAY 3: ORLA IS DRIVING ME MENTAL!!! If it isn't her making me watch her step aerobics, it's her street dancing, or she wants to foot paint, or play FECKING Buckeroo! I swear she's fixed so she wins every time! I've told her I don't wanna see her for the rest of the day.

Ok.... I stand corrected. Orla might melt my head sometimes, well, a lot of times. But there are times where she's a bit of a legend. She brought one of the walkie talkies round, James was at Jim's across the road with Marco. Had a wee chat but had to keep it quiet. Was grand hearing James' voice. Michelle's grand but she wasn't with them. Feeling so much better for it now. Mammy allowed us to go round Clare's today. She said we were getting under her feet, trust me, the feeling is mutual. Daddy and I had a chat on the way to Clare's. At least he doesn't lose the run of himself when he's telling me off. I understand they're just trying to protect us, but how much longer does that go on for? I thought our mammies were OK with trusting us to look after ourselves? Also, we got home safe, so where's the bother?