I Promise

Chapter One

Chapter One

I lay back on the lush green grass. The crisp white pages of my notebook stared at me and I sighed. Sitting up, I grabbed my pen.

Dear Diary, I wrote, and then my mind went blank. Why was this so hard? I was good at writing, but whenever I tried to keep a diary my mind went kaput. I couldn't put all my thoughts down onto paper and write freely, it was too hard.

Suddenly a flash of white came out of nowhere and a furry creature landed on my face. I fell backwards and hit my head on a pole. cursing, I sat up again and pulled the animal off my face.

"Olaf!" I moaned, holding my tiny white kitten. He looked up at me innocently, like he hadn't just tried to kill me. I reached out and grabbed Coco, who was nibbling my feet. They weren't meant to be out here, mum would go nuts if she knew.

"Joey!" I shouted, standing up. "Did you let the kittens outside?"

My little brother appeared at the back door. "They want to go out."

"They're too young to be allowed out here! Mum's going to kill you."

"But they wanted to." Joey repeated, like that made a difference. "And mum won't know."

Just as the words came out of his mouth, Mum started calling for me.

"Hide the kittens!" I whispered hurriedly. Joey picked them up and ran to hide in a bush. He made it just in time before Mum came out.

"Casey, can I talk to you for a minute?" She called.

"Yes mum, of course!" I grabbed my book, pen and the bracelet Ashleigh made me, then tried to guide her back indoors, as I severely doubted Joey could hold to two small wriggly cats. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to know if you had anything planned for tomorrow."

"Actually I do." I dumped my stuff down on a chair. "Me and Ashleigh are going swimming."

"Swimming? Just the two of you? I don't know, Casey."

"Well, Tia's on holiday." I said through gritted teeth. I hated my over protective parents. "We'll be fine."

"You will be careful, won't you?"

"Yes!" I growled. God, why did they have to be so annoying? My dad was just the same. What were they so afraid of?

I went to my room and texted Ashleigh. U still on for swimming?

I didn't get a reply straight away so I did what I like to best, sit back and look around my room. I found it relaxing. My room was the same dark shade of purple I've had since I was younger. I have a reading corner, two blue beanbags and a massive bookshelf, packed full of books. There are signs like 'Keep Calm and Read a Book' and 'Never Judge a Book by it's Movie'. The two walls above and opposite my bed are covered in pictures, drawing and photos. A lot of people can't tell the difference between the walls but I can. One wall (the one opposite my bed) is full of things I like, like pictures of my favourite bands or cute bunny pictures I've cut out of a magazine. The stuff above my bed is personal stuff. Photos of my family and friends, a bag that Ashleigh made, and a list of Tia's best jokes. There's also photos of every pet I have. I love animals so it's quite a long list. There's one of Olaf and Coco, so small they could both sit inside one teacup. There's one of Whiskers, their mum, watching Tv with the remote under one paw. A few of them feature my dog, Roxy, who my dad had just taken out for a walk. Tia and Ashleigh both loved the one of my bunnies, Carrot and Lettuce, washing themselves. There weren't any of my lizards because I couldn't take photos through the glass, but there was one of my hamster, Eureka (Eek for short). Obviously they're not just mine, they're family pets, but I love them most and they love me most (except possibly for lettuce, who has a soft spot for Joey).

Suddenly I heard my mum explode downstairs. "Joey!" She screamed. "Did you let the kittens go outside?!"

Uh oh. I didn't want to listen to my mum yelling her head off and Joey wailing. I picked up my headphones but as I did I realized I had a text. Excitedly grabbing my phone, I unlocked the keypad and read the message, only to find out it was from Jodie, a girl in my class, asking if we had science homework. Sighing, I texted her back. I was getting worried. Ashleigh always had her phone turned on and with her, in case she got a text from Darren (her hot new boyfriend).

Mabye she's at the cinema. I thought that would explain it. And since I had time, I decided to have another go at my diary.

Ten minutes later I still hadn't gotten any further than Dear Diary. If only I had a Dictaphone. Then I could just say stuff I wanted to, instead of putting it into sentences and writing it all down. I thought about asking for one for my birthday, but remembering last years haul of two socks (literally, one blue and one yellow, for Joey), a book (Mum) and a bar of chocolate (Dad) I gave up on that idea. I'd probably get money from my Uncle anyway. He was a very important accountant a few years ago. Unfortunately the smell of books made him go mad and they fired him. He got so much redundancy pay that he now lives in a castle thinking fairies exist and £100 is reasonable birthday present money (Mum let's me keep £15 and puts the rest into savings for Uni).

Trying to distract my thoughts from my insane uncle, I played with my hair and plaited it. It was a stupid brown colour, unlike Ashleigh's blonde locks or Tia's dark waves. Although as soon as I thought that I felt guilty. There was no way I could be jealous of them. Ashleigh's mum died giving birth to her so she lives alone with her dad, and Tia has a really scary big brother who's been in prison loads. I always felt bad complaining about my life when I looked at theirs.