October 9, 2021 - Saturday, 6:20 PM
Dear Diary, welcome home.
Today is the first day I begin recording every detail, event, and thought in my life in this quaint and simple little book. Some people, such as my father, never saw the point of keeping a diary. For me, nothing beats scribbling down whatever is on my mind. I despise the feeling of having to keep everything inside, but I am a secretive person.
Silly me, I forgot to introduce myself.
Lucille Chen Andres is my name. Some people refer to me as Lucy or Chen. I'm not sure where the name "Chen" came from, but my older cousin, Ava, used to call me that when I was a baby. They had no idea what to name me even though I was months old. I wonder if my parents wondered what name would suit my face when they first saw me.
I just turned 15 years old today. My grandmother gave me this diary as a gift. She was one of the few people who could relate to a kid like me. I'm grateful beyond words.
My birthday party wasn't particularly extravagant, but it also wasn't particularly bad. Everything was delicious, including the food and cake. It was nice that my cousin came over to join us in our celebration.
But what I didn't like was that I'm turning over a new leaf, closing an old chapter in my life, and becoming a new woman. Is 15 considered a woman? I'm not sure. What I do know is that I still think I'm 11 years old.
11 was a fantastic age for me. I was happier, I had real friends, and I didn't care about my appearance.
When I was a kid, I imagined myself as a teenager. It was all those damn Disney movies that convinced me of lies. I thought I'd meet my prince charming at the ripe age of 14. I mean, Snow White did.
We're off to quite a start, aren't we? There's a little more you're gonna need to know about me, as we progress into my adolescence.