Diary of a pretty Girl Learn English through story level 3

young people

should be given chances in life

especially the chance

of a good education

sometimes

that means going to study in another

country

far from home

and family

young tuaine

is at school in new zealand

but her home

is on a south sea island

where the warm waters of the lagoon

are as blue

as the sky above

[Music]

june

i am going to use this big notebook

for my diary

and write down everything i feel and do

i brought the book with me when i left

home

i used it for english

at my school back home

and when i left there was still plenty

of pages not written on

so it will be good for a diary

at home

i read a story called the diary of anne

frank

it was a very sad story

but i read it lots of times

ann said

it made her feel better to write things

down

it helped her with all those troubles

she had

maybe my diary will help me feel better

too

tomorrow

it will be two months

since i left home to come here

61 days

just two numbers when i write it like

that

61 days

but

it is the slowest and longest time i can

remember

how can 61 days go so slowly

i still think of home all the time

and i can remember

every little thing about the island

except

how warm it was

i can’t remember that

because

here

it is so cold all the time

but when i lie here

and close my eyes

i can see my friends

and my family

and all my favorite places

and the big black rock where we swam in

the lagoon

and the path that goes to the top of our

mountain

and the cool wind at the top

and if sometimes i can’t remember

everything

there are the photos by my bed

and all my seashells

when i was a baby

i was given to my grandparents

because i was the youngest in our family

and that is our custom

my real parents live on another island

our village is called

and our house

is a little bit back from the road that

goes through the village

by the hill

when the last big storm

called sharon

came

the waves from the lagoon came right

over the road

but not as far as our garden which was

lucky

the wind blew all the flowers out of our

garden

but at least the roof stayed on our

house

not like at melee’s place

a great piece of metal blew off their

roof right over the house

and cut their goat’s head off

it was terrible for the poor animal

there were some bad things that happened

in our village

like sharon

and some accidents on the motorbikes

but mostly there were good things

and i remember the good things

not the bad things

school was good too

i liked it at the college

and i nearly always came top of my class

but i’m sorry about that now

it was coming top

that probably sent me away

we had exams in the first term

and i came first or second in every exam

mr ashton the teacher

came to our house

and said to mama and papa that our

school on the island

wasn’t good enough for me

that i should go to school in new

zealand

mama and papa talked about it to uncle

george

i was worried

because i didn’t want to go away

but they talked about it again with mr

ashton

and all my family put in some money for

the plane

and sent me here

to auntie vallines

aunty vaine is my mother’s cousin

and she has been living in auckland for

over 20 years

there’s four of us here in her house

auntie

tar

he’s 17

marlene

and me

marlene and i sleep in the same bedroom

she’s six

the week after i arrived

auntie bought me a uniform

and i started at the girls college

i’ve got to stop my diary now

the video has finished

and marlene wants to go to bed

june

at first

auntie was friendly

she asked me all about home

and all the relations she hadn’t seen

for so long

and she told me the things she used to

do when she was a girl on the island

then she asked me

how much money did i bring with me from

the island

and i said i didn’t bring any

and she got a bit angry

i told her mama and papa didn’t have any

money to give me

and they told me that auntie had a good

job

and earned plenty of money

auntie said she worked in the chicken

factory

but she didn’t get much money

and most of it went on paying the rent

for the house

then

i asked her where was my uncle

i didn’t like to ask about him at first

because perhaps he had left her or

something

auntie started crying then

and told me about the accident

uncle ben worked for a building company

that made bridges

one day

one of those very long heavy pieces of

metal

fell on him

his back was broken

and he died in hospital

i told her

i was very sorry i didn’t know about the

accident

nobody at home heard about it

she said

uncle ben didn’t come from our islands

he was from nowhere

so she only told his family

i felt really sad for auntie then

and bad that i came to live with her

when she didn’t have enough money

july

i haven’t been able to write in my diary

recently

i have had too much schoolwork to do

school is very hard here

but the teachers are nice

my class teacher mrs price is best

she’s great

she introduced me to lots of girls

but they aren’t from my island

their samoans

and their language is very strange to me

the school is so big too

over a thousand girls

and so many rooms

it is scary

in a school where there are so many

strangers

everyone seems cleverer than me

their english is so good

i try hard to keep up

but i get much lower marks than i did at

home

i don’t have enough time to do my work

that’s the trouble

auntie is working evenings at the

chicken factory

and i have to get the dinner every night

the only place i can study is in the

bedroom

and the noise from the video is so bad

every night

tar gets some videos and always they are

noisy full of shooting and wars and

shouting

i hate that sylvester stallone

i think it’s bad for tara to watch just

that kind of video

marlene too

yesterday

i went and asked tar please could he

turn the video down

because i was trying to study in my room

and he got angry and shouted bad words

at me

he thinks he’s so special

what a laugh

he’s just a stupid boy who can’t get a

job

he won’t turn down the video

i’m going to bed now

july

it’s sunday

but we didn’t go to church

auntie used to go to church but she

never goes now

when i asked why

she said she didn’t believe in god

anymore

i thought that was terrible

and i asked her why

she said it was because god took uncle

ben away from them and left them with no

one to take care of them

and not enough money

i don’t know if that’s right

but i can understand the way auntie

feels

i’m not sure about god

he can be very cruel sometimes

even to good people like anne frank

and uncle ben

in the afternoon

we took the bus to visit uncle ben’s

grave

there is a smiling photo on the grey

stone

in shiny black letters

benjamin

feligi

aged 48 years

much loved husband and father

we all cried at the grave

even tar

when auntie put the flowers on it

in the photo on his grave

uncle ben looks like he was a nice man

july 10

i didn’t go to school today

i wanted to

but it’s a long way and i have to get

the bus

and the bus ticket costs a lot of money

auntie said she didn’t have any money

left

she was getting angry with me

so i thought i will walk to school

tomorrow instead of getting the bus

today

i tried to do my schoolwork by myself at

home

but i didn’t do very well

july

i am very tired tonight

this morning i got up at six o’clock and

made some sandwiches for my lunch

and i left before any of the others were

it was still dark

and very scary because there was nobody

in the streets

i walked right down dominion road

and slowly the sky got lighter

my school bag was hurting my shoulder

and i was trying to remember the way the

bus went

from the time when i had a ticket

in the end

i got to the school

but it took a long long time

and i was late

and the teacher at the gate took my name

and i had a detention

that was the first time i ever had one

my class teacher mrs price

asked me why i was late

i didn’t like to tell her my auntie

didn’t have any money for the bus

so i said i slept in

mrs price asked me how i was getting on

here

and she seemed a bit worried

at lunchtime

she brought a fifth form girl called

moana

who was from my country

to see me

moana and i talked in our language

she doesn’t come from my island

but i knew some cousins of hers

i enjoyed talking to moana

but it made me sad

because i began thinking about home

and all the people i knew

when i told moana about walking to

school

she took me to the school library

and showed me a street map

we saw that there was a much shorter way

for me to come to school

i don’t have to follow the bus route

moana asked me if i would like to come

to her place one day

but

i saw on the map

that she lives at te atatu

too far away from my place

i walked home that quick away that i

found on the map

but

because of my detention

i didn’t get home until six o’clock

i am very tired tonight

i can’t ride anymore

july

auntie gave me two dollars this morning

i had to decide if i will spend it on

the bus fare

or some lunch

there was only fried bananas for

breakfast

because auntie doesn’t get paid until

tomorrow

i decided to walk to school and buy my

lunch

at the end of one street there was a

bridge over the motorway that was just

for pedestrians

i stopped and looked down at the

motorway

all those cars

it was like a great river running into

the city

then it started to rain

it rained and rained

very heavy

like it does at home

but very cold

i don’t have a coat or jacket

so i got wet through

on my hair down my neck on my legs in my

shoes

i kept on walking towards school

and getting wetter and wetter and colder

and colder

then i saw a clock on a building that

said five minutes to nine

that was too late for school

so i turned round and walked home again

and i was so cold

i had to get into bed to keep warm

i didn’t get up

until marlene came home from school

july

auntie is working daytime at the factory

now

so she told marlene and me to stay home

from school

and do the shopping

we walked to the supermarket

and after we had done the shopping there

was some money left over

we were very hungry

i got us some kentucky fried chicken for

lunch

it was so good

marlene and i took the chicken to the

park

and hit it there

when people went past us they stared

i knew they were thinking

why aren’t those girls at school

maybe they would tell the police

so i said to marlene

come on

we ought to get home now

i felt bad about using auntie’s money

for kentucky fried chicken

and i told marlene not to say we had it

i won’t do that again

i went to bed in the afternoon

i didn’t feel very well

my head aches

and i think i’m getting a cold

july

i didn’t write in my diary for a few

days

because i stayed in bed with a really

bad cold

i felt miserable

i’ve missed a lot of school now

and i don’t know how i will catch up

exams are next month

and i’m very worried about them

always at home i did well in exams

but i can’t hear

i lie on my bed

and stare at my photos

and the trochus shell that papa gave me

when i put the shell to my ear

i can hear the lagoon whispering to me

the trochus shells are very special to

once every year

the people from the villages can get the

trochus from the lagoon

but only a few for each family

so there will always be more for next

year

the shells are polished for the tourists

but papa polished this strokus

just for me

and it is so beautiful

with all the different colors

it is like holding a rainbow in my hand

even the darkness here

doesn’t stop the trochus from shining

july 19

i had a very bad day today

when i woke up

i decided i must go to school

and catch up my work

so i will do well in exams

and get a good report to send home to

mama and papa

i said to auntie

i’m going back to school i’m walking but

please could i have some money for my

lunch

then auntie got very mad

and she shouted at me

i’ve got no money left for you i haven’t

even got enough money for my own

children

why did you have to come here anyway

i told her i didn’t really want to come

and i’m sorry for all this trouble i am

giving her

i said

i don’t like it here and i want to go

home

auntie got even angrier and said she

didn’t even have enough money for the

bus

so how is she going to pay for a plane

ticket

she said

she didn’t ask me to come here

she only said yes

because she couldn’t say no to her

family

she said

if i want to go home

my family should send the money to pay

and i said they couldn’t

because they spent all their money

sending me here

i felt really miserable then

and ran out of the room crying

everything here is money

money for food money for buses

money for warm clothes money for shoes

back home

we only need money for the motorbike

and a bit of food from the shop

we get everything from the lagoon and

the fields

and we don’t worry about money

but here

money makes me frightened

because there isn’t enough

and i feel bad that auntie has to get

more because of me

i don’t know what to do

there is no telephone here to ring

or at home

all i can do is lie on my bed

and stare at my photos

and hold my trochus shell

no school again today

july

raining again

i didn’t go to school

i did some cleaning in the house

and watched some tv

there was a knock on the door

but i didn’t answer it

the person put a letter in the letterbox

and later

i went out to get it

it was a dress to auntie

and i opened it

it said because i hadn’t been to school

my auntie should visit the school

immediately

i put the letter in the rubbish

i don’t want auntie to get mad again

but i’m

worried

i know it’s against the law to not go to

school but i can’t go back

i’m too far behind

perhaps i can leave school

and get a job in an office

that would help auntie with the money

july

so much happened today

i never had a day like it in my life

tar gave me some money for the bus

and told me how to get downtown

i caught the bus

and ended up in queens street

the first time i have been there

so many grand buildings

it was like a tv program

i began to walk up queen street

but there was a freezing cold wind

and then it started to rain

and felt even colder

i couldn’t stop staring in the shop

windows

all those lovely things

in one shop they were ceiling holidays

and there was a big photograph of home

showing my island

it was a very beautiful picture

the lagoons so blue

and the sea all around so dark

and the whiteness

where the waves break on the reef round

the lagoon

i wanted to say to people in the street

look

there’s my island

isn’t it beautiful

but all the people were just hurrying

past

not stopping

not noticing

i kept on walking up queen street

i was looking for a clothes shop

because i needed a jacket

the wind went right through my clothes

i felt i wasn’t wearing anything at all

i came to a very big shop

and went in

there were lots and lots of jackets

but i saw one of the shop people staring

at me

so i went back out into the cold

and kept on walking

after a while

i came to another shop which sold

jackets

i was very worried about what i was

going to do but i was so cold

and i didn’t really care how wrong it

was

i just didn’t want to get caught

i went into the shop

and started looking at the jackets

i had a white supermarket bag in my

pocket

and i got it out

took a blue jacket

and put it in the bag as quickly as i

could

my hands were shaking

and i wanted to run but instead

i walked around slowly

and pretended to look at some coats

then i walked out

i didn’t stop

until i got to the bridge over the

motorway

i took out the jacket

and saw the price on it

125

i put it on

it was so warm

it’s got wool inside and it keeps the

rain out and everything

i wore it to just before i got home

then

i put it back in the bag

and hid it under my bed

july 22

i couldn’t sleep all last night

it was very bad to take that jacket from

the shop

the church says you must not steal

and i can’t forget that

i have heard it all my life

i won’t wear the jacket again

i am too ashamed

and frank did not steal

not even food when she was nearly dead

from hunger

july

saturday today

tar got three videos

all fighting and shooting

i can hear through the wall

and it sounds like a war is going on

at home

on saturday night

we used to go across to the big holiday

hotel

on the little island of tokoa

we used to sit under the trees and have

fruit drinks

and watch the dancing for the tourists

it was beautiful there

and i love the dancing and the music

i want to dance at tokoa when i am older

i decided what to do about the jacket

on monday

i will take it back to the shop

july

so much happened today

i will have to write it down very

carefully to make sure i don’t miss

anything

when i woke up

i put the jacket in my school bag

and told my auntie i’m going to school

i walked into town

and waited until it was after nine

o’clock

then

i walked to the shop

there weren’t many people inside

and i went over to where the jackets

were and quickly started to take the

jacket out of my bag

but as i did it

i looked up

and saw a lady with gray hair

watching me from the other side of some

dresses

she saw what i was doing

and came over

what are you doing did you take this

she said

her voice was very cross

i couldn’t explain to her that i was

bringing it back because i had taken it

before

i thought she wouldn’t believe me

she said

come with me

and she took my arm

and we went over to the back of the shop

i started to cry

we went into an office

and there was a man in there sitting at

a desk

he was a young man

in a suit

the lady told him she had found me

taking the jacket

and the man said is this right

and i just nodded

i couldn’t stop crying

so i couldn’t explain

i will have to go to court i thought

and my family will be so ashamed of me

the man told me to sit down

and he rang someone on his telephone

it’s a shoplifter he said

then the man asked me my name

and my address

and my school

and i told him those things

after a bit a police lady came in

and the shop lady went out

the police lady was young and pretty

with dark hair

she sat down

and asked me questions in a kind voice

and it was easier to talk to her than

those other ones

i told her all about the jacket

and what i

did she said to the man

i think she’s telling the truth

and i think we should talk to someone

from the school first

the man looked cross but he said

all right

i have to agree

this is unusual

very unusual the police lady said

i never heard of a shoplifter who took

back what she stole

she smiled at me

and asked

who would you like us to talk to from

school

when mrs price came in

she looked just as usual

not worried or anything

but i started crying again

because i was so ashamed

and she sat down next to me and said

don’t worry to aine

everything will be all right

then she and the police lady talked

and they seemed really friendly to each

other

i don’t think the shop manager liked

that

and he still looked angry

mrs price asked me why i hadn’t been to

school

she has got gray hair

but her face is young

and she talks in a very kind way

i told her about the money and auntie

and my uncle

and how he was killed

and about the exams

and how i was worried about them

and how i got cold when i went out

and how i took the jacket

i said i was very ashamed for what i did

when my story was finished

mrs price looked at the police lady

and then they both looked at the manager

the police lady said

the jacket has been returned mr jackson

and i really don’t think this girl is a

thief

the manager didn’t look at her

but he nodded his head

i said to him

i’m very sorry i took your jacket

i will never do it again

he stood up

and nodded again

and mrs price said

i’ll take you home now

to aine

mrs price and i sat in her car outside

my house

she talked slowly

and i felt she was thinking deeply about

everything she was saying

she said

we can give you extra lessons at school

to help you catch

and i’ll find out

if your auntie can get some money from

the government

i’m sure she can

that will help with the clothes problem

then

mrs price stopped

and she looked at me for a long time

without speaking

she has very clear gray eyes

very kind and understanding

and her eyes

seemed to see a long way into me

she said in a slow voice

would you just like us to arrange

for you to go home

i looked back into those gray kind eyes

the way she said it

i knew it was really possible

tears came back into my eyes

through them

i saw a house

and

faces and the lagoon

shining and blue

i would like to go home

i said

you