Today was the day where Dean was going on his camping trip. He joined the St. John Ambulance about 5 months ago and he was now going on a 4 day camping trip. This was a really big thing because it was his very first time being away from home longer than a day. During the early afternoon, my mam was trying to help Dean to pack his bag and showing him where things where. Dean had to bring a lot of things with him and had to fit everything in a camping bag. He had to bring knives, forks, plates, 4 full sets of clothes, sleeping bag, jumpers, jackets and much more but they all fit in the bag anyway which was good. He was looking forward to going and I was looking forward to being an only child for the next few days but I have to admit I was going to miss our daily fights.
At about 6pm we went around to Scoil Na Mainistreach and when we got there, there were only about 2 boys there. By the time everyone was there, we all went over and talked to the leaders and all the boys and girls did their actions when they’re relaxed and focused, I actually don’t know what they did, it reminded me of something they do in the army where the leader shouts something and they all sort of move. They all put their bags on the bus and everyone dressed in their uniforms got on the bus and set off. My dad took loads of pictures and then we went home. I could see that my parents were worried because it was the first time Dean had ever been away from home and he was their youngest child so they were on edge. My mam said that it wasn’t just because he was the youngest that they worried about him, she said that every time I go out like to my friends or to school or anywhere she worries because even though I’m 17, she still thinks of me as her baby so it doesn’t really matter what age you are, your parents will never stop worrying about you because you will always be their baby <3
Today my family had decided to go for a drive down to Wexford to see my great-aunts Berni and Patsy. We left at about 1 or 2pm and set off and we didn’t stop off in Jack White’s where we always go to have dinner on our way down to Wexford. We stopped off in a town before we went to Wexford and we fed the ducks for a little while which was really fun because every time we feed ducks, I always throw a full slice into the river and about 20 ducks just fly to try get it and it just looks so funny. That was fun and then we walked through the town and had a look in a few shops and then we decided to eat some food, so me and my dad walked back to the car and we drove up to the chipper where my mam and Dean where and we then drove back to the side of the river where we fed the ducks. We cracked open the bags of chips that my mam got and we all got sausages and rolls and crisps and bars and a can of coke. It was yummy and I really enjoyed it. We then set off for Wexford and about an hour later, we arrived in the house and they were delighted to see us. We sat down and were only going to stay there for an hour tops because my great-aunt Patsy was really tired because she was having chemotherapy due to her cancer.
We were all having fun and talking about our holiday and showed them the pictures and it was really nice to cheer up my aunties because they seemed really down due to Patsy’s cancer. 4 hours later we decided to leave because it was nearly 7pm and Patsy was going to go to bed. It was a really good day and I really enjoyed visiting them that day.
Today I planned to go out with Shane again and he was going to bring out his dog again. I met up with him and we walked down to Castletown and we had a nice long walk talking and bonding and just getting to know each other. I really enjoyed it because at one point when the sun was shining really brightly me, Shane and Heidi just lay on the grass and relaxed in the sun. All was going really good and we started to leave at like 5.30pm and we walked up towards Ballymakealy because Shane was going to football at 7pm. We were walking past Oak Leigh and Jessica Dennehy and her friends were there and we didn’t say anything we just walked past but all she and her friends did was shout abuse at us. We ignored it and walked past and he went into Ballymakealy and I walked on towards my house.
I heard her calling after me and then I heard her running towards me so I started to walk a little faster but she caught up to me and her other 2 friends followed and when I tried to ignore her, she grabbed my arm and stopped me from walking. Her 3 friends were surrounding me and started being really nasty to me and being really intimidating. Jessica then said that I have to stay away from her brother Eric because apparently I “threatened” him even though I don’t know what he looks like! I thought that if I agreed that the conversation would be over then but no, despite me saying that I would stay away from him even though I had never had a conversation with him ever, she reacted as if I said “No why should I?” She backed away from me and shouted “UHHHHH I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU LAUREN!!!” It was like I waved a red cloth in front of her face like a bull in a bullfight. I tried to sort of end the conversation but she grabbed me by the mouth and I could feel her finger sticking into my eye and she scraped my back against the wall. It was really sore and when she let me go, they started moving away so I started walking home and made sure not to cry and as they laughed their way back to Oak Leigh I walked home injured.
In the heat of the moment I rang the police to report the attack and they told me to go home and tell me parents and then go to the police station to make a statement. I went home and told my parents what happened and their faces said it all. They were shocked that their little girl just got bet up. They told me that it was wrong to get the police involved so they didn’t bring me down and we just forgot about the police. My parents were so angry and wanted to go up to Jessica’s house!!! I didn’t like that idea because I was unsure what her parents were like and maybe it would make the situation worse.
I was in my bedroom for a little while crying and cleaning my cuts and bruises; I had a black eye, a busted lip and scrapes all over my back. About an hour later my parents came to the conclusion that the 3 of us would go up to her house and have a talk with her parents. I was scared and when we got there, her step-dad answered the door and we told him what had happened and he had this look as if to say “Here we go again” as if he had already dealt with something like this before. I showed him my cuts and bruises and he looked really angry and said that he was going to drag Jessica home straight away and my parents stopped him and said that we didn’t want him to shout and give out to her but to talk to her in a calm way. He was really nice actually and understanding and my mam even said that he was very approachable.
I was proud of myself because despite Jessica pushing me and hurting me, I didn’t fight back or hit her back because I knew it would make the situation worse. If I hit her, I would just be as bad as her so I just took what she had to give me. But from now on I will just stay away from here and just forget about what happened.
Today I had planned to go out with Shane again and just hang out because I really enjoyed hanging out with him the night before. We hung out and walked around Celbridge and I had fun getting to know him and just acting like best friends :P
A good few hours late and we were still hanging out and coming up to 10.30pm Shane said that he would drive me home because it was raining. I was excited because I had never been in the car with someone like my age before. Because it wasn’t time to go home just yet, Shane said that he would take me for a spin around Celbridge, so we drove past the boy’s primary school and down by Tesco and up to Salesians College and then he drove me home. I really enjoyed being in the car because I was comparing his driving to my driving and I can honestly say that I am a RUBBISH driver!!! :L
Today I think I went to Katie’s house with Rachel and Amanda and we stayed there for a few hours and then we all left and again me and Amanda walked Rachel half-way home and then I walked Amanda home. I don’t really like it when people want to/have to go home early because summer is nearly over and we have hardly seen each other over the summer because we all went away on holiday at different times and then Amanda was sick so she couldn’t come out. I went in at like 4pm and I was talking to my new friend Shane Egan and I thought he was really nice and I felt like I had known him for years. We decided to meet up and go for a walk with his dog Heidi. I met up with him outside Killadoon and we started walking down towards St. Patricks Park and then up by Spar and back up to Grattan Court. We ended up staying there for the rest of the night and just talked and got to know each other. I honestly did feel like we had been friends for years because I felt like I could talk to him about literally anything. He was really nice and I loved the way he was so shy and still funny and nice and I could see us being really good friends. At about 10.40 he even chose to walk me home because he said that a guy should never let a girl walk home alone whether he was going out with her or they were just friends. I thought that was nice and caring.
Today I think I hung out with Amanda, Rachel and Katie until about 5.30pm because they were all going to kickboxing but would be out afterwards. At 8pm I went to The Mill and collected them but Katie wasn’t there because Rachel and Amanda said that Katie injured her ankle and went home early. Me, Amanda, Rachel and Harry started to walk home up past St. Patrick’s Park and we sat down on the bench and waited for Amanda’s dad to collect us because Harry was complaining that he didn’t want to walk. When her dad dropped us home, me, Amanda and Rachel walked up to Katie’s house to see how she was after her incident, her ankle was all bandaged up and she was having her dinner so we just decided to leave. Rachel and Amanda were really tired and wanted to go home so me and Amanda walked Rachel half-way home and then I walked Amanda home and then I just went home.
Today I had to go to the hospital because I had an appointment. always hate going to there because my dentist Dr. O’Sullivan always has something bad to say about my teeth whether it be me not cleaning them properly or my teeth not being white. My mam went to the dentist about 8 months ago for the first time in about 25 years and her teeth are not white and the dentist said her teeth were perfect so I just thought about what her dentist said to her that your teeth don’t have to be white to be healthy. When we got there and my name was called she looked at my teeth and I was dreading the worst but she said that my teeth looked cleaner so I was pleased, she then took off my wires and put on new ones and then just told me that the gap in my teeth between my top and bottom teeth should be closed in a few months. It was a result!
When we left we set off for Arnots to get my uniform. I got 3 shirts and 6 pairs of socks. My mam was shocked because instead of my shirts being €22 each, they were €18 each and my socks used to be €9 for 2 pairs but my mam got them for €8 for 3 pairs. So when we got them we went to Marks and Spencer to get some things for Dean like trousers. We then went into Penny’s because I wanted to look for a jumper that I was going to get but they didn’t have it so I got some lovely new jeans instead for €11. A few more hours past and we had about 4 bags so we decided to get on a LUAS to The Sq and then we would look in more shops and my dad could collect us later on after work. When we got there we walked around looking in a few shops and then my mam was saying how there was an event in The Olympics on now and an Irish girl from Bray was competing to be the very first gold medallist in the first year of women’s boxing. When the match actually started there were about 200 people standing in the middle of the shopping centre looking up at a big plasma. We were all cheering her on and hoping that she would win. She did and everyone was cheering and clapping because she won the very first women’s boxing match in The Olympics. We then left and went to HMV and I got a new cd to go with 200 already. It was Taylor Swift “Fearless” I was happy because I liked about 6 songs on it and I couldn’t wait to get home and sing along to them in my bedroom. My mam got talking to the girl who worked there, talking about the new books “50 Shades” and the girl was saying how good they were and them my mam just said that she was going to buy the 3 books there and then. We then went to a few more shops looking for a new school bag for me. We went to at least 7 sports/bag shops and we couldn’t find any that were nice and still cheap. We then went into Sports Direct and I found a nice bag that was bigger than a normal school bag and it was nice and it was only €12. I really liked it because I would be able to fit more books in my bag and I was surprised at it only being €12. There was a blue one and a pink one but I got the blue one because blue is my favourite colour. After we decided we were done looking in shops, we went to McDonalds to get some food because we were all starving. I got my usual, a large chicken nugget meal with coke and curry sauce. Mmmmmmmmm :P We got some free glasses due to The Olympics and then when we were sitting there was 2 girls that were leaving and were also leaving they’re glasses they got and when we told them they gave them to us. So we had 5 Coca Cola glasses to bring home, my mam was pleased because she was running out of glasses because she keeps on breaking them :L
When we were finished eating and shopping we decided to go to a seat and sit down and wait for my dad to come and collect us. My mam and Dean decided to go into one more shop to look for runners for Dean for school, so I was left with the 8 bags. My dad came and then we all went to the car and drove home. When I got home I went to Katie’s house with Rachel and Amanda and we hung out and went on her computer until I went home at like 10.30pm.
