This diary entry is part 15 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

We had a birthday party today!!!  ALLISON!  WOOO!!!!

So Aika and Mika did show up.  I was actually surprised, it’s a long trip for a girl they don’t even know.  I asked, and Emiko just shrugged, and said “Well, they do like a party, and Sabby wasn’t lying about how good her cookies are.”  Oh great, Sabby’ll get a big head.  haha!  Besides, apparently they went to the waterpark yesterday, so…

I want to go to the waterpark!!!  Awww.

Anyway, after I got home from work, everyone showed up, and OMG was it a party! David had a nice party, but this one was off the hook!  Everyone showed up!!!  Aika and Mika and Emiko and Bill, and Liz and Crystal and Diana, and Beth of course, and some of Allison’s friends from school!!!  SO MANY GIRLS!!!!  David actually looked a bit uncomfortable, but hey, there was grilled cheese and cake and cookies…  he dealt with it.  After dinner we basically took over the house and played games and had all sorts of fun!!!  We watched a movie too, (Allison chose Encanto because she’s seen it a million times and of course she did!) but Allison had to go a little early because she’s still nine, and things calmed down towards the evening.  Marie was having sooo much fun too!  All sorts of people to pet her!!!

Someone had the idea to play “pin the tail on the Sabby”, but that one didn’t last very long, haha!!!

Anyway, no girl piles tonight because most of them have school tomorrow, but still, we had lots of fun!!!  Time to walk Marie and go to bed.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 14 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me!  Lily!!!

And we have BIRTHDAYS!!!!

Yesterday was David’s birthday.  It was on a Friday too, how does that work?  Remember that boy that he met when Little Miss Priss came over, when Sabby was running the friend dating service for Beth?   They still hang out, so he came over, and he brought some friends, and we had pizza and ice cream.  Little Miss Priss came over too, unfortunately, because she came with the package, and, well, she’s still Little Miss Priss.  But, oh well.  Liz came over too, and we all did girl stuff after the party was over.

David did like his presents.  Dave and Sabby got him a fancy microscope, Beth got him a book on programming, and I got him a men’s fragrance set.  Wasn’t trying to tell him to shower more, not at all…  But he still liked it all.  And he smells better than axe, at least.  Ewww.

After we had dinner, as I mentioned, we girls went up to do girl stuff (even Little Miss Priss) and David and his friends went out to play football in the back yard.  It’s sooo hot out, I don’t know how boys do it.

But better… ALLISON’S BDAY IS TOMORROW!!! SHE TURNS NINE!!!

After work she’s going to come over and all the girls are coming and we’re going to have FUN!!!  We’ll make her her favorite grilled cheese sandwiches and have a cake for dessert!!!  I guess she doesn’t drink soda, so… maybe chocolate milk?  YAY CHOCOLATE!!  And she gets to play with Marie too!  I mean, ,she has her own dog, but friend dogs are cool too!!!

I don’t know if Mika and Aika are coming, but they’re invited, and Allison gets along pretty well with them… so we’ll see.  They do like coming to the waterpark.

What a busy and nice weekend!!!  Everyone’s having fun!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 13 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I’m not writing much tonight.  It’s David’s birthday AND some of the girls are over tonight and, well, there’s lots going on.  So I’ll catch y’all tomorrow!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 12 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I wonder sometimes if you all open your browser and go to my diary and say to yourself “I wonder what Lily’s up to today!”  Even though I’m just a boring sixteen year old girl with memory issues.  I mean, isn’t my life boring sometimes?  Boringly boring?  I mean, some days all I do is go to school and play with the dog and eat dinner… but I always find something to talk about!

We talked more about private school today, and we’re not actually sure how that’s going to work out.  But it sounds like fun!  I hope I get to experience actual school before I graduate!  I mean, if I go to college, not going to school might make things a little difficult, right?  But we’ll see.  I know Dave and Sabby have a bit of money, but they can’t afford that.  Ummm…  I wonder how much tuition is.  Maybe that’s the kind of thing that I can use the trust for.  I should ask Sabby.  But if the state takes care of it, well, so much the better, right?

David’s sulking around a bit.  He doesn’t really want to go to camp.  But Sabby’s kind of had it with his attitude lately.  He’s getting better, but he can’t seem to get it through his head that his actions actually affect other people.  And you know…  I don’t hate the kid, but it’ll be nice to have a little time, just us girls.  I did ask Sabby if she’d be springing camp on me too, and she said no, she has other plans for me.  She’s wise, though.  She dangled a carrot, too.  She told him that if he gets through the camp successfully, next year she’ll send him to a gaming camp where he’ll learn how to write video games and stuff.  He perked up just a bit at that.

I don’t know if I should be scared or excited about her plans for me.

Anyway…  Marie needs walked and I needs bed.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 11 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

So as you know, I (and my sister and brother) are homeschooled right now.  I’m not sure I understand exactly why.  All I know is that one day we were doing one of those zoom calls, and Sabby was listening in.  The teacher said something about race, and Sabby, well, went off.  We were pulled out very quickly.  Honestly, I don’t feel like we missed anything from that experience, because it was just zoom calls.

But apparently some politicians in Texas have been doing their politicianey stuff, and because of that, Dave and Sabby are considering putting us into private school next year.  If that pans out, of course.  They sat us down this evening and asked us what we thought of that idea.

David didn’t like it.  Of course he didn’t.

Beth was kind of hesitant, but I think it might be good for her, to meet some girls her age that aren’t her old friends.

I… I don’t know what to think.  It might be fun!  I’ve wanted to get into sports and there aren’t really any sports worth speaking of for me to get involve in right now!  So I don’t know.  Would it be fun?  Maybe.  It’d be better than public school, or so Sabby tells us.  The schools here are pretty good, but she does not trust them.  I asked her why, and she tried to explain it to me, but I just don’t get it.

Oh well.

So we won’t enroll until next year if we do that.  I’ve just got a year to go before I graduate anyway, so it’s not too big a deal for me.  Beth’s got a few more years.  But we’ll see how it turns out.  Maybe it’ll help me get into college?  Do I even want to?  I don’t know.  At least I know I can afford it.

Anyway, another curve ball, but this one will take a while to become anything.

Oh oh oh.  Remember how I said that Sabby thought David needed something to drill some lessons into him that she hasn’t been able to?  Well…  David’s going to summer camp.  I looked it up – it seems fun, but there’s an emphasis on discipline.  And computer and phone use is heavily regulated.  He’s not a happy camper.  Pardon the pun.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 10 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I’ve been a little… ummm…  worried, and had to talk to Liz.  Honestly, the way her father acted scared me a little.  The way she talked, it made it sound like he was in the Triad or something like that.  I brought it up to Liz and she laughed.

“No,” she said, “my daddy doesn’t do anything illegal.  But…  he’s had to deal with enough people who do that… some of the ways they deal with people has rubbed off.  Would he hurt Kevin?  Well… maybe. I’m his daughter.  But…  he knows the right things to say to really intimidate people.  And…  the kinds of people he has to interact with sometimes, well…  family is very important to them.  Asking for favors from them is very, very dangerous.  But…  if you just so happen to mention that someone hurt your family to the right people, well…  bad things can happen.  He didn’t tell me what he said, but…  I bet it was something close to that.”

I won’t lie.  I was a bit relieved.  People who are into… illegal stuff…  are a little unpredictable, right?

I guess it’s good for Liz that he does know those people, though.

Kevin got permission from her father to apologize – very heavily supervised.  She thought he was sincere, he said that his father taught him some things that weren’t very nice.  He didn’t know he was wrong, he thought that was normal.  She accepted his apology, but said she couldn’t trust him anymore, so he could take it as a lesson to take to his next girlfriend, but she was done.  He understood, and while he was pretty sad (and so was she), he left without incident.

Liz told me after he left, she cried.  It will take her a little while to trust again.

But I’m sure she will.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 9 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!

Ok, umm.. wow.  That escalated quickly.

So…  Remember when Liz went home to talk to her parents?  Well…  her parents…  they’re kind of hands off.  In fact, you’d think they don’t care sometimes, that’s why there was that huge blowup months ago that led to me meeting Jack.  They aren’t great at expressing their emotions, and they drive Liz pretty hard.  I guess that’s just the Chinese way.

But…  umm… don’t do what Kevin did.

So as Liz tells it, she told them everything – what he did, how he behaved, what he tried to do…  and while she was near tears, her parents just kind of sat there.  After she was done, her father just looked at her, and said three simple words.

“Where is he?”

Liz didn’t really want to tell him, but he wasn’t having any of it.  She was sat right there until she told them where he lived.  Then they told her to stay there.

A couple of hours later they came back.  They wouldn’t tell her what they did, but they said if he ever speaks another word to her to tell them, and they’ll have to… make the lesson stick a little better.  Then they gave her a hug and told her that no boy will ever be allowed to take liberties with her.

She asked if they hurt him.  He just chuckled.  “No,” he said enigmatically.  “I didn’t have to.”

Come to think of it, he has a lot of business overseas, but has never told me specifically what he does.  Maybe I’m better off not knowing.

Liz just said he’s in the import/export business.  I’d guess he, well, knows some people.

Anyway, I’m glad they have her back.  This way I don’t have to judo flip him then smother him with my floppy bits.  hahaha!!!

… he’d like that.  Plan B time.

Anyway,  Liz apologized.  I was just happy she was talking to me again. I told her I hope next time I can like the boy she’s with.  She said I’d be lucky to meet him after this debacle.  But… then she gave me a big hug and said thank you.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 8 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

… I was right.

So Liz went out on her fourth date with Kevin last night, and, well…  you know how some people think that you’re entitled to some things after a third date?  Well, he’s one of those guys.  He got her into a room and started putting his hands in places where they didn’t belong.  Liz told him to stop, and while he didn’t, umm…  push… he didn’t stop.  She smacked him one and ran out.  She got home and when she called me she was crying.  She thought he was the best!  And, well…  he wasn’t.

I guess that’s what felt off.  He’s one of those guys who’ll be anything you want him to be, as long as you “give up the goods”.

I let her stay over and make a mini-pile last night.  You know how I said Liz isn’t cuddly?  Well… she isn’t.  But…  I guess sometimes a girl just needs a hug, because she never let go of me all night.  Sometimes I’d wake up and feel her silently shaking.  I just squeezed her tighter and let her cry it out.

After I left for work she went back to talk to her parents about it.  And I… well, let’s just hope I don’t see him around.

Poor Liz.  At least she was able to get away.  I’m sure he thought he was being a gentleman.

Sigh.

After I got home from work I had Sabby take me and Liz to the mall, and we drowned her sorrows in pizza and ice cream.  She seemed to feel better, and hopefully she isn’t hurt too badly.  And maybe next time she’ll listen instead of thinking I’m being jealous!

Oh, and today was Mother’s Day.  Though Sabby didn’t want us to do anything special.  It’s actually one of her least favorite days because she doesn’t think a day that just makes florists money is sincere.  But I did buy her a cinnabon at the mall, and tough if she didn’t lilke it!

Sigh.  Marie’s whining.  Time for a walk!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 7 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me!  Lily!

Liz is still mad at me.

She even tried to talk bad about me to Jack, but Jack wasn’t hearing it.  He said, “Zhi Ruo, I know you’re my cousin, but I know Lily, and she’s pretty smart.  If she doesn’t like him, she has a reason.  Maybe you should listen to her.”  She growled, and now she’s not talking to Jack too.  She went out with him tonight just to spite the both of us.  Sigh.

She’s never been this mad before, but I guess I understand.  Boys do silly things to our hearts.  Something about being a girl – sometimes we change who we are just so that someone will love us.  I’m not that way, but some girls are.

I told Sabby what’s going on, and she said, “just wait.  It’ll blow over.  Either you’re right or she is.  If she is, admit you’re wrong.  If you are… well, be there for her, because you know what happens when boys go bad.”

I sighed.  I know of at least two in jail for just that.

Gotta go.  Liz is calling.  I wonder what she wants.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 6 of 30 in Lily's diary dated 11 - May 2022

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

So tonight, as promised, I met Kevin.  We all went to a nearby chain restaurant and ate and talked.

I…  wasn’t impressed.  And now Liz is mad at me.

Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I can see why she likes him.  He’s really cute!  Not quite Jack cute, but cute nonetheless!  And he is smart.  He ticks all the Liz buttons, so I can see why she likes him.  But… something about him just hit me the wrong way.  It’s like… he was too polite, too nice.  He complimented me, said all the right things, was charming and engaging, and something still just felt… I dunno.  Off.

So after dinner I went home, and Liz came by a couple of hours later after, I assume, they’d eaten each others’ faces.  She asked me, excitedly, what I thought.

I hesitated.

Bad move.

She asked me why I couldn’t just be happy for her, that she’d found what I did with Jack.  She was hurt.  And I don’t blame her.  But I told her that I wasn’t going to just mindlessly approve of everyone she fell in love with just because she fell in love with them.  She said she doesn’t need my approval, and I agreed, but if she was going to ask me what I thought I was going to tell her honestly.  She stomped home and isn’t talking to me now.

Sigh.

But… but I don’t regret it.  Something still feels off.  I hope she doesn’t get hurt.  Sabby told me when it comes to boys and men to always listen to my gut, because it will listen to red flags that my heart won’t.  I truly hope I’m wrong.

Love you all!!! ❤