Diary Of My Life 💋👏

Ellie

Will hadn't seen Marcus for a week and hadn't thought about him much. He preferred watching Countdown alone anyway. Then Fiona phoned.
'Marcus seems to think he needs an adult male in his life. Like a father. He talked about you.'
'Listen, Fiona, I definitely don't need a son in my life. Why doesn't he use his own father as a father?'
'His father lives in Cambridge. It's a long way'
'You told me not to see Marcus again. Fine. I told you I didn't want to see Marcus again. And now you're telling me ... I don't understand.'
'Listen,' said Fiona. 'Can we meet tomorrow night for a drink to discuss all this?'
They met in a quiet pub. Will had never been alone with Fiona before. He didn't find her attractive and he certainly didn't want to sleep with her. But conversations with her were never dull.
'I've always been worried about Marcus not having a father around,' said Fiona. 'But he's always told me it didn't matter. Then, when I said I didn't want him to see you, he said he needed a father.'
'He said that because he wanted to win the argument. Never trust a human male when he talks about his feelings.' 'Really? Well, maybe it's best if he doesn't see you.' 'What do you want me to do if he rings the doorbell?' 'Don't let him in.' 'Right.'
Marcus was waiting for Fiona at home. He didn't like the idea of his mum talking to Will because he'd stopped believing that he and his mum and Will and Ned were going to live together in Will's flat. Ned didn't exist, and Will and Fiona didn't like each other very much.

When Fiona came back, he looked at her face to see if she was angry or depressed, but she seemed OK. 'Did you have a good time?'
'It was OK. But you're not going round there again. He's not going to answer the door. He told me.'
Marcus wasn't worried. He knew how loudly Will's doorbell rang inside the flat, and he knew he could ring it for a very long time.
Fiona had made a complaint to the school about Marcus's new trainers being stolen, so he had to go and see the head teacher, Mrs Morrison. He was waiting outside her office when a girl called Ellie McCrae came and sat down next to him. Ellie was fifteen and she was famous in the school. She wore a lot of black eye make-up and cut her own hair, and she was always in trouble, usually for something serious.

They sat in silence for a time, then Marcus thought he'd try to talk to Ellie. His mum was always saying he should talk to people at school. 'Hello, Ellie.' 'How does a little boy like you know my name?' 'You're famous.' He knew this was a mistake immediately. 'What am I famous for?' 'Don't know.'
'Yes, you do. I'm famous because I'm always in trouble. Do you know what I'm in trouble for this time? It's this sweatshirt. They don't want me to wear it, and I don't want to take it off, so there's going to be an argument.'
Marcus looked at Ellie's sweatshirt. It had a picture on it of a guy with long blond hair, big eyes and half a beard. 'Who's that?' he asked politely. 'Don't you know? It's Kirk O'Bane.' 'Oh, yes.' Marcus had never heard of Kirk O'Bane, but that wasn't surprising — he'd never heard of anybody. 'What does he do?' - \
'He's a footballer. He plays for Manchester United.'
'Does he?' Marcus thought that the guy on Ellie's sweatshirt looked more like a singer than a footballer. Footballers weren't sad, usually, and this man looked sad.
Just then Mrs Morrison's door opened and two young kids came out. 'Come in, Marcus,' said Mrs Morrison.
Marcus's talk with Mrs Morrison didn't go very well. She asked him about the boys who stole his trainers and he said he didn't know who they were. This wasn't true, of course, but he didn't want any more trouble from them.
'Marcus, if the other kids are bullying you, why don't you just keep out of their way?'
Marcus was annoyed. Did she think he was stupid? Did she think he went looking for trouble? 'I have tried,' he said.

'Maybe you haven't tried hard enough.'
Marcus stood up to go. He'd had enough. She wasn't going to be helpful because she didn't like him. Nobody at this school liked him and he didn't understand why.
'Sit down, Marcus. I haven't finished with you.' 'But I've finished with you.'
He had never been rude to a teacher before and he was very surprised at himself. He walked out of Mrs Morrison's office, and out of the school.
Marcus was walking slowly along Upper Street when Will saw him. Will was driving back from the supermarket, listening to loud music in his car. What was Marcus doing out of school at two o'clock in the afternoon, he wondered.
At exactly 4.15 that afternoon, right in the middle of Countdown, Marcus rang his doorbell. At first Will didn't answer, but Marcus rang and rang. Will turned off the TV and put on some music by the pop group Nirvana, hoping that Marcus would go away. But Marcus didn't stop ringing the bell, so finally Will opened the door and let him in.
'You shouldn't be here.'
'I came to ask you something. I want you to take me and a friend to a football match.' 'You don't like football.' 'I do now,' said Marcus. 'I like Manchester United. And I like a player called Kirk O'Bane. He's got long blond hair and a beard.'
'Marcus, there isn't a player called O'Bane who plays for Manchester United. I know all the players and there's nobody with long blond hair and a beard. There was a player called O'Kane who played for Nottingham about twenty-five years ago. What lessons did you have this afternoon?'
Marcus looked at him, trying to work out why he was asking the question. 'History, and then ... umm ...'
'Marcus, I saw you this afternoon.'