Planet Janet by Dyan Sheldon Read Free Book Online Page A

Romance ) would say. There’s no real chemistry, no explosion of Souls . On the other hand, a little practice might not hurt. Maybe passion’s something you have to work up to. As Disha says, you don’t jump into the deep end of the pool the first time you try to swim, do you?

SATURDAY 20 JANUARY
    GOD LOVES ME! He really does. Or maybe my karma’s better than I thought, because wait till you hear what happened tonight. The whole lot of them evacuated the premises after supper. Together! I think they were going to some exhibition at Justin’s college. The parents were pretty presentable looking, but Justin is NEVER presentable looking; he always looks like he lives on the streets. The Mad Cow asked me if I was coming and I sighed and told her I had too much homework this weekend (which is pretty much true). Having the flat to myself is about as rare as seeing a flock of pigs flying over north London, so I decided to take advantage of this unexpected opportunity and as soon as they left I had a look for the Mad Cow’s mobe. (Sigmund did all his Christmas shopping in one shop this year – he even got a mobile for Nan with large numbers so she can see them that plays “Amazing Grace”.) I finally found it in her desk, looking pathetically untouched. She never uses it, so she’ll also never know it’s gone.
    Read another page of
The Outsider
(to be honest, it’s not exactly what I thought it would be from the title), TWO poems by this French guy Ms Staples recommended and the introduction to my yoga book tonight. The Dark Phase is going REALLY well. I almost can’t remember what it’s like to be a child any more.

SUNDAY 21 JANUARY
    Disha just rang. We had a v interesting conversation. D wanted to know if I remembered her brother’s friend, Elvin. (Disha’s brother, Calum, is younger than Justin – he’s in the sixth form at our school – but he’s about two million years on in evolutionary terms. For one thing, he can speak.) Disha says I’ve seen Elvin a couple of times. He’s the one Calum met on the special film course he’s taking. I said, “Blond?” Disha said no, he’s the one with the longish black hair who wears cowboy boots. I said, “Oh, HIM!” Anyway, Disha was alone in the kitchen with Elvin just now, and he was asking about ME! Elvin’s a naff name, but Disha and I agreed that he’s pretty good-looking. ALSO he wears black turtlenecks and his hair is just long enough to make him look like a beat poet. (We discovered the beat poets when one of them died and Ms Staples told us how they were an intellectual movement and everything. Ms Staples says they were pissed off with the system and the middle-class lifestyle long before the punks – True Artists always are.) Disha says Elvin’s at film school and he’s already won a prize for some film he made about cats (at least Disha
thinks
it’s about cats; she isn’t TOTALLY certain). A film-maker is v cool – sort of a combination between an artist and a writer. I reckon I didn’t really notice Elvin before because he’s older. I know lots of girls like older men. (One of the maths teachers left over Christmas to fulfil her biological destiny and has been replaced by Mr Plaget, who looks young enough to be a sixth-former except GORGEOUS, and you wouldn’t believe how many girls who can’t add up without a calculator are talking about doing A level maths!!!) I, however, don’t see the attraction. Older men make me sort of nervous. I think you have to suspect their motives. (I mean, why can’t they get a woman their own age? Is there something wrong with them? Are they afraid of being with an equal? Do they think a younger girl would be easier to push around?) Elvin’s different though (he’s not
that
old – in fact he’s probably the same age as Justin, but MUCH more mature). Disha and I agree that this is v exciting.
    On a more mundane note, Sara Dancer’s having second thoughts about DOING IT. She was talking to some girl who