Free Set Me Free by Daniela Sacerdoti Page B

saw a picture of my real mum, and then I was so low for weeks they sent me to Sheridan to “talk things out”. So I’m not going to do that again.
    Going to Glen Avich: a win–win situation. I love Nonna, AND I love Glen Avich (though it’s really cold there, like ridiculously cold). I was there only once for a few days, but it was amazing.
    We all thought Nonna was crazy when she decided to leave London and move to the back of beyond with this guy called Michael, to open a coffee shop. In the Highlands of Scotland, which sounds so romantic but it’s really very far away . We couldn’t even pronounce the name of the place – Glen Avich, that strange ch sound that Scots make at the back of their throats. I practised because I like to do things properly, and now I can say it: Glen AviCH. The sky is so dramatic there, you feel like you’re in a novel. Bride of Shadows by Megumi Henderson, my favourite book of all time, is set in Scotland. Coincidence? I think not. I think it’s a sign.
    B of S is the story of a girl born in a magical clan who falls in love with a boy from a rival clan, Damien, and it’s just the Most. Amazing. Book. Ever. Written. Mrs Akerele says that it’s commercial fiction and I should be focusing on the classics, but she doesn’t understand what that story means to me. She says that Megumi Henderson is not a very skilled writer but “she spins a good yarn”. I think Megumi is the best writer of all time, and Emily Brontë the second best (narrowly). I want to be a writer and I want to be skilled and also “spin a good yarn”. Mrs Akerele says she thinks I do have talent, but I should stick to writing what I know and stay away from vampires and werewolves. I say I’ll write whatever I want and what I don’t know I can make up, and I don’t really like stories of vampires but I love werewolves and I can put whatever creatures I want in my stories. She said that if I’m wilful I’ll never get anywhere and I should listen to advice. I want to listen, but I think I can only listen when it comes to other stuff. When it comes to books I’ll do my own thing.
    But I digress. I was talking about Scotland. I intend to spend a lot of time with my mum, my nonna and my brother, and also read a lot and do a lot of wandering. I love wandering, just walking without a destination, listening to music on my iPod. I’m off social media all summer, that’s for sure. Otherwise I would have to put up with a Tumblr-ful of Polly’s pouting selfies and that’s more than I could bear. Also, more crappy pictures of me might crop up. And I don’t think I can take it.
    Anyway.
    Things to do this summer:
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    1) Sort out my hair once and for all. I don’t really have a plan on that one, though; it seems to get frizzy whatever I do.
    2) Put on weight in the right places. That won’t be hard because Nonna is forever feeding us.
    3) Re-read all the Bride of Shadows books and highlight all the best bits, then copy them in my diary.
    4) Try contact lenses again and absolutely DO NOT GAG if the optician puts his fingers on my eyeballs to slip them in (SHUDDER). I’m fed up with looking like Velma from Scooby Doo with my glasses, though Mum says it’s not true, that they make me look very cute. But she always thinks I’m cute so I can’t really rely on her opinion.
    5) Try not to get angry.

7

New moon
    Margherita
    We drove through countryside that grew wilder and wilder, until daylight faded and a sliver of moon rose in the clear sky. We went from the motorways and the houses and shopping centres to the silence of the moors and mountains, up and up through winding roads. I had the strange feeling of making a passage to another world entirely, a world where nature was stronger than anywhere I’d ever lived before. I was taking my children to a place that had nothing familiar to us, somewhere new and