August 12th:

I can't believe it's the first day of school already. New school year, new faces, new club members, new goals. Vice president. If you'd told me a year ago I'd be vice president, I'd have laughed. This will look great on my college apps.

Chinese class is going to be fun. John, Beth, and all my other friends are there, and Mrs. Huang is nice. It will be good to finally learn how to read and write properly. Well, I already can speak and listen, so that leaves two. Wouldn't it be cool if Heller had a Cantonese class? I'd have taken that instead. Mandarin it is then. Again, new year, new start.

Not sure what's up with that box of green stuff I found. Maybe it's fertilizer. I hope I washed my hands well enough. Don't want to get sick.

August 23rd:

Hey, so funny coincidence, but Frank and I are TAs together now. It was so funny. He was so embarrassed to see me. I wonder if he's been telling Mrs. Huang bad things about me. I don't think he's the type. He's just a bit shy. We talk a lot by email about club stuff, but it's so boring. Not the club stuff. OK, it's kind of boring. But everyone's so formal. That's why I like texts.

Speaking of club stuff, I don't get why Tom and Pranav and all of Frank's other friends are CC'd on the emails. I heard Pranav talk about another email thread and a phone call he and Frank had about club business. I'm vice president, why am I not included in this? What are they hiding from me? I'm sure it's important.

Classes are going well at least. Not much to say there. The other things are more exciting.

September 6th:

I remember when I used to relax on holidays. Now I just read books. I'm slowly working through that list in How To Be A Good Person. Lots of good books on there. I asked Frank about one of them, I forget which, and he said he hadn't read it. Imagine putting a bunch of books you haven't read on a list. So strange.

I saw some people with vials of that green stuff on Snapchat earlier. I know I shouldn't be on Snapchat, but everyone's on it, so I figure it's fine. I'm more curious what they're doing with those though. It can't be fertilizer then. I should ask Frank tomorrow.

October 24th:

I've had the funniest conversations with Frank lately. First a few days ago Mrs. Huang leaves us outside for the entire period, and the poor guy was wearing a suit. I don't know why I expected him to act differently outside the club meetings. But at least with me he's always kind of like that, like he's trying to sell me something. He's funny though, but he never laughs at his own jokes. If I didn't know him so well I would think he was creepy.

He called me cute the other day too. I kind of tricked him though. Now that I think about it, I think he said I was cute to get me to stop talking and not because he really meant it. Or maybe I caught him on a good day. I don't know why I worry so much about that sort of thing. But it's so awkward sitting in silence, and he and his friends do most of the prep for the club meetings, so I need to fill the gap. Maybe I could write some club presentations. I should ask him.

October 30th:

Frank wore a purple tie to the rally today and apparently people were making a big deal about it. I don't know, a suit is a suit. I wish he was a bit more normal during our TA periods. OK, he's quiet and talks about normal things. But Mrs. Huang asked him to help me with my hair and he looked like she asked us to make out or something. It's the 21st century! We can be normal and not treat each other like lepers.

Cookie baking with John was more fun though. I think Beth invited him. I wouldn't have, but I also wasn't opposed to it, so I guess he came. Regina was happy to have him over. At first I thought it was to get back at Tom, but John's friends with him too. Maybe it still is. It was still awkward having John around, even though I love the poor guy. We tried explaining to him what conditioner is, but he didn't get it. I thought boys used that too.

Anyway, life's been going pretty well. There's no point in complaining if there's nothing to complain about. Most of my diary entries are so boring. It's a good habit anyway to do this daily. I asked Frank if he keeps a diary, but he said no. It sounds like the sort of thing a good person does. I suggested that he add it to How To Be A Good Person, but he didn't want to. Maybe that makes me a better person than him.

November 18th:

Funny things keep happening. The other day I pulled this wild thing with a bunch of Thin Mints and some copy paper boxes. I still don't know who's actually using them. But I did and it was funny. Getting two teachers, and Frank, with them none the wiser? And a Pikachu meme? Comedy gold. Frank would be proud if he knew I was involved. I think he knows now, but he hasn't said anything yet. I bet he's proud.

There was also a bonfire last night and there was a big mess today because of it. I'm getting tired of always having to deal with Regina's mistakes. She's so annoying sometimes. She keeps doing things like letting John come to our cookie baking nights or dancing around bonfires and forcing me to support her. What if I don't want to support her? We treat people like her too nicely. It did make me wonder a bit though. Regina said that it was vegetable juice and not drugs. She swore up and down it was. But why was everyone acting like they were high? And why has Frank been doing so many public PSAs against it if it's just vegetable juice? What does he know?

Beth said that she saw Pranav doing something with the boxes and that he admitted Frank knew about it. So that means Frank knows it's not drugs. Then Beth goes off and has dinner with all of them at this fancy restaurant and won't tell me anything about it. What does she know that I don't?

December 31st:

The day before the new year is the best time to reflect on everything from the old. I think I've had a good year. Lots of fun, lots of new responsibilities. Something feels different though. Like it's the calm before the storm. Vacation is so boring. I've been busy helping Frank prepare presentations for next year. I kept asking him to let me help, so he finally gave me more responsibilities. It's nice. I've been talking with him more about random things. We didn't text much during school, but we're both bored during vacation. When the school year begins again I think we'll stop.

Frank mentioned something else about a meeting that I wasn't invited to, but Pranav was. And some guys who aren't even involved in the club. They're all of the math nerds. I don't know what they keep doing without me. I'm just as smart as them even if I didn't take calculus as a freshman. Why can't I be trusted? It's not fair.

I shouldn't be angry before the new year. I want to start things off right. New year, new start.

January 7th:

The celery juice thing blew open today and now I know why Frank was being so secretive. He could have told me. I wouldn't have snitched. I wonder if I did something to disappoint him once last year during the club meetings. Or maybe over the summer on my birthday. He's still nice to me. Maybe even nicer than he used to be. But I'm tired of learning about these things too late.

I also think Mrs. Huang's been setting us up the entire time. I heard her talking to Mr. T and I listened in a bit. I didn't get all the words, but I heard her mention us and something about love at first sight. So what else could she be talking about? I think it's kind of cute. I wonder if we'd make a good couple. I can't think of anyone else at Heller I'd make a better couple with, but it's not like I think we're a perfect match. It would be kind of poetic, president and vice president. She might have the right idea.

February 18th:

We had career day today. Frank invited all the club people to the meeting for some reason, and he talked with the presenter about Chairman Mao. That's kind of weird, to be honest, but Frank always loves his politics. And after that he took me to lunch because he wanted to tell me about running for president. When he gets an idea in his head, he sticks with it to the end. That's very respectable in a guy. Lunch was good and he treated me. His wallet had a bunch of hundred dollar bills in it, and he said he got them as birthday money. I know it wasn't his birthday though. When is his birthday anyway? Something's still weird here.

Vice president of the entire school, president of the entire school. Is that really better than just being club vice president or president? Frank seems to think so anyway. Apparently being class secretary or whatever he is now isn't enough. I told him he should focus on the club, but he seems really convinced being president will be good for the school. So why not? I guess it's good for college apps too. That's probably why he wants it so badly.

March 15th:

I don't think I ever actually talked with Ernest. Heard he was a nice guy though. That kind of sucks. Frank seemed kind of sad today, but he was more focused on his presidential campaign stuff. We all needed a distraction, and he's really getting into this stuff. He already has drafts for his speech, even though it's over a month away. And he says we are all guaranteed to win anyway, so I don't get what the big deal is. Maybe I should be working on my speech.

I've been talking with Beth and Regina less and less recently. And my other friends even less, because they aren't involved in the club. It's like we're preparing for war. Everyone in the club has heard about this presidential campaign stuff and is getting involved. I never knew it was such serious business. But it is important, and I'm caring more and more. Juliet Wong, vice president. That sounds good.

April 1st:

I wish we were at school for April Fools' Day. Frank would have a funny prank planned. I would have an even funnier one though.

April 29th:

Three big things today. We won our political campaigns and had the best speeches I've ever heard. Mine turned out well, and the musical number Beth and I choreographed was great too. I kind of feel bad for Kayla though. She probably didn't expect to lose so easily. She's a dork though, so I don't care. Life lesson. We can't all be winners.

Then Mrs. Huang tried getting Frank and me to go to prom together as boyfriend and girlfriend. He didn't seem interested. But the funny thing was that we had a really good chat afterward and danced a bit, and at prom we spent a lot of time talking to each other. Even took photos. So it's like we went as a couple anyway.

I expected to be more excited about the president stuff, but I think prom was the highlight of today for me. It's everything that led up into it too. I think Frank sees me as more of a person now and less of a political ally. It's like he respects me now. Did he before? I think he thought I was stupid. Is that sexist of him?

Daily routines like the club don't ever stop, but they're routines. I don't think about them. That's what makes them routines. Just a few more weeks left.

May 26th:

One more year done. I'm so tired. Can't wait for Lake Tahoe again. Senior year, what a scary thought. And I'll be vice president. Frank's been in a lot of meetings recently, I've heard, but he still won't tell me what they're about. There was something I overheard about Pranav having plans at Berkeley, and something about Frank having to do "the same thing" when he graduated. What could that be? He still won't tell me. I hope I'll be included. I didn't hear much, but it definitely was important. I don't like being excluded from important things. It makes me feel replaceable.

If I could start over junior year, I don't know what I would have done differently. It's rare I say I don't know things. But that I don't know. If I started high school over with all my knowledge, I think I would have founded How To Be A Good Person Club before Frank thought of it. Then he would be vice president and I would be president. That would be even better for college apps.

I feel pressured when I write my diary entries to write something meaningful every time, even though nobody else is reading them. It's like I need to turn them in for English class. When I look over my old diary entries, I find meaningful things that are only obvious in retrospect. A lot of my boring daily routines are like that when I write about them. So I guess I shouldn't worry: I'll look back at this someday and see something meaningful too.

Discussion Questions:

How is Juliet's diary structured/told in a different way than Madeline's? What does this difference in narration say about their difference in character?

Does how Juliet describe some of the past events like the prank war and the "hot or not?" incident match how they were described in the moment? Do you think her perceptions are accurate?

At the end, Juliet writes that someday she'll look back and "see something meaningful" in her diary—what might future Juliet see in this, or in other terms, what has this diary taught us about future Juliet?