Daddy's diary

Chapter 1

After my birthday party yesterday, Luke said he had to go. They all left me about an hour after I opened the gift of Luke. He said he would come back today and show me things.

I didn't look at the diary. I didn't even touch it. It's like there is something stopping me when I try to reach for it. I created tons of ideas of what could be written in there. It is quite a big book. Maybe 300 pages. Maybe more, maybe less. It's strange. I feel like I need to take it, open it and read it but there's also that bad feeling about it in the back of my mind.

My name is Leah. I always told people my last name was Hemmings. It is the last name of Luke and I have always considered him as a father. He have always acted like a father for me. Straight at the age of 3 I knew it wasn't normal having only a father. Kids I was friend with, would sometimes speak about their mother, but I didn't really care that much about it, because I knew I had Luke as a father. I never even thought of my real parents. Since yesterday, I always thought Luke was my biological father, but I had never expected it to be otherwise. I certainly have no similarities with Luke though. He's tall, has light brown hair, blue eyes and a thin nose. Not that I have a big one. My height is not incredible, I have blond hair that sometime make cute curves at the bottom. Plus I have dark brown eyes that sometimes seam to be black. I love my body though.

Anyway, I can't wait for Luke to come back! Instead of waiting for him all day, I'll go take a short shower. If he wants to enter he has a key of my appartement.

-

After a really short shower, I dried my long hair then came back to the living room. I sat down on the couch and started watching the TV for at least half a hour before I heard a knock on the door, followed by someone entering the appartement.

"Hi baby!" Luke said as he entered the living room.

"Hey!" I jumped in his arms.

"Woah! Happy to see you too darling!" He laughed while hugging me and carying me in his arms through to the kitchen table.

He put me down on it, and went back to the front door to remove his jacket. He came back and clapped in his hands.

"So, what are we starting with?" He asked taking a seat on a chair across me. I jumped and reached for the diary that was in the living room. I walked back in the kitchen and sat down on a chair right beside Luke.

"Erm.. Before you open it and start reading it, you need to know something." I nodded, encouraging him to continue. "Your real father was named Calum Hood. So your real name is Leah Hood. But, you and only you have the choice to change it or not for Hood instead of Hemmings, okay?" I could see he was really nervous and so was I. It sounds strange; Leah Hood. But it seams good. I actually liked it. "Continue" Now he, nodded. "Yeah well I want you to know that I have never opened it or read anything in it. The last time I saw your father face to face, he gave me this and told me to give it to you on your 20th anniversary. So that's what I did. I waited almost 20 years with this little box I gave you yesterday. I never knew what was in it. Right after I had it in my hands, I didn't sleep for a week trying to know what was in it. And yesterday, when you opened the gift, I understood everything I worried for, for 20 years. Your dad wrote things in that book, that only you will ever know. He wrote things that he wanted you to know about. And I don't have a single clue of what he wrote there. For as long as I had known him he never talked to me about it." Tears were rolling down my face when he finished. "Now I will go to my house, to let you discover the diary by yourself. If you want me to help you or if you need support or anything, just call me, okay hun?" I slowly nodded. He embraced my cheeks and kissed my forehead, before leaving me alone in the kitchen. I know there was walls around me, and I was dressed. But in that exact moment i felt so exposed and nude to the whole world.

-

After crying and worrying for almost 2 hours I stood up and went straight to sleep. I almost didn't sleep at all that night. I couldn't stop thinking. Thinking about the diary, about my real dad Calum, about what had he wrote, about who was my mom, about Luke who seemed affected by the whole story, about the going back to school in less than a week, about how my life was, about the all new friends I could have at the new school, about how my life has just changed because of that book. But the only thing that kept the whole attention of my mind, was that I had to know what was in the diary.

So I got up, at 3 AM, got the diary from the kitchen where I left it hours before and sat down on my couch. I washed the dirt of the cover with the back of my and while putting it right on my laps. I took a deep breath, and opened it.

-

First thing I see is a picture, attached to the first page. I think it is a photo of daddy. I'm not sure thought, he has dark brown almost black hair.. And I have blond hair.. Also he has a quite big nose and mine is such thiner than his. Anyway. He looks handsome! And so young! I take the picture in my hand to examine it completely. I turn it and see something is written on the back. Looks like dad didn't have a cute handwriting, If I can't understand what is writen there, it'll take me ages to understand the entire diary. I try to wash the dirty away from the picture's back with my thumb. It kinda works. It is writen :

"For my angel,
the things I wrote in there, are things life taught me, and that'll help you get througt yours. I want you to remember I'll always love you, no matter what."

Crap. I can't. This is too much in one night. I'm crying every tears I have left in my body. My father. Calum. He left me something. I never even thought about my real dad, and then indeed three days my whole vision of it is changing because he left me something. That book. The last thing I have from my father. The last, but only thing I have.