How We Began

How We Began ANNA BLOOM How We Began Copyright © 2023 Anna Bloom Published by Hudson Indie Ink www.hudsonindieink.com This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it wasn’t purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referred to in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. How We Began/Anna Bloom Contents I. September 14th September 15th September 16th September 17th September 19th September 21st September 22nd September 23rd September 24th September 25th September 26th September 27th September 28th September 29th September 30th September II. October 1st October 2nd October 5th October 6th October 7th October 9th October 10th October 12th October 15th October 19th October 20th October 21st October 22nd October 23rd October 24th October 27th October III. November 5th November 6th November 8th November 9th November 10th November 11th November 12th November 15th November 16th November 17th November 19th November 23rd November 24th November 26th November IV. December 7th December 10th December 11th December 12th December 13th December 14th December 15th December 16th December 20th December 22nd December 23rd December 25th December Boxing Day 28th December 29th December 31st December V. January 1st January 2nd January 3rd January 4th January 5th January 7th January 8th January 9th January 10th January 11th January 12th January 13th January 14th January 15th January 16th January 17th January 18th January 19th January 20th January 21st January 22nd January 23rd January 25th January 26th January 27th January VI. February 1st February 3rd February 4th February 5th February 6th February 7th February 8th February 9th February 11th February 13th February 14th February 15th February 17th February 18th February 19th February 20th February 21st February 22nd February 23rd February 24th February 25th February 26th February 27th February 28th February VII. March 1st March 2nd March 4th March 5th March 6th March 7th March 8th March 9th March 10th March 11th March 12th March 13th March 14th March 15th March 16th March 17th March 18th March 19th March 20th March 21st March 22nd March 23rd March 24th March 25th March 26th March 27th March 29th March 30th March 31st March VIII. April 1st April 2nd April 3rd April 4th April 5th April 6th April 7th April 8th April 9th April 10th April 13th April 14th April 15th April 16th April 19th April 21st April 22nd April 27th April 28th April 29th April IX. May 1st May 2nd May 3rd May 4th May 5th May 6th May 7th May 10th May 11th May 12th May 14th May 19th May 20th May 21st May 22nd May 23rd May 24th May 26th May 27th May 31st May X. June 1st June 2nd June 3rd June 10th June 11th June 12th June 13th June 14th June 15th June 16th June To the boy with the guitar. PART ONE September I Lilah McCannon will abide by the rules. The Rules: No drink No cigarettes No boys (and/or sex) No going home No failing Absolutely no failing Under any circumstances EVER 14th September Dear Diary (Ugh, what am I, a thirteen-year-old with her first crush and a lockable diary?) Seven years after failing my A-levels with quite spectacular results… I’m here… at university. Mum thinks I’m having a breakdown, but then Mum likes to think that anyone who has a deep and meaningful thought about anything is in the throes of a breakdown. Last week, Aunty June was having one because she was considering swapping her ash blonde-hide-the-grey-highlights for a plum purple. “She’s having a breakdown, I tell you,” Mum whispered down the phone so Dad couldn’t hear. From what I could tell, Dad was at the drinks’ cabinet. The unmistakable sound of Gordon’s being unscrewed, and ice being clinked, followed by a shout of, “Olive?” gave it away. “Yes, of course I want an olive. It’s one of my five a day,” she told him before whispering back down the phone to me. “You know. It’s just her skin tone. And she wears so much pink, she’s going to look like one of those Trolls. “Mum.” I sighed. “You can’t call Aunty June a troll.” Truthfully, Mum lost no love with her husband’s sister, and I’d had to sit through one too many strained and heartburn-inducing family roasts to bother trying to referee anymore. Uncle Derek always made sure they arrived just as food landed on the table and then bored everyone with tales of which exit off the A3 he took to make better time. Aunty June, usually tinged with grey, downed a glass of sherry as she recovered from the drive. All of this, me being here at university and not at the job my dad got me at the investment bank where he is CEO, started back in August. God, I was soooo bored. Like really bored. Every day it was the same thing. The. Same. Thing. Get up, go to work, drink wine, go to bed. Get up, go to work, drink wine, go to bed. I started to realise that there had to be more to life. So I’d been driving past the university and I saw a sign advertising their clearing week (okay, first