The Big Issue

HELEN LEDERER

I have got the evidence of exactly what I was like at 16 in my diaries. I kept them all. This is evidence. So, at 16, anxiety was big with me. And I was very driven to achieve boyfriends. That was the theme of my whole life – to get a boyfriend. Those were the times. We had a sixth form common room with a kettle, which proved our adulthood. And there were some people who had lost their virginity. Not many. Actually, maybe only one in our school. But that was our goal and that was our identity.

I felt I got into trouble by accident quite a lot. Our headmistress had a small dog who went everywhere with her and sniffed your legs. If you had to go to her office, that was bad. You knew the shit would hit the fan. One thing I did that wasn’t so innocent was a strategic stink bomb campaign timed to go

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