and veda saw her old school 's crest on one fading buff folder ; curling , watery photographs of herself , her family , her friends clipped together ; letters on stiff paper , purple , pink , yellow , rose , all colours ; her diary , kept from the ages of 12 to 17 and containing all her teenage angsts about ms lamb the hockey mistress ; numerous bank statements ; all the pieces she had written for the paper ; all her job applications ; university admissions forms ; references ; school reports : veda 's efforts in mathematics have been lessening as the term has progressed .