“It’s great,” he says. “You really took in what I was saying last time, didn’t you? This is fantastic.”
“What are you going to do to it, Mr. Windsor?” asks Magda.
“I’m not going to do anything at all,” he says. “It’s perfect the way it is. It’s such a powerful portrait. You’re a true artist, Ellie.”
His words echo in my ears like heavenly bells. Then the real bell clangs and everyone grabs their stuff.
“Can I have a quick word, Ellie?” says Mr. Windsor.
Magda and Nadine raise their eyebrows and nudge each other.
“Teacher’s pet!” Nadine whispers.
“He could pet me all he wants,” Magda giggles.
“Behave yourselves, you two,” I say.
I go up to Mr. Windsor while they clatter off.
“Can I hang on to your portrait, Ellie? I’d like to put it up on the wall if it’s OK with you?”
“Sure.”
“Did you do the mural?”
“Some of it. With Zoë.”
“Which one was Zoë? Maybe you’d both like to come and do some extra art at lunchtime?”
“She’s not in my class. She’s older. Only . . . she’s in hospital.”
“Ah! Is she the girl with anorexia? They were talking about her in the staff room.”
“Yes.”
“What a shame. It sounds as if she had so much going for her too. I can’t understand what makes girls starve themselves like that.”
“I don’t think girls themselves understand either,” I say softly.
“Oh, well. Let’s hope she gets better,” says Mr. Windsor.
I nod, hoping and wishing and praying that poor Zoë really will get well.
“But anyway, you must feel free to come to the art room anytime, Ellie. With your two friends, if they want. Have you ever used oil paints? I think you’d love them. We’ll give it a go sometime, right?”
“Right!” I say.
And with one bound the new powerful artistic talented me soars out of the classroom and down the corridor to join Magda and Nadine for lunch.
J
ACQUELINE
W
ILSON
has written more than sixty books for young readers of all ages, including many award-winning novels. She lives near London in a small house crammed with ten thousand books.
Be sure to read
GIRLS IN LOVE
and coming soon
GIRLS OUT LATE
Published by
Delacorte Press
an imprint of
Random House Children’s Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
1540 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
Text copyright © 1998 by Jacqueline Wilson
First American edition 2002
First published in Great Britain by Doubleday, a division of Transworld Publishers Ltd, in 1998
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Jacqueline.
Girls under pressure / Jacqueline Wilson; illustrated by Nick
Sharratt.— 1st American ed.
p.cm.
Originally published: London: Doubleday, 1998.
Summary: Ellie learns to deal with her self-image as she battles anorexia.
[1. Anorexia nervosa—Fiction. 2. Weight control—Fiction.] I.
Sharratt, Nick, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.W6957 Gi 2002
[Fic]—dc21
2001047208
June 2002
eISBN: 978-0-375-89023-9
v3.0