Girl in the Window. Penny Joelson

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СКАЧАТЬ along the pavement, her ponytail bobbing up and down. I can see she’s trying to be quick but it feels like a hundred years before she turns into our gate and rings the doorbell. I hear Mum’s footsteps on the hall floor as she goes to let Ellie in, and then more, lighter steps as Ellie pads up the stairs.

      She comes into my bedroom with a beaming smile and two plates of Mum’s apple cake. I take a deep sniff of the lovely cinnamon smell that has been drifting through the house, making my mouth water.

      ‘Sorry I’m a bit late – it’s all been happening today!’ she says, plonking herself on the edge of my bed and handing me a plate.

      ‘Tell me!’ I say. I like hearing what’s going on at school. It makes me feel more part of it, although it also sometimes makes me sad.

      ‘At lunchtime Serene got into a fight with Bethany,’ Ellie tells me. ‘A proper punch-up – Bethany pulled Serene’s hair and a whole clump came out! I saw it in her hand! It was over some boy. I don’t even know who.’

      I feel a pang. I hope it wasn’t Josh. He’s a boy I like in the year above – a boy with ocean-blue eyes and a husky voice. I can’t imagine him with Bethany or Serene, though.

      ‘Then,’ Ellie continues, ‘Dimitri and Rafi were messing about in maths and Mr Treaker completely lost it and slammed a ruler on the desk so hard it flipped in the air and hit Serene in the face! She had to go to the medical room and now she’s got a massive black eye, too!’

      ‘Ohhh, poor Serene!’ I exclaim, though I can’t help laughing.

      ‘We shouldn’t laugh,’ says Ellie, giggling too, ‘but she’s always so obsessed with how she looks – and I’m sure she started that fight!’

      ‘Anyway, listen,’ she says, when we’ve both finally stopped laughing. ‘I have news you’re going to want to hear!’

      I want to say, ‘So do I!’ but she’s made me curious. Her eyes are shining, her smile even broader. It must be something good, really good.

      ‘What?’ I ask. I take a bite of cake and lean forwards. ‘What is it?’

      ‘Guess,’ she says. ‘It’s about you . . .’

      I hesitate. For one crazy moment I wonder if it’s something to do with Josh. Maybe he asked after me . . .

      ‘I can see your dreamy eyes!’ she teases. ‘No, it isn’t about Josh, Kasia!’

      ‘OK.’ I feel myself blushing. Ellie knows me too well. ‘I can’t guess – you’ll have to tell me.’

      ‘You’re going to love this!’ she insists, stuffing rather too much cake into her mouth. ‘Ooh, your mum makes the best cake!’

      ‘Tell,’ I demand, rolling my eyes because now she can’t speak. She swallows and grins at me.

      ‘Remember that story you wrote – that one that was like a mash-up of Hunger Games and Titanic ?’

      ‘Sort of. That was ages ago – before I was ill. What about it?’

      ‘It was sooooo good – Miss Giles said she might enter it for a competition. Do you remember?’

      It’s weird thinking back. I was first ill in June so it must have been May when I wrote that story. I remember the bustle of our English class and the way the room went silent as I started to read my story aloud. I remember even Rafi and Dimitri had their eyes fixed on me as I read. They clapped too at the end, along with everyone else. Miss Giles was full of praise, saying I could be an author one day.

      But that was six months ago, when we were all in Year 9. Now the class have moved up – they are Year 10s, with a different English teacher, working for their GCSEs. I don’t even know which classroom they are in or what time the lesson is.

      ‘Kasia?’

      I realise I haven’t answered her. ‘Yes,’ I tell Ellie. ‘I remember.’

      Well, listen to this . . . she did enter it – and you won! First prize!’

      ‘What? You’re joking!’

      ‘Look – here’s the proof.’

      Ellie scrabbles in her rucksack and pulls out an envelope that has already been opened. It’s addressed to Miss Giles at school. She slips the letter out, unfolds it and hands it to me, pointing.

      ‘See – First Prize awarded to Kasia Novak.’

      ‘Wow!’ I say. I’ve never won anything before in my life – except a tiny rubber duck at a tombola when I was five. It used to glow in the dark.

      ‘Miss Giles is well chuffed,’ says Ellie. ‘She came running up to me in the corridor.’

      ‘What did I win?’ I ask, scanning the text. I’m hoping it’s money, though I know it’s unlikely to be much. With Mum not working, every little helps.

      ‘You get to go to an award ceremony in a theatre,’ she tells me. ‘Oh . . .’

      Her voice falters and she looks at me, her hand covering her mouth.

      ‘When and where?’ I demand.

      ‘It’s not until February – and it’s in central London somewhere. Maybe by then . . .’

      I’m conscious of my throbbing glands and my heart’s pulsing too. I feel weak but I also feel a surge of determination. I look Ellie in the eye and tell her, ‘I will be better. I can’t miss something like that! And I’m going to get back to school, Els.’

      ‘Have you been downstairs yet?’ Ellie asks.

      ‘No, but I’m going down for dinner today. Don’t tell Mum – she doesn’t know! I want to surprise her.’

      ‘Really? That’s great!’

      Ellie’s being a supportive best friend but I can see she still looks doubtful. She knows how long it is since I’ve been downstairs.

      We read the letter again, together. I still can’t take it all in. ‘Oh, look, you get fifty pounds worth of book tokens too, and a hundred pounds’ worth of books for the school,’ Ellie tells me.

      ‘Miss Giles will be pleased about that!’ I smile.

      ‘Look, I’ve got to go,’ says Ellie. ‘Tons of homework. I’ll try and come again on Thursday.’

      It’s only after she’s gone that I realise I forgot to tell her about last night.

3

      My words to Ellie may have sounded brave and determined but I know it’s not going to be that easy. I am not in Year 10 with all my friends but, back in September, I did try to be. Nobody knew I was going to be so ill for so long.

      I remember Ellie waiting for me at the school gate, a beaming smile spreading across her face when СКАЧАТЬ