Ellie followed the others, feeling a mixture of excitement and nervous anticipation. She had never before been up to where the studio photo shoots were done. The photographs of Ellie with Pop and Lolly Lowther had been taken in Angel’s office. It would be really interesting to see where all the studio shots were done, but she was a bit nervous about what she might be asked to do. She’d never modelled before, not even when her school had had a fashion show a couple of years back, because she’d been in the wrong year group. All she wanted now was not to make a fool of herself in front of the boys again. Once had been quite enough.

However, Ellie had always been quite proud of her feet. They looked neat, and without burning, turned a delicate shade of brown in the summer. She had never thought they were exactly up to modelling standards, but Jacob Frou seemed to think they were, so she supposed they must be.

Then Ellie had a sudden thought. Would she be able to wash them first? She’d been running with Ferdinand while wearing her trainers. They were bound to need a wash. Then she told herself to relax. Surely someone would be in charge of such things. She might even get her toenails painted! And, whatever happened, it would be another new thing, in a day of extraordinary new experiences. She must enjoy it, and remember as much as she could so she could tell Hannah all about it.

The company that owned Heart magazine also owned a lot of other publications, and they were all housed in the same building. Ellie had been told that an area was available on the sixth floor for photography, but she hadn’t known quite what the set-up was. As they emerged from the lift, she could tell that it was going to be impressive. A whole suite of rooms was in front of them. Karen led them past a small reception desk, and on into a long corridor. She paused, and waited for Ellie, who was at the back of the group, to catch her up.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Ellie. Ellie Ixos.”

“Right. Well, you go in there, and as soon as you’re ready someone will bring you through.” Without waiting for a reply, she led the rest of the group on along the thickly carpeted corridor.

Joe paused and gave her arm a pat. “You’ll be fine, Ellie. They’ll look after you in make-up and wardrobe. And I’m taking the pictures, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. Just relax and enjoy it.”

Ellie nodded, but as she wasn’t absolutely sure what was going to happen she still didn’t know if she ought to worry or not. She looked regretfully after Joe and the others disappearing down the corridor and then did as she had been asked, and went through the door that had been pointed out to her.

A cheerful-looking woman wearing a smart cotton tabard over her jeans gave her a welcoming smile. “There you are,” she said. “Come on in and sit down. I’m Dawn.” She drew Ellie towards a chair in front of a big mirror with lots of cosmetics arranged on a trolley nearby. “A ten, Sarah!” Dawn called towards an inner door. “Maybe an eight for the tops. Do you know your hat size?” she added, addressing Ellie. “It doesn’t matter,” she went on before Ellie could reply.

Ellie sat down politely, and turned to Dawn. “I thought they might just want to take pictures of my feet,” she said awkwardly. “After all, I’m not a proper model.”

Dawn draped a bib around Ellie’s shoulders and looked at a notepad on the shelf in front of the mirror. “Is your name Ellie?”

Ellie nodded. “Yes.”

“That’s fine then. Here for the shoot. Jacob Frou shoes.”

Ellie nodded again.

Dawn smiled at Ellie. “So there you are. You might not be a proper model, but they’ve asked for you, and it’s up to me to make you look like one. Don’t worry!” she said when she saw Ellie’s expression. “I didn’t mean you were ugly, or anything like that! It’s just that it’s amazing how many little blemishes models have to cover up. What with that, and airbrushing the pictures afterwards, some photographs look nothing like real life. You’re cool though. Hardly a blemish in sight! I’ll have a look at your legs and feet once I’ve done your face.”

Ellie gave herself over to Dawn’s attention. She’d never had a makeover, or been to a spa, but imagined that it might be a little like this.

“Quite exciting, isn’t it,” said Dawn, “if you’ve never done this before?”

Ellie nodded, and Dawn put one hand on her head to steady her. She was already cleansing Ellie’s face. “Do you like Zone One? I think they’re fab.”

“Me too,” said Ellie. “I met them briefly downstairs.”

“I can’t wait to meet them,” said Dawn with an excited grin. “I get to check their faces for shine. Lucky me! Now, what shall we do for you? I’ve got an excellent young range of cosmetics here,” she told Ellie, “just right for your skin. Fresh summery colours, and no heavy foundation. You’ll look just right for Heart magazine.”

Once Ellie had relaxed, it was great fun having her make-up done. When Dawn had finished, she stood back and swivelled the chair, so Ellie could see her face in the mirror.

“Wow!” Ellie was thrilled. “My eyes look brilliant!”

Dawn had expertly blended several subtle colours to give Ellie’s eyes fantastic depth. It almost looked as if she wasn’t wearing make-up at all, but her eyes seemed larger, and the hazel colour of her pupils appeared to be much brighter. A spot that was appearing on Ellie’s chin had been expertly disguised, and Dawn had put a summery, pink gloss on her lips.

Dawn looked pleased. “You can try doing your eyes this way at home, Ellie. Subtle blending is the trick to this look. And most people use far too much foundation. Choose the right tone, and then use the tiniest amount. Your skin ought to look as if it hasn’t got anything on it at all. I can give you a little sample if you like. I’m always getting freebies from the cosmetic companies.”

“Thanks!” said Ellie. “That would be great.”

“Now,” said Dawn, smiling at her again. “Hair next. We don’t need to do a lot. It’s in great condition. Just a bit of this so it doesn’t get in a mess.” She brushed through Ellie’s long hair and sprayed it lightly. She looked critically at her and then nodded her satisfaction. “Perfect. Feet next. Can you take your shoes off for me, please?”

Ellie undid her shoes and took them off. Dawn was squeezing some cream onto her hands and soon she was rubbing it into Ellie’s feet. Ellie did her best not to pull her feet away, but she did have terribly ticklish feet! While the scented cream soaked in, Dawn was choosing a nail colour for her. Soon Ellie had pinky red nails on her hands and toes, and Dawn was removing the bib.

“That’s you then,” she said. “Do you feel like a real model now?”

Ellie laughed. She certainly felt very different with all the attention she’d had. “Perhaps I do,” she said, admiring her pearly toenails. “Thanks so much. It’s all brilliant.”

“Glad you like it,” said Dawn, sounding pleased. “Now, I really must go and get the shine off those boys’ faces. You nip through to see Sarah and she’ll fit you out with the clothes.”

Ellie felt a million dollars as she went through into the next room. Today wasn’t turning out anything like she had expected. She had thought it would be the best day of her life, but that had been when she had hoped to spend a few minutes meeting the band members if she was lucky. Now she was being turned into a temporary model for a shoot with them. How extraordinary was that? The last time she had appeared in the magazine, with Pop and Lolly, all her friends had been totally impressed, but this time, seeing her up close with boy band Zone One, they would go crazy!

Sarah, in the next room, presided over a couple of racks of clothes and a table full of accessories. She handed Ellie a pair of leggings not unlike Ellie’s own and a stunning tunic top in a mixture of zingy colours. “Pop those on, would you? And then we’ll get the shoes on.”

It was lucky Ellie wasn’t too shy, because there was no changing room. She supposed models got so used to constantly changing clothes for their work that they didn’t think about it, but it did feel a bit odd. And Ellie’s mum hadn’t dressed her for years and years, but Sarah was twitching and tugging the leggings to get them how she wanted as soon as Ellie had them on, and she did the same with the tunic. For a few seconds Ellie felt annoyed. Then she told herself not to be so silly. Of course the clothes must be perfect, and it was nice that it wasn’t her responsibility to make them that way!

Next, Sarah asked her to sit down. She took hold of Ellie’s heel and slid her foot into a wonderful pair of shoes that Ellie supposed might be called trainers, though the name by no means did them justice. The soft, green suede they were made of matched the green in the tunic, and when Ellie stood up, they were so comfortable she felt as if she was floating. Sarah adjusted the leggings at Ellie’s ankles and then made her turn round.

“You’ll do,” she said briskly. “Through that door. Don’t hang about after they’ve finished the shot. You’ve got three changes to get through this afternoon.”

Ellie walked through the door Sarah had indicated and stepped from an ordinary, plain dressing room into a tropical paradise.