It had been a brilliant day at school. Ellie had the latest copy of Heart in her bag, but she hadn’t needed to take it out to show anyone. All her friends had bought copies and it seemed they had all brought them to school. Even Ellie’s English teacher had read and enjoyed the article.

“I am so jealous!” squealed Kate. Her copy of the magazine was opened at the double-page article about the Lowther twins.

“You and POP!” shrieked Lizzie.

Ellie put her hands over her ears. “I was sooo lucky,” she said modestly.

Hannah stabbed her finger at a picture of Ellie standing between the two Lowthers. “You look so cool. That dress! Where on earth did you get it?”

“It was my gran’s.”

“Wow.”

Now Ellie was walking up the path to her flat, happy at how fortunate she was to have friends who were pleased at her success, not sour and jealous like Carlotta had been. As she opened the door the phone was ringing, so she dropped her bag on the floor and ran to answer it. It was Uncle Patrick.

“Hi!”

“Hi!” said Ellie.

“I like your article. I’ve got it here. Well done!”

Ellie glowed with pleasure. “Thank you. And thanks again for getting me the work placement. I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he said with a laugh. Then his voice changed. It sounded a bit awkward, even shy. “Ellie?”

“Yes?”

“Is your mum in?”

“No. She doesn’t get in from work for another hour.”

“Oh.”

Ellie couldn’t tell if her uncle was pleased or sad.

“Look, would you tell her I called, and say I’d like to speak to her. We need to meet, and talk. It’s been a long time…and…well I hope we can be friends. I really do. Will you let her know?”

“Of course I will.”

“I’ll ring again. I promise.”

Ellie put the phone down, and looked at herself in the hall mirror. Her excited face, with her hair all tangled from the windy weather, gazed back at her. She wondered what her dad would have thought of all this. She was sure he’d have been happy to think of his family being back in touch again. She hoped he’d have been pleased with, and proud of, her ambition too. A bit of her felt sad that he wasn’t here with her, but she had his notebook, with his wise thoughts inside it to help her on her way.

She took off her coat, and went to hang it up. Then she noticed the post, sticking through the letter box. She pulled it out and took it through to the kitchen. While the kettle boiled she sorted through it. There were two pizza offers and a couple of letters that looked like bills for her mum. There was also, unusually, a letter for her. She turned it over and noticed that it had been franked in the Heart post room. Who could be writing to her from the magazine?

She sat down with a mug of coffee and opened the letter. There was the familiar headed paper that she had had such trouble folding on her first day. This page had been folded immaculately, and she wondered, with a giggle, if Piano had been asked to do it. She glanced to the bottom of the letter, and saw to her surprise that it was from Angel.

Dear Ellie, it said. I am sorry that your time with us was coloured by an unfortunate chain of events. However, I wanted to thank you officially for your role in putting things right, and to assure you that your time with us hasn’t gone unnoticed.

I have decided that I would like to offer you the opportunity to work with us again. We realize that you have school commitments, but would be pleased if you would call into the office during your next holiday. We can’t promise to give you all the celebrity interviews, but we can offer you the opportunity to hone your skills until you leave school and decide whether you want to pursue journalism as a career. If you would like to do this, please ring the office and arrange a time to call.

Yours, Angel Makepiece

Editor in Chief

Ellie read the letter. Then she read it again. It was wonderful! She would be able to go back, to see Sophie and Flynn again, and to be a proper journalist – almost. How fantastic!

She couldn’t wait to tell Hannah and the rest of her friends, but even more she could hardly wait for the next few weeks to pass, so that she could catch the bus, walk up the road, and go back to work at Heart, the magazine to die for!