Candy Girl Read online

  Candy Girl

  by

  Karen McCombie

  In memory of Louisa

  (the real Miranda!)

  First American edition published in 2012 by Stoke Books,

  an imprint of Barrington Stoke Ltd

  18 Walker Street, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH3 7LP

  www.stokebooks.com

  Copyright ©2010 Karen McCombie

  Illustrations © Jessica Secheret

  All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of

  this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

  transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic,

  mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the

  prior written permission of Barrington Stoke Ltd, except for

  inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

  A catalog record for this book is available from

  the US Library of Congress

  Distributed in the United States and Canada by Lerner Publisher

  Services, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

  241 First Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55401

  www.lernerbooks.com.

  ISBN 978-1-78112-011-8

  Printed in China

  eISBN:978-1-78112-066-8

  Contents

  1 Sleep? No Chance!

  2 OK, Take a Deep Breath ...

  3 Not as Great as All That

  4 What’s the Problem?

  5 Giggling and Grumbles

  6 Looking Good! (Sounding Bad ...)

  7 Spilling the Gossip

  8 A Not-so-nice Surprise

  9 Ella’s No-show

  10 The Party

  11 Sweet Enough

  Chapter 1

  Sleep? No Chance!

  Is my dad crazy?

  I mean, sometimes he really acts like it.

  “What’s up, Dixie?” my dad asks, as he puts his head round the door of my bedroom.

  “Can’t sleep? Need Daddy to read you a story?”

  Yeah, right …

  Dad has to be crazy. And this is why.

  First of all, I’m thirteen, and no one reads me stories in bed any more.

  Also, he’s nuts if he thinks it’s funny to joke around at a time like this. (But, you know, he’s always joking around.)

  I mean, how can I ever fall asleep tonight, when tomorrow will be THE most exciting day of my life so far?

  As Dad stands there grinning, I feel like I might throw something at him.

  But then in my hands is the latest Candy magazine, and that’s way too special to chuck at Dad’s head!

  Luckily, he plods off – but then it’s Mom’s turn.

  “Dixie, you’ve really got to get some sleep,” she says.

  “But I need to read this. I’m doing research!” I tell her. I’ve flipped Candy magazine open at ‘Share it with Sharron’, the page where readers write in with their problems.

  Sharron Ford is the problem page editor. She looks so warm and friendly in her photo. You feel like you could tell her anything and she’d make it OK.

  Wow, I can’t wait to meet her for real ...

  “Dixie, do I have to come and make you stop reading?” Mom says in a cross voice but I know she’s not really mad at me. She’s the same as Dad – she likes joking around.

  I giggle, and make like I’m snuggling down, just to please her.

  Mom goes, but I’m not left alone for long.

  “You’re texting under there, aren’t you?” I suddenly hear my big sister Tess say.

  I can’t hear her very well, but that’s ’cause I’m under my covers. And I have to reply to my friend Ella’s good luck message.

  Ella’s written “U R SOOOOOOOOOO LUCKY!!!!!”, but I get what she means.

  I peep out from under the covers. “No,” I lie.

  “Dixie, I can hear all the clicking!” says Tess and she pulls the covers off me with a whoosh.

  “I’m just finishing!” I moan.

  “No, you’re not,” she snaps and she grabs my phone. “You promised Mom that you’d go to sleep, and you haven’t. So I’m taking this.”

  “Tess! Give that back!” I shout after her, but she’s already gone.

  In case you haven’t worked it out yet, Tess is nothing like me and our mom and dad. She never likes to goof around.

  Here’s what Tess likes to do:

  1) be serious

  2) work all the time

  3) yell at me when I get one of my giggling fits.

  But here’s something that me and Tess both do have in common – we both read Candy magazine.

  And here’s something else I’m pretty sure of – Tess is jealous of me.

  But I can’t help it if I’m friendly. And how is it my fault that I was chatting with our new neighbor Rachel who works in the same office block as Candy magazine?

  And I can’t help it if Rachel got me an internship at Candy over spring break.

  The thing is, I feel totally sunshine-y inside, and I’m not going to let my sister act like a big, fat rain cloud and spoil all my fun.

  ’Cause Candy, here I come!

  Chapter 2

  OK, Take a Deep Breath …

  “How are you feeling?” asks my neighbor Rachel.

  “I’m fine!” I lie but my heart is banging so hard I’m sure that everyone in the elevator can hear it.

  Then shooom, the shiny metal doors of the elevator glide open, and right in front of me is a huge poster with big pink lettering on it.

  It says ‘Shout if you want Candy!’.

  I’m so excited I nearly yell “Yes please!”.

  Lucky I don’t yell for real, ’cause someone’s just come to meet me and she might think I’m crazy and tell me to go home.

  “Are you ditzy?” she asks as she looks me up and down.

  That’s kind of rude.

  “Dixie!” Rachel laughs. “Her name’s Dixie!”

  The girl doesn’t look much older than Tess. She gives a shrug.

  “OK, Dixie,” she says and gets it right this time. “My name’s Miranda, and I’m the Editor’s Assistant here at Candy. Follow me.”

  I say bye-bye to Rachel, and follow Miranda into the Candy office. She pushes open a classy-looking door and we walk in.

  I’m so excited I feel sick and I worry for a second that I might really throw up.

  How would that look? I don’t think Sharron Ford and the rest of the cool Candy staff would like that much!

  But I’m OK and I look around and see a big, bright room … which is totally empty!

  I don’t know what I thought the Candy office would be like. Maybe full of chatter and laughter, with some of the staff giving me a friendly wave hello?

  Miranda turns and sees me staring at the empty desks and computers.

  “Everyone’s in a meeting with the Editor,” she says. She points to a small office with glass walls. There are ten people crammed in there. They all have notepads and they’re writing stuff down. I know who the Editor is. I remember her name. It’s cute and she writes a letter at the beginning of the magazine every week.

  “Is that Polly Cheer?” I ask.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Miranda says. “But now I’m going to show you who your best friend for the week is!”

  Is this where I get to meet Sharron Ford? I think. Fingers crossed ...

  Er, no.

  Miranda’s pointing at a coffee maker.

  A coffee maker which is sitting on a counter, with a stack of dirty cups all around it.

  I think Miranda notices the puzzled look on my face.

  “The coffee maker will be your best friend, because you’ll be making coffee for everyone. Lots of it. All day,” she tells me.
“That’s basically your job while you’re here.”

  “Um, OK,” I mutter. The news is kind of a let down.

  But I suppose there is one person who I’d be happy to make endless cups of coffee for, if it means I can hang out and chat with her.

  “Is, er, Sharron Ford in that meeting too?” I ask as I scan all the faces in the Editor’s office.

  “Nope. She phoned in sick today,” says Miranda, as she hands me a pen and a notepad.

  Hey, it’s like a real reporter’s notepad!

  Maybe that was a joke about making coffee all day!

  Maybe Miranda wants me to interview someone famous first!

  “Go on,” she says, and points me towards Polly Cheer’s office.

  “Really?” I gasp. Am I really going into that important meeting with the Editor so soon?

  “Yep,” says Miranda with a nod. “Just make a list of who wants coffee and who wants tea. And don’t forget to ask who takes sugar!”

  Hmmm.

  Maybe life at Candy magazine isn’t quite as cool as I’d expected.

  At least not for me …

  Chapter 3

  Not as Great as All That

  “So are they all really nice?” asks Mom as she puts a big heap of pasta on my plate.

  Phew – I’m starving.

  I felt so nervous at lunch time that all I ate was a corner of my peanut butter sandwich, as I sat on my own at my desk, flicking through old copies of Candy.

  “Mmm, yes,” I answer as if I’m not really listening.

  I mean, the staff of Candy might be the nicest, friendliest people in the world, but they all seemed WAY too busy to be nice or friendly to me today.

  “So have they asked you to be the new Editor yet?” Dad jokes.

  Mom pretends to hit him on the head with the serving spoon.

  “Just ignore him, Dixie,” she laughs. “Go on – tell us more!”

  “Um … well, on Wednesday, there’s going to be a photoshoot for the next front cover of the magazine,” I tell them. I heard some people talking about it.

  “Oooh!” says Mom, as Dad makes a ‘surprised’ face.

  “Then there’s the Candy Fun Day on Friday,” I carry on. “Zack McCloud will be there!”

  Two hundred lucky readers won tickets to the Candy Fun Day. It’s a once-a-year party with give-aways and on-the-spot makeovers and there’ll be some celebrities there too.

  Me and my friend Ella tried to win tickets but we didn’t make it.

  “Zack McCloud? Really?” gasps Mom, and she sounds very impressed.

  Dad frowns and I can see he’s thinking hard. “Is he an actor in that Australian soap opera you and Tess like?”

  “Yeah,” I say. Tess doesn’t really watch it any more – she’s too busy with all her important homework for that.

  In fact, she makes me feel dumb for chatting about my favorite TV shows.

  “Wow … Zack McCloud. Did you hear that, Tess?” asks Mom and looks over at my sister.

  “Yeah, whatever,” Tess mutters. She doesn’t even look up.

  To me, that sounds like she’s jealous for sure – or just being mean.

  Y’know, I had been about to admit that my day hadn’t been all that great.

  But now, no way will I let Tess know that Candy isn’t so sweet …

  Chapter 4

  What’s the Problem?

  On Tuesday morning, I make my way shyly into the Candy office.

  “OK, Dixie,” says Miranda, “I’ve got something different for you to do today …”

  Oh, thank goodness!

  I made so many cups of coffee and tea yesterday that I spent all last night dreaming that giant tea bags were chasing me around the Candy office.

  “Here you are ...” Miranda goes on and kicks at a massive grey mail bag with the toe of her shoe. “Problem page letters for Sharron.”

  My heart misses a beat.

  “Oh! Is Sharron ...?” I begin.

  “Nope, she’s not coming in today either,” Miranda says quickly, ’cause she knows what I’m about to ask. “Anyway, just sort all the letters into different piles … ‘I’m Being Bullied’; ‘Does He Have A Crush On Me?’; ‘Am I A Freak?’ – that sort of thing.”

  That’s a much better job than making coffee but at the same time I’m shocked.

  What about all those girls who’ve sat and told Sharron all their deepest secrets and fears?

  Won’t they feel terrible if they know it’s me – thirteen-year-old Dixie – reading all their private problems?

  “And once you’ve done that,” Miranda says, “you need to choose three that you think could be the top letters for next week’s ‘Share it with Sharron’ page.”

  “You want me to choose?” I squeak in surprise.

  “Yep,” says Miranda, as she walks off.

  Help!

  I mean, I love ‘Share it with Sharron’, but this feels like I’m being seriously nosey …

  But it beats making a million cups of coffee and tea.

  And so I pull out my first handful of letters.

  And then another.

  And another.

  And another.

  Until suddenly it’s early afternoon, and my head is swirling with sad and sometimes scary stories from other people’s lives.

  “Picked your three problems yet?” asks Miranda as she gets back from lunch.

  “Well, I’ve chosen these …” I answer. I show her three letters I’ve put on the desk.

  They are:

  ‘My Boobs Are Too Small!’ (I like this one ’cause most of my friends worry that their chest is too small, or too big, or just not the same as everyone else’s.)

  ‘Why Has He Changed?’ (This girl doesn’t understand why this boy’s suddenly stopped being nice to her. I want to know what Sharron will say ’cause I don’t understand boys either.

  ‘Help, I can’t take the stress!’ (From someone whose mom and dad are pressuring her into doing lots of exams. My mom and dad are so laid-back that I feel really sorry for this girl.)

  “OK,” says Miranda with a shrug. She doesn’t even look at the letters. “Now, how about getting some coffee?”

  Sigh.

  When my neighbour Rachel asked me if I wanted to do an internship at the Candy office, I thought it would be amazing.

  I thought I might meet models and pop stars and celebrities.

  I didn’t expect to be the office slave.

  There’s hardly any point in me being here – I might as well be spending my spring break with Ella, hanging out in our bedrooms.

  “Oh, by the way,” Miranda says suddenly, “can Rachel bring you into the office a little bit earlier tomorrow? We’ll be leaving for the photoshoot at 9am sharp.”

  “The photoshoot for the next front cover?” I squeak. “You mean, I can come?”

  “Of course!” says Miranda with a laugh.

  “YESSS!” I squeak again.

  Y’know with all this squeaking, Miranda must think I’m half-girl, half-mouse …

  Chapter 5

  Giggling and Grumbles

  It’s Tuesday evening, and my best friend Ella has come over to my house to gossip.

  “I wonder what the model will be like?” says Ella, as she swaps CDs in my player.

  She’s almost as excited as I am about tomorrow’s photoshoot – she’s even let me borrow her coolest shirt.

  “Well, we all know the model won’t be nearly as gorgeous as me!” I say, joking around as I look at myself in the mirror and try on Ella’s shiny black shirt.

  “Or me!” laughs Ella, and turns the music up loud.

  Next thing, we’re both making faces in the mirror and doing swanky cat-walk moves.

  Then we burst into cackles of laughter.

  “Would you two give me a break!” a voice suddenly grumbles loudly.

  Me and Ella both spin around and see Tess standing at my door.

  Her face is like thunder.

  Honestly, you’d thi
nk we’d done something terrible, like super-glued her text-books shut.

  “We were only ...” I start to say.

  But I don’t get very far.

  “Who cares what you were doing? I just wish you wouldn’t do it so loud!” Tess snaps. “How am I supposed to get any studying done?”

  Ella and I stay statue still. There’s no point in arguing.

  “What’s up with her?” Ella whispers when Tess has stomped back to her own room.

  “I think a wicked witch put a spell on my nice sister and turned her into a total grouch queen,” I joke.

  Though deep down, I feel kind of sorry and sad that Tess doesn’t seem to know how much fun, well, fun is…

  Chapter 6

  Looking Good!

  (Sounding Bad ...)

  Normally at 9.30am on a Wednesday, I’m in Mr Williams’ Physics class.

  But at 9.30am this Wednesday, I’m in a fancy photographer’s studio with spot-lights and cameras, along with the Editor AND the Fashion Editor of Candy magazine.

  How amazing is that?

  But I have to say, getting here wasn’t all that amazing.

  At 9am, Polly Cheer (the Editor) and Amy Flint (the Fashion Editor) slunk into a waiting taxi with bags and bags of clothes to take to the photoshoot.

  At 9.01am, Miranda and me walked to the photographer’s studio, carrying the four bags that hadn’t fitted in the taxi.

  Wow, my arms hurt.

  But it was all worth it once we got into the studio. It was enormous and really cool!

  I felt all fluttery and excited inside – even if Polly Cheer the Editor was the exact opposite of cheerful (one of the models hadn’t turned up yet).

  And I still felt all fluttery and excited, even when Miranda told me why I’d been asked along today.

  Oh, yes – I was there to make endless cups of coffee for everyone.

  And, it turns out, for someone called Connor.

  “D– d– do you take sugar?” I ask now, my voice is a bit wobbly.

  That’s because I’m looking into the eyes of a very gorgeous male model (Connor).

  He’s about eighteen, has floppy brown hair, and is so handsome that it’s making me dizzy.