Passion for Fashion

Cover Page

Title Page

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Perfect Party Top

Acknowledgments

The Coleen Style Queen series:

Copyright

About the Publisher

Striking a pose, I winked at my reflection. A glittery eye winked back at me.

“Now that’s a great look,” I said to myself, pleased with the result. Not too much, just enough. Coleen, Queen of the Glitter Scene!

I turned up the radio and closed my eyes.

The music pumped and the glitterballs spun, dappling the dance floor with light. The girl flung back her long brown hair and swayed to the music. She could hear the whispers of the other dancers. Who was this mysterious beauty? Who did her make-up? And where did she get that fabulous outfit?

“Coleen!” my mum shouted up the stairs. “I hope you’re putting on your uniform! The bus goes in ten minutes!”

The dance scene fizzled away. I opened my eyes with a sigh and stared at my bedroom. It was Monday morning, and my uniform was still lying on the floor where I’d left it on Friday afternoon.

OK, so my excuse was this. Friday afternoon means one thing – total style for the whole weekend! I can’t wait to get out of the whole grey and blue vibe that is school uniform, open my wardrobe and choose something fantastic. And if my uniform stays on the floor – well, too bad.

“Coleen!” Mum shouted again. “The bus!”

Quick as a flash I pulled on my stuff. After tying my tie in the funky new knot I’d perfected last week (very skinny and tight), I slid down the banister, nearly trod on Rascal our dog and raced into the kitchen. With a quick one-two, I flipped two pieces of bread into the toaster, pulled the juice from the fridge and swigged.

“Urgh,” said my little sister Em from the other side of the table, wrinkling her freckly nose at me. “You’re gross, Coleen. Pour the juice into a glass, why don’t you?”

Em’s only seven. She can be quite cute, but has this annoying way of winding me up. As normal, her school shirt was hanging out of her skirt and she already had jam on her sweatshirt. You could vacuum Em twice a day and she’d still look a scruff. How could two sisters be so different?

“What is that on your eyelids?” Dad asked, halfway through sloshing his tea down his throat.

Oops. Make-up and school uniform is a big no-no. I try to be subtle, but I guess the glitter may have been a step too far.

“It’s just a bit…” I began.

“Upstairs and take it off,” Mum said wearily. “The bus had better be late this morning, is all I can say.”

I guess Coleen, Queen of the Glitter Scene would have to wait till I got in from school this afternoon.

So, this is me. Petite, brown hair, brown eyes. Sometimes I wish I was taller, but they say the best things come in small packages. My nose is cute, even if I say so myself. And I love playing around with clothes.

“Coleen always has something funky going on.” That’s what my best friend Mel would say. She and I have different tastes – some of her stuff is way too weird for me – but we know what looks hot and what does not. She’s lucky, because bright colours look brilliant on her dark skin.

“I wish I looked like you guys.” That’s my other best friend Lucy, by the way. I’m not boasting – she really says dumb stuff like that. I wish she wouldn’t. She’s completely cute, in a blonde, blue-eyed kind of way. It’s just she doesn’t know it. She plays it safe, fashion-wise. Beats me why. With her long legs and brilliant voice, she could be the ultimate rock chick.

The bus, amazingly, was late. Mel and Lucy had already got our usual seats.

“Nice pink eyelids, Coleen,” Mel said with a giggle. “Not.”

My eyelids were red-raw. That’s what comes of scrubbing off eyeshadow with a wet flannel in two seconds flat.

“How’s things, guys?” I asked, flopping down next to Lucy.

“Ben has a zit this morning,” Lucy told me. “It was really funny. He was acting like a big girl – totally gutted!”

My heart started bouncing around my stomach like a beach ball. It does that whenever Lucy’s brother gets mentioned. I couldn’t help gazing over where Ben was sitting with his mates Dave Sheekey and Ali Grover, a bit further down the bus. I could only see the back of his head and his gorgeous wide shoulders, but maybe – given the zit and all – it wasn’t such a bad thing that I couldn’t see his face. Plus I always blush when he looks at me. Gazing into your crush’s eyes is all very well, but not when the side effects include beetroot cheeks.

“Your brother is still a complete love god,” I sighed.

“Dream on, Coleen,” Mel snorted. “Like Lu’s big brother will ever take a Year Eight seriously!”

Mel was right. Ben Hanratty was Year Ten, and way out of my league. But hey, a Glitter Queen should aim for the stars, right? I closed my eyes, partly because I didn’t want to see Dave Sheekey sticking his finger up his nose in the seat opposite Ben, and partly because bus-time was dream-time.