The Unfortunate Wishes of Nelly Young


 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Acknowledgments
 Copyright
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Start of Content
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Acknowledgments
 Copyright
 
 
 
 
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 The Unfortunate Wishes of Nelly Young
 Be careful what you wish for…
 Beth Garrod
 
 
 
 
 
 First published in Great Britain in 2023 by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
 Copyright © 2023 Beth Garrod
 This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
 No reproduction without permission.
 All rights reserved.
 The right of Beth Garrod to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988.
 Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
 1st Floor, 222 Gray’s Inn Road
 London WC1X 8HB
 www.simonandschuster.co.uk
 www.simonandschuster.com.au
 www.simonandschuster.co.in
 Simon & Schuster Australia, Sydney
 Simon & Schuster India, New Delhi
 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
 PB ISBN 978-1-3985-0338-0
 eBook ISBN 978-1-3985-0339-7
 eAudio ISBN 978-1-3985-0340-3
 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
 Illustrated by Hannah Worsley
 
 
 To Lucy and Nell – I couldn’t wish to have met a better duo.
 And to Rose, who is pure magic.
 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER ONE
 I wasn’t sure how, but I’d survived! Five whole weeks of school, and if I could just get through two more days, I’d have made it to half term.
 GO ME!
 I air-fived myself.
 Which was a mistake, as to my classmates it looked like I’d given our headmaster one single, random clap for absolutely zero reason. I looked behind me, my best confused face on, trying to pretend I was working out where the noise came from.
 Freedom was SO NEAR. Then it would be goodbye to St Augustine’s for ever! Well, the middle school anyway. And hello, St Augustine’s Senior School!
 Where people wouldn’t know me as the girl who turned up for her first day all on her own, in the middle of a term, wearing the wrong uniform.
 Where they wouldn’t know me as the girl who accidentally sent my music teacher an audio note of me sleep-talking instead of our homework.
 Where they wouldn’t yell ‘BREAKING NEWS NELLY’ whenever I stuck my hand up. (Why did it have to be me who had tripped playing netball and smashed a TV camera during the live report on our new sports hall opening?!)
 Senior school wasn’t just a new start. It was a chance to be a whole new me.
 A whole new normal Nelly.
 Ahhhh, yes! New, normal, Nelly. It already sounded brilliant.
 I closed my eyes and breathed in, excited for what could lie ahead. I had ninety-eight days to work on my big relaunch and my best mates Clara and Jas had promised to help me do whatever it took.
 ‘Year 6, did you all take that in?’ Mr Chen, our headmaster, pushed his glasses up his nose and peered round our form room. ‘Because I saw the grand total of… not one of you take down any notes.’ A groan went up as we fished out our homework planners. I rolled my eyes at Jas, who grinned back. But when I swivelled the other way to do the same for Clara, she looked like she did when her home chemistry experiment set fire to her lounge curtains.
 ‘So, to recap.’ Mr Chen wiped his nose with a hanky. Our suspicion was he used the same one. Every single day. ‘The first day back after half term won’t be lessons as normal.’ Uh-oh. Please don’t let it be another bring-your-parents-to-class