Nadine and Dora think they are much better than Ellen. They ignore it because they think it is “cheap”. For Christmas, Ellen wants to give them wonderful gifts, but she can't afford to buy them. She then decides to paint them a picture of two cats. When her aunt asks her what she wants for Christmas, she simply asks for a pack of art paper. She secretly hopes that her aunt and cousin will have a few more surprises in store for her. She also hopes that her aunt will really like the drawing. On Christmas morning, Ellen was disappointed to receive only the white paper package. Later that night, she heard her aunt telling her daughter that even though the painting is ridiculous and cheap, she should pretend to like it. She was crushed because earlier in the morning her aunt had pretended to really like it. Ellen felt humiliated and was very angry with her aunt. She locked herself in her room. When her aunt came to her room to beat her, Ellen told her that if she tried to touch her, she would kill her. Ellen packed her things and walked across town to the “host lady’s” house. She hopes she will welcome him. Ellen even wears her best dress so she can give Lady Foster a good first.