“My sister, Ilene, is in Ms. Frost’s class,” said Arlene. “We’re identical. Are you?”
“My sister and I are identical, but my brother isn’t. Boys can’t be identical to girls,” the new girl said.
“I know that,” said Arlene. “What’s your name?”
“Claudia Best. And my sister is Roberta Best. We’re going to be the best kids in this school.”
Arlene looked at Claudia and scowled. Who did this girl think she was, having an identical sister and a brother as well? Best triplets! Phooey.
At that very moment, Ilene, in her new second-grade class, was learning about Roberta Best and her sister and brother. The brother was named Simon Best. Ever since they had started school, Ilene and Arlene had been singled out as special because they were twins. Now here was this Roberta, who had not only an identical sister but a brother, too.
Ilene felt very annoyed. How could she and Arlene be considered special if there were triplets in their school? Being a twin would no longer seem like a big deal.
“I’m a triplet, too,” she told Roberta when no one was nearby. Ilene didn’t know why she said it. Those words just came out of her mouth. And it was worth it to see the surprised look on Roberta’s face.
“Really? That’s weird that there are two sets of triplets in second grade.”
Ilene thought quickly. “My other sister doesn’t go to this school. Only my sister Arlene,” said Ilene. She didn’t want to have to point out two sisters to Roberta at lunchtime.
“What’s your other other sister’s name?” Roberta asked.
“Marlene,” said Ilene. That was easy to make up. Lots of people got confused about the similarity of the twins’ names and called them things like Marlene and Carlene and Darleen.
“Let’s sit next to each other,” said Roberta.
Reluctantly, Ilene sat next to the new girl. She hoped Roberta didn’t ask any more about Marlene, because someone might tell her there was no Marlene in the Kelly family.
Luckily Ms. Frost came into the room and everyone rushed to find a seat. The morning was filled with first-day-of-school activities: going over classroom behavior, giving out textbooks, getting consent forms to bring home for their parents, and stuff like that. Ms. Frost talked about some of the things that the students would be learning in second grade. And Mrs. Storch was doing the same things in Arlene’s classroom. So it wasn’t until lunchtime that the Kelly sisters and the triplets all met face-to-face.
As usual, Arlene and Ilene were wearing the same outfit. They both had on red shirts and matching pants. Claudia and Roberta were not dressed alike at all. In fact, Claudia was wearing a skirt and Roberta was wearing jeans. Their brother, Simon, had on jeans, too.
“I’m going to sit with some guys from my class,” he announced, and disappeared at once.
Ilene wished there was a way that she could disappear, too.
“I’d like to meet your other sister,” said Roberta to Arlene. “How come she doesn’t go to this school like you two?”
Arlene’s mouth dropped open with surprise.
Ilene gave her a poke.
“She’s extra smart, so she goes to a very special school for kids who are geniuses,” said Ilene, thinking quickly.
“We’re pretty smart, too,” said Claudia.
“Not as smart as Marlene,” said Ilene.
Roberta looked from Ilene to Arlene. “Does she wear matching clothes like you both do?”
Arlene might not have been as smart as the imaginary triplet sister, but she had already caught on to what Ilene was doing. “No. At her school the kids all have to wear uniforms,” she said.
“Then everyone would look like they are twins or triplets or quads or something,” Claudia said with a laugh.
“Yeah,” said Ilene. “Well, see you around.” Then she dragged Arlene to a table that only had two empty chairs.
“She thinks she’s so special because she’s a triplet,” she grumbled. “And what’s worse, with the name Best, she thinks they are the best.”
“I know,” said Arlene. “That’s just the way her sister is, too.”
Neither Roberta nor Claudia was shy. Considering they were new to the school, you’d think the two of them would keep together during lunch and recess. But when Roberta finished her lunch, she rushed outside to play. Claudia came over to where Arlene and Ilene were sitting.
“My sister and I would love to meet your other sister,” said Claudia. “What’s her name again?”
“Marlene,” said Ilene.
“Doreen,” said Arlene at the same time. She’d forgotten the name that Ilene had said before.
“What?” asked Claudia.
“Doreen,” said Ilene.
“Marlene,” said Arlene at the same time.
“There’s too much noise in here,” said Claudia. “Let’s go outside so we can hear each other better.” She put her arms around Ilene and Arlene and pulled them to the door.
Ilene looked over at Arlene. “Marlene,” she whispered.
Arlene nodded.
Roberta came over to join her sister and the twins. “So, can we all get together and have a playdate?” she asked.
“Oh, yes,” said Ilene, pretending to think it was a good idea. “Let’s do that sometime. Maybe next month.”
“Why wait so long? How about this coming Saturday?” asked Claudia. “Where do you live?”
Arlene looked helplessly at Ilene. Ilene looked scared. What had she gotten them into?
Arlene recited their address. At least she knew the answer to that question.
“But I don’t think this Saturday . . . ” she began to say. She was going to tell Claudia that they wouldn’t be home on Saturday, but she was interrupted by the bell. Recess was over, and it was time to line up to return to class.
“It’s a date,” said Claudia as she went off with Arlene.
“Who would believe that there would be two sets of triplets here in our new school?” Roberta whispered to Ilene.
Ilene shrugged. Who, indeed, would believe that?
Luckily Roberta and Claudia were not walkers. They took one of the big yellow buses waiting outside of the school building. Arlene and Ilene were walkers. They joined Monty and Joey as they headed home.
“It’s amazing about the triplets,” said Monty.
“Yeah,” Joey agreed.
“Listen,” said Ilene. “We’re playing a trick on Roberta and Claudia. I told them we have another sister and that we’re triplets, too. Don’t let on to them that I made that up.”
“You lied to them?” asked Monty.
“It’s not exactly a lie,” said Arlene, defending her sister. “It’s more like a joke. The only trouble is they want to come to our house on Saturday, and then they’ll find out the truth.”
Joey started laughing. “I know how you can trick them some more,” he said.
“How?” asked Arlene and Ilene together.
Even though there was no one around to overhear him, Joey leaned closer to the sisters and whispered his idea.
The children all laughed.
Ilene crossed her fingers. “I hope it works,” she said. After all, she was the one who had started this joke.
On Saturday morning, Roberta and Claudia showed up at the Kelly house. They were brought by their father, who had a long list of errands to take care of. That was good because it meant he just waved to Mrs. Kelly at the door and shouted, “I’ll be back for the girls in a couple of hours.” Arlene and Ilene knew that if one of their parents had dropped them off somewhere, they would have stopped to talk. Had Roberta and Claudia’s father said anything, it would quickly have come out that his daughters were visiting a pair of twins and not triplets at all.
By plan, Ilene walked over to the two girls. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Marlene.”
“Hi, I’m Roberta.”
“And I’m Claudia,” said her sister. “Where are Arlene and Ilene?”
“They’re inside,” said Ile
ne.
The three girls went into the house. Arlene was sitting on the sofa. “Hi,” she called to them.
“Which one are you?” asked Roberta.
“I’m Arlene. I’m in your class,” she reminded Roberta.
“Where’s Ilene?” asked Claudia.
“She’s upstairs. I’ll tell her you’re here,” said Ilene/Marlene.
She ran upstairs and a minute later came back downstairs. “Hi, everybody,” she called out.
“Where’s your sister?” asked Claudia.
Ilene pointed to Arlene.
“No, no. Not her. The other one,” said Claudia.
“I think she went to the bathroom.”
“Why don’t we play something?” suggested Arlene. “How about hide-and-seek?”
“Who’s going to be it?” asked Roberta.
“I’ll get Marlene and tell her she’s it,” said Ilene.
She ran upstairs and then came down again.
“Okay,” she said. “I like to be it.”
“But where’s Ilene?” asked Claudia.
“She went to the bathroom.”
“Are you girls sick or something?” asked Roberta.
“Why?”
“Well, you keep having to go to the bathroom,” she said.
“Don’t be silly,” said Arlene. “Everyone has to go to the bathroom sometime. Okay, Marlene. Cover your eyes and we’ll all hide.”
So Ilene/Marlene leaned against the wall and put her hands over her eyes. She began to count slowly to twenty-five. “Ready or not, here I come! Anyone around my base is it!” she shouted when she reached the last number.
None of the girls were around. Ilene was relieved to be able to just sit down on the sofa. She was exhausted from running up and down the stairs, pretending to be Marlene. In fact, she no longer remembered who she was at that moment. Was she Ilene or Marlene?
She got up and walked toward the stairs.
“Home free!” called a voice. It was Roberta.
Ilene started upstairs to look for the other girls. When she was midway up the stairs, she heard Arlene’s voice: “Home free!”
Only one more person to find. She walked into her bedroom. Sitting on the floor was Claudia. She seemed to have forgotten the game, because she was poking her fingers through the cage at Frankie and Fannie.
“What are these?” she asked.
“Ferrets,” explained Ilene. “We couldn’t agree on a puppy or a kitten. So in the end we got these. They’re lots of fun.”
Ilene opened the cage and put one of the ferrets into Claudia’s lap.
“Oh, I love it,” said Claudia. “I bet Roberta and Simon would, too. Maybe we can get some ferrets once we’re settled in at our house. Right now half our stuff is still in boxes. It’s taking longer to unpack than it took us to pack for our move here.”
“Ferrets love hiding in boxes,” said Ilene. “They climb in and out of everything. Once Fannie got inside the comforter cover, and it took us hours to find her. In the end, my mom discovered a suspicious lump. And there she was!”
“Hey, where are you?” called Arlene. She came into the room, followed by Roberta.
“Did you forget we were playing a game?”
“Ohhh. What are those?” asked Roberta.
“These are ferrets,” said Claudia. “Here.” She held Fannie out to Roberta. “See how soft she is.”
Soon all four girls were sitting on the floor, playing with the ferrets. It was lots of fun until Ilene remembered that there was supposed to be another sister. She wondered whether it would be Claudia or Roberta who noticed that someone was missing. Both guests seemed very busy studying the ferrets. Claudia was looking at a book Mr. Kelly had bought at the pet shop that told lots of facts about the animals. Roberta was looking over her shoulder.
Finally, Ilene could bear it no longer. “Listen up,” she said. “I have to tell you something.”
Roberta, Claudia, and Arlene turned to look at Ilene.
“It’s about Marlene,” she said.
“Who?” asked Roberta.
“Marlene. Our other sister. She isn’t here.”
“Where is she?” asked Claudia with a big grin. “Did she go away?”
“Yes,” said Arlene. “She’s not here now.”
“Or ever,” said Ilene sheepishly. “I made her up.”
“You mean she just lives in your imagination?” suggested Roberta.
Ilene nodded.
“I guessed it,” she said.
“How?”
“First of all, there aren’t enough beds in your house. I counted when I was hiding. There was no place for Marlene to sleep.”
“And besides, you couldn’t even agree on what was her name when you were talking about her at school,” added Claudia.
“It was just a joke,” said Arlene.
“Did we fool you at all?” asked Ilene.
“Maybe for about five seconds,” admitted Roberta.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Claudia. “There are enough of us to have a good time together. You don’t need another sister for us to play with.”
“Poor Simon,” Roberta commented. “We can do some things together at home. But he doesn’t like a lot of the stuff we do. He won’t play beauty parlor or dress-up. But we can play card games and Monopoly and things like that. It’s too bad we aren’t quadruplets: two girls and two boys. That would be most fair for him.”
“He’ll probably make friends at school,” said Arlene.
“If you bring him the next time you come here, he could play with Monty and Joey. They live on our street, and they’re both in second grade, just like us,” suggested Ilene. She was about to admit that fooling the girls had been Joey’s idea, but then she thought the better of it.
Just then Fannie Farmer jumped out of Roberta’s hands. She slipped under the bed, and the four girls focused their attention on finding her. Sometimes the ferrets were hard to catch. It was a good thing that there were only two and not three of them.
It was hard for Arlene and Ilene to decide what their favorite day of the year was.
When their birthday was approaching, both girls were sure that July 17 and July 18 were the best days. Those days were filled with gifts, a party, ice cream and cake, and the satisfaction of being a whole year older from one day to the next.
But what about Christmas? Their mom always baked loads of special holiday cookies, which she traded with a group of friends. Suddenly the house would be filled with different cookies shaped like trees and stars and other holiday items. They were frosted in holiday colors and topped with silver balls or multicolored sprinkles. Then there was the excitement of giving and receiving presents, TV specials, visits from family members, and vacation from school.
“I love Valentine’s Day,” Ilene remembered.
Arlene thought for a moment. “Me too,” she agreed. “I love those pink heart cookies that Mom makes.”
“I love getting valentines.”
“I got more than you last year,” Arlene claimed.
“That’s because your teacher had everyone make cards in class to give out to all the other kids.”
“We had a class post office,” Arlene remembered. “I wonder if we’ll do that now.”
“Probably not,” said Ilene. “Don’t forget, we’re in second grade. We’re not studying about community helpers like the letter carriers and the people who work at the post office.”
Arlene nodded. “Anyhow, Valentine’s Day is a long way off,” she said. “Now is the time to think about Halloween.”
“I love Halloween!” said Ilene.
“Me too,” agreed Arlene. “We’ll have costumes, and we’ll go trick-or-treating.”
“I love trick-or-treating.”
“Me too.”
Ilene remembered the bag of candy she collected last year when she was dressed as a princess.
Arlene had been a princess, too, but her costume looked very different from her sister’s. Arlene had
worn a long pink dress, and Ilene had had a long blue one. Their mother had made them both from old sheets.
“What do you want to be this year?” Ilene asked her sister.
“I want to be a witch.”
“A witch!” cried Ilene. “Me, too. I’ll be a witch, too.”
“I said it first,” Arlene reminded her sister.
“I said it loudest,” said Ilene. “Besides, lots of kids dress like witches. We can both do it.”
Arlene thought for a moment. “Okay,” she agreed. “We’ll both be witches, but I did say it first.”
“I said it last, but it doesn’t matter.”
They ran off to tell their mother the good news. “We want to be witches for Halloween,” they both shouted together.
“Let me see what I can do,” Mrs. Kelly said. Halloween was not her favorite holiday. There were the arguments with her daughters about how many pieces of their Halloween loot they could eat after supper each evening. She thought one was a good number. The girls thought ten was better.
Last year she had said, “Let’s compromise. How about two pieces each?”
Neither Arlene or Ilene had known about the principle of compromise, but they had figured it out quickly.
“How about nine pieces?” said Arlene.
“Absolutely not,” said Mrs. Kelly. “You will rot your teeth.”
“Eight pieces?” said Ilene.
“No, no, no,” said Mrs. Kelly.
“Seven pieces,” pleaded Arlene.
“That’s still too many. You are going to make yourselves sick,” their mother said.
In the end, it was agreed that the girls could have three pieces each. But not one piece more.
Mrs. Kelly went to a fabric store in town and purchased a few yards of cheap black cloth. Then she set to work making outfits for her daughters.
“We’re lucky not to have triplets or quadruplets,” she told her husband.
“You’re lucky that Halloween only comes once a year,” he reminded her.
The Two and Only Kelly Twins Page 2