by Holly Webb
Katie, Annabel and Becky watched as she reached the corner of the road and then looked at each other. Then Annabel picked up her bags and said, “OK?”
“OK,” the other two answered, and together the Ryan triplets headed into the playground to start their first day at Manor Hill.
Chapter Three
The playground seemed to be entirely full of children dashing about, like a nest of mad bees.
“Come on,” decided Katie, taking the lead as usual. “I can’t see anyone I know. Let’s just go and put our bags down over there, and then we can look for people more easily.” She led the way over to a set of steps, which she at least recognized as leading into the dining hall. “Just dump it all here, then we’ll go and find everyone – we know Fiona’s here somewhere, at least!”
The triplets made a neat pile of their bags and then turned to survey the playground. They didn’t realize it at first, but they were getting quite a lot of attention themselves. Their hair was different, but they still looked like the same girl three times over. Children who’d come from different schools whispered to each other, and pointed them out. Becky, who was always the most sensitive, noticed this, and felt embarrassed. The triplets were used to people – usually old ladies – stopping them in the street to ask questions and admire them, but Becky didn’t remember quite so many people looking at them at once before. It felt really uncomfortable! She nudged Annabel. “Bel, look! People are staring at us! Those girls over there, do you see? And those two there!”
Annabel peered round carefully, checking out the girls Becky had nodded at, and spotting a few more curious glances on the way. “You’re right, Becky. Good. This is going to be fun – I like being noticed!” She preened slightly, and stood up straighter.
Becky sighed. That was just like Annabel. Such a show-off! She watched Annabel tossing her long blonde hair and squirmed inside. It was all right for Bel – she loved attention. Whenever anyone asked her if she knew what she wanted to do when she was older, she always said the same thing, “I’m going to be famous!” Annabel wasn’t sure what for yet, but Becky thought she probably would be one day. Bel could be very stubborn.
Meanwhile, Katie had finally found some people they knew. A group of children from St Anne’s had gathered over by a huge horse chestnut tree in the corner of the playground. The tree had enormous roots that seemed to form little holes and seats, and the St Anne’s lot were squashed all round it in a very precarious-looking fashion, obviously swapping gossip from their holidays.
The triplets dashed over, calling to people they knew. Fiona spotted them coming, and waved madly.
Saima bounced up from her seat – nearly knocking Fiona over on the way – and hugged all three triplets in turn. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you – I was so scared when I got to the playground. I couldn’t see anybody I recognized!”
The triplets nipped back to grab their stuff and then dumped their bags in the teetering pile by the tree and grinned at each other, feeling a little bit silly. Mum was right – it was so much easier for the three of them.
“So come on, Saima, tell us! How was India?” asked Annabel.
“It was brilliant, but it was so hot! I’m just not used to it, I guess. My cousins were running around all over the place, but I could hardly move some days!”
“Did you bring back more gorgeous clothes?” asked Annabel. Saima had shown her some of the beautiful Indian outfits she owned. Lots of them were made of silk, and they were the most amazing colours. They were covered with embroidery, too, and Annabel loved them.
“Yeah, loads. Do you want to come and see them some time?”
“Definitely. Can we dress up in them again? Our dad gave us a digital camera to share – we could take photos,” Annabel said excitedly.
“That would be excellent. Oooh, talking of photos, you should see mine, Becky. We saw loads of animals – I was disappointed, though, I was hoping to see a tiger. So, what did you do this summer? Did you go away at all?”
“Yes, Dad took us on holiday – that’s when he gave us the camera,” answered Becky a bit shyly. She’d never got to know Saima all that well, and found her quite scary – she was always so perfect-looking with her long, glossy black hair and completely immaculate uniform. “It was really cool. We went pony-trekking in Wales for a week. Not quite as exciting as India, though.”
“Yeah, and my bottom still hasn’t recovered. Saddles are really, really hard!” cut in Annabel. “But Becky’s right, it was so cool. We had the same pony each for the whole week. Mine was black and he was called Jet. He was really naughty, though. Every time we went past anything eatable-looking – nice flowers, or leaves, or someone’s packed lunch – it was straight into his mouth. I kept having to pull him away.”
“And it was great to see Dad,” added Katie. “It felt like ages since we’d had any time with him.”
Saima nodded sympathetically – she knew that the triplets’ dad was an engineer, and he worked abroad for long periods of time. It was part of the reason he and their mum had split up. “Has he gone back to Egypt now?” she asked.
“Yes, unfortunately,” groaned Katie. “He’s working on an irrigation project, and they’re really behind schedule. It could be a while before he’s back here again. He emails us lots, though, and we can skype him.
“But apart from that week, we stayed at home,” explained Annabel. “It wasn’t very exciting. In a way it’s quite nice to be back at school.”
Everyone gave Annabel a look of horror.
“Don’t look at me like that! I just mean that being at home was getting quite boring. It would have been OK if the weather was better, but it was totally grim. We were really lucky to get sunshine the week we were in Wales. Weren’t we?” She nudged Katie, who clearly wasn’t listening. Some boys that the triplets didn’t know had started a football game in the middle of the playground, piling up jackets for the goals. Katie was watching them longingly. Annabel laughed. “OK, there’s no point talking to Katie, not now there’s a football in sight.”
It was very unlikely that the boys would let Katie join in, but she was sure she could play better than most of them. Look at that dark-haired one, for instance. His shots were going completely wide every time. He seemed to be a very selfish player, too – he kept hogging the ball and trying to shoot, even though his mates were yelling at him to pass. Katie itched to get up and tackle him. She didn’t quite dare, though. Maybe in a couple of weeks’ time she might know them enough to ask if she could play. For the moment she just sat tight and watched with a very critical eye.
Suddenly the dark-haired boy lost control of the ball entirely and booted it off the “pitch”, straight towards where the triplets and their friends were sitting. Fiona had to dodge backwards, and as it was the ball only just missed her glasses. It ended up practically at Becky’s feet.
“Hey, watch it!” Katie yelled to the dark-haired boy. “You could have hurt somebody!”
“Stupid girls!” he snapped back at her. “You shouldn’t have been in the way.”
The whole group round the tree gasped with indignation – how dare he! It had been completely his fault, and now he was trying to blame them! For once, Katie was speechless, and the boy rolled his eyes in disgust, propped his hands on his hips and turned on Becky. “Come on then,” he spat, “kick it back, you dumb blonde!”
Becky seemed to be frozen. She absolutely hated people staring at her and now it seemed as if the whole playground was watching. She was petrified of doing something wrong, making herself – and her sisters – look silly and causing this horrible boy to shout at her even more. She just couldn’t make herself kick the ball, even though she knew how easy it was.
The boy glared at her. “Come on, stupid!” he yelled. “Kick it!” Then he sighed, seemed to give up on Becky ever plucking up the courage to move, and headed towards the girls to fetch the ball himself.
By this time, though, Katie was seething. How could this horrible boy yell at her sister – especially when he’d nearly hit Fiona, and not even bothered to apologize. She grabbed the ball with both hands and threw it at him, pushing it as hard as she could, and aiming it perfectly. It hit him right in the stomach – just where Katie had meant it to – and knocked the breath out of him. Katie followed the ball up to the boy and stood glaring at him as he gasped for air. She jabbed her finger in his chest and snarled, “Don’t you ever speak to my sister like that again, you idiot – and why don’t you learn to kick a ball properly!” Then she calmly collected the ball, which was on the ground next to the idiot boy (with her left foot, she was showing off a bit), and booted it with all her strength straight between the two piles of jackets, leaving the boys gobsmacked. She smirked at them all, turned, and headed back to her friends by the tree.
“Wow, Katie!” gasped Annabel. “That was brilliant! You really showed him!”
“Thanks, Katie,” whispered Becky, who was still looking really upset.
Katie put an arm round Becky and squeezed her tight. “You mustn’t listen to idiots like him, Becky,” she said, turning to look back at the boys, who were just starting their game again, although the dark-haired boy didn’t seem to be joining in much. “He’s just a stupid, loud-mouthed moron and you can’t let him upset you.”
“She’s right. I know you, Becky, you’ll worry about it all day – you just forget him,” added Annabel, coming up on Becky’s other side and hugging her too.
Becky nodded, and smiled at her sisters, grateful for their hugs and encouraging words. It was hard, though. Bel and Katie were so much more confident than she was – and she didn’t think they understood that. That boy had made her feel small and stupid, and she wished she could just go home.
Katie put her hands on Becky’s shoulders and gave her a little shake. “C’mon! Smile properly!” she coaxed, and was rewarded with a bigger smile this time, as Becky tried hard to forget her bruised feelings.
Suddenly the bell rang, and several more teachers came out into the playground. One of them blew a whistle, and started to call out class names and point to teachers. Soon everyone was heading into the school – it was time for the triplets to meet their new class teacher.
Chapter Four
Miss Fraser, the school’s new history teacher, and the triplets’ class teacher, looked nice. She seemed very young, and had really pretty red curly hair and lots of freckles, especially on her arms. She also looked quite nervous – twenty-eight pairs of eyes were watching her with interest as she picked up the register. She started to work her way through the list of names, looking up and smiling as each member of her class answered. When she got to the Ryans she looked faintly worried. “I knew we had triplets in this class, but I didn’t imagine you’d look quite so alike. . .”
“Don’t worry, Miss Fraser,” Katie reassured her. “We always wear our hair differently.”
Miss Fraser looked carefully at the triplets and felt slightly relieved. It was true – their long golden-blonde hair was different. Becky had two long bunches, Katie had hers plaited quite tightly out of the way, and Annabel looked completely the opposite, with her hair loose and just a couple of glittery clips holding it off her face.
Annabel smiled at Miss Fraser. “Almost always, anyway,” she said.
Miss Fraser finished the register, and explained that for most of that morning everyone would stay in their form room to work out timetables and get all their books. Proper lessons wouldn’t start until that afternoon. She passed out labels that fitted into the slots on the lockers where they’d keep their books, and told the class that their first job was to decorate their labels. The triplets were sitting with Fiona and Saima, and they chatted as they passed round felt-tips. Katie whispered to Annabel, nodding towards the other side of the classroom. “Look – don’t tell Becky, but that stupid boy’s over there. We’ll have to keep an eye on him,” she said seriously.
Annabel peered round. Katie was right –well, perhaps they could avoid him? She just had a horrible feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“So what do you think of Miss Fraser so far?” Saima asked, smiling directly at Becky, so she felt she had to answer.
Becky went pink, and stammered, “I don’t know really. I’m just glad we’re all three in the same class – I was worried they might split us up.”
“Mmmm,” agreed Katie, “that would have been a bit weird. I don’t know if they’d do that, though, would they? Anyway, we were really glad when we got that letter saying we were all in Miss Fraser’s class.”
Becky tried hard not to look upset. A bit weird? Was that really what Katie thought, or was she being Katie-ish, and trying to sound grown-up? As far as Becky was concerned it would have been more like a total and utter disaster, not just a bit weird.
“I think Miss Fraser’s nice,” Fiona put in. “It’s really good to have young teachers – I think they’re more interesting.”
“Mmm,” said Annabel thoughtfully. “She was a bit thrown by us three, though, wasn’t she? She didn’t look at all happy.”
“Well, Mum said that might happen,” said Katie. “We’ll just have to be little angels for a couple of weeks, to convince her we’re not going to be any trouble.”
“Do you really think so?” Annabel sounded disappointed. “I thought we could give her till break to sort out which of us has which hairstyle – and then we could swap round. She’d be completely mixed up!” Annabel’s eyes sparkled at the thought.
“No!” squeaked Becky in horror.
“On the first day?” added Katie. “You must be mad, Bel. No. Way.”
Annabel sighed disappointedly. “Oh, I suppose you’re right. But promise me we’ll do something like that soon.” Annabel was definitely the most daring of the triplets. She had a habit of doing things that sounded fun, and then only realizing afterwards that it might not have been such a good idea. But then, as Katie always pointed out disgustedly, she was also incredibly lucky, and generally managed to get away with whatever it was by looking angelic, and giving the impression that it was all a mistake and she had no idea how it had happened. Katie didn’t have the knack, so her reply wasn’t encouraging:
“Maybe. We don’t know what Miss Fraser’s like yet. If she’s really strict then it’s stupid to get ourselves into trouble. Don’t you think so, Becky?”
“Yes. If she’s nice and she’ll just think we’re funny, then OK. But not for a while. Anyway, we ought to check out the other teachers first,” said Becky, trying to calm her sisters down.
Annabel was looking huffy, and the argument might have carried on, but Miss Fraser told everyone to stick their labels on to their lockers and put their new books in. Then she dictated their timetable to them, and they tried to decipher the little maps of the school that they’d been given.
It was very hard to sit still and concentrate after seven weeks of summer holidays – and the playground looked amazingly inviting. As soon as the bell went the entire class jumped to their feet, desperate to get out into the fresh air after the stuffy classroom. Just as the triplets reached the door, though, Miss Fraser called them back.
“Girls! Could I have a word, please?”
Annabel wasn’t listening, and she was already dashing out of the door – she always had hated sitting still! Katie had to chase after her to bring her back.
“I’m sorry, Miss Fraser, I didn’t hear you,” she panted.
“I won’t keep you a minute, girls. I just need to have a quick chat with you.” Miss Fraser seemed to be a little lost for words. “It’s . . . very exciting having triplets in the class, but I think it’s important that you don’t stick with each other all the time. It’ll be easier for you to make new friends that way. So, when I split this class up into groups for our history project-work – well, I think we might have to separate yo
u. I imagine some of the other teachers might do the same.”
“You mean we can’t work together?” said Becky, sounding worried.
“Well, I really think it would be easier for everyone if you didn’t,” said Miss Fraser briskly. “I should think it might be good for you three to learn to work with other people, as well. Don’t look so worried!” She smiled at Becky, who was nibbling her nails. “You’ll be fine. Off you go outside now. Get some fresh air.”
The triplets traipsed outside slowly, and stood just outside the main door, looking thoughtfully at each other.
“Wow,” said Katie. “I wasn’t expecting that. I think she might be stricter than she looks.”
“What are we going to do?” Becky felt panicky, almost as though she might cry. She couldn’t believe it! After what Katie had said in the classroom just before, it seemed like some kind of horrible sign that they were going to be split up after all.
“Do?” asked Annabel. “What do you mean? I guess we’ll just be in separate groups, like she said. It’s not for the whole time, Becky. Just for one subject.”
“Cheer up, Becky. It’ll be fine, like Miss Fraser said, we’ll get to know some new people.” Katie nudged her with an elbow. “You look as if you’re about to be sick.”
The awful thing was, Becky almost did feel as though she might be! The day just seemed to be getting worse and worse. Didn’t Katie and Annabel care that they were going to be split up? And what if all the other teachers did the same? Becky couldn’t imagine being apart from her sisters – they were always together.
“C’mon. Let’s go and find Fiona and Saima,” suggested Annabel, and she and Katie led the way over to the big chestnut tree, which seemed to have become their friends’ pet place.
“What did Miss Fraser want?” asked Saima with interest, when they got there. “You’re not in trouble already, are you?”
“Course not,” laughed Katie. “Though, actually, with Annabel, you never can tell. No, she just wanted to tell us we won’t always be allowed to sit together in class.”