by Holly Webb
Katie looked at Annabel’s white face and bit back the I-told-you-so-type comment she was very tempted by. It was clear that Annabel didn’t need telling. Becky put an arm round her sister, and wisely didn’t even try saying something comforting. Saima looked rather lost – how could she go and audition without Annabel when they’d planned it all together?
Annabel stopped staring after Amy and looked round at them all. Her gaze settled on Katie, almost hopefully. The oldest of the triplets, she was often the one to sort things out for her sisters. But Katie didn’t seem to be bursting with ideas – she just looked sympathetic and that was no use at all.
Becky looked back and forth between the two of them, unable to bear Annabel’s defeated expression.
“Look, why don’t we go and explain to Mr Hatton, and see if he’ll change the day? I mean, if he understood…” Her voice petered out as she realized that everyone was staring at her as though she was mad. “Well, he might,” she added defensively.
“Mr Hatton?” said Katie in a disbelieving voice, and Becky gave up.
The triplets moved round school in a depressed bunch for the rest of that day. Annabel was normally so sparkly and funny that when she was down it really affected the others.
They spent Monday evening desperately trying to think of something they could do. Annabel knew there was no point asking Mum to intervene. After she’d got into trouble with Mr Hatton the last time, and then a couple of other teachers had written sarcastic comments on her homework, Mum had had a serious talk with Bel about concentrating and being sensible. When they got home from school she had to give Mum the detention slip to sign, and she looked so disappointed that Annabel just wanted to cry. Mum had been so excited about her being in the play the day before, and now Annabel would have to explain that she’d missed the auditions. Oh, it just wasn’t fair.
They had loads of Science homework that had to be in on Tuesday morning but Annabel was in no state to do it. Katie and Becky decided to fake her handwriting after realizing that she’d spent a whole hour sitting on the stairs (her homework spot) doing nothing except stare at the banisters. They dragged her upstairs, so that she at least had some company, and set about working out some Annabel-style mistakes.
On Tuesday Amy’s gloating little smile made everything ten times worse for Annabel. Every time she turned round Amy seemed to be there – smiling. By last lesson that afternoon, Annabel was positively drooping – even her hair seemed to have lost some of its glossy silkiness. She hadn’t had the energy to curl it that morning like she often did, and it was trailing across her shoulders, without any fancy clips even. She wandered gloomily out of the classroom after Becky and Katie and Saima and the others, her shoulders getting lower and lower as they walked down the corridor past the main hall. Lots of people from Years Seven, Eight and Nine were gathering excitedly outside the hall, and there was a buzz of nervous chatter filling the corridor as they waited for Ms Loftus. Katie looked apologetically back at Annabel. Going past the hall was the quickest route to the classroom where Annabel’s detention was being held, but she wished she’d thought to take another route. Annabel actually flinched when she heard Amy’s sharp laugh from the middle of the crowd.
But seeing Amy’s knowing smile stopped Katie dead. She grabbed Annabel’s arm and signalled fiercely to Becky and the others to follow her, then she shot off back up the corridor, dragging Annabel like a limp fish.
“What? What’s going on?” Becky panted, as she caught up with Katie at one of the window alcoves back round the corner from the hall.
“I’ve got it! You can go to the audition, Bel! It just struck me as I saw that idiot Amy. There’s no way I’m letting her be in that play when you can’t!”
Annabel only managed a feeble lift of one eyebrow, but everyone else was more enthusiastic.
“What are you going to do?” squeaked Saima excitedly. She really hadn’t been looking forward to auditioning without Annabel.
“Yes, what?” asked Megan, shrugging. “I mean, Annabel can’t be in two places at once.”
“Can’t she?” Katie grinned evilly. “Why not?”
Megan, Saima and Fran looked blank, but Becky jumped off the radiator where she’d been perched, and gave Katie a hug. “Of course! Katie, you’re a genius. Isn’t she, Bel?”
A little of Annabel’s usual sparkle seemed to come back. “Would you really do it? You mean it?” she asked disbelievingly. “You could get into big trouble if you’re caught. And so would I, I suppose.”
“Caught doing what?” demanded Saima, looking back and forth between the triplets.
Katie grinned, and pulled off the band that was holding her hair in a tight knot at the back of her neck. Then she combed her hair out with her fingers, while Annabel fossicked through her bag for a brush and some lipgloss. Thirty seconds later, Saima and the others were beginning to get the idea. No one would be able to tell which one was which – especially after they swapped Annabel’s green cardigan for Katie’s sweatshirt.
“You’re really going to owe me for this, Bel, just remember,” Katie warned. “Go on – you need to get to the hall quick. We’ll see you later. Break a leg!”
Annabel hugged her, and then raced back down the corridor, closely followed by Saima. Annabel the star was back!
Katie was feeling pretty nervous as she sat down in the classroom where Annabel’s detention was being held. She really hoped she could pull this off, otherwise she and Bel were in big trouble. She’d just have to pray that neither Max nor Mr Jones suspected anything.
She looked down at her sheet of paper – she was supposed to be writing an essay on responsible behaviour, but it was difficult to concentrate. For a start, she could see Max over the other side of the room, and even the sight of him was annoying – and whenever he could catch her eye he pulled faces and mouthed insults at her. When the triplets’ mum had phoned up Max’s dad to complain about him injuring Katie, she’d got off the phone looking really sad, and told them they should try and be understanding to Max. His mum had died two years before, and he and his dad were on their own. That was all very well, Katie thought, and they did try and remember, but it didn’t make him any less horrible. She scowled at Max as he stuck his tongue out at her again. Ha! Mr Jones, who was taking detention, had spotted him, and given him a freezing glare. Max studiously bent over his essay.
Katie managed another sentence – I could have hurt somebody accidentally – honestly, how on earth was she meant to get a whole sheet of paper out of this? She decided to write bigger. She was sure no one was going to read it, anyway. The only thing more boring than writing these stupid essays would be reading them, and Mr Jones looked as though he just wanted to go home.
The other problem was that Katie couldn’t stop wondering how the audition was going. She grinned to herself. Annabel’s face when she’d realized what Katie was suggesting – she’d gone from dejected to glitter princess in about two seconds flat. Katie was sure she’d be brilliant; she just hoped that her sister would get the part she wanted. And that Amy wouldn’t…
She came out of her daydream to find Mr Jones staring straight at her and looking cross. “Annabel! How many times do I need to ask you? Stop staring into space and get back to work, please.”
Katie gaped at him, and then suddenly, nervously, remembered that she was supposed to be Annabel and started writing fast.
The real Annabel was onstage at that very moment, and loving it – especially because she could see Amy seething. As Annabel and Saima had dashed into the hall, Amy’s face had fallen dramatically. She obviously couldn’t understand how Annabel had escaped detention, and she just couldn’t take her eyes off her. At the start of the auditions Ms Loftus had got them to read a bit of the play, swapping round parts until everyone had had a go, while she made loads of notes. Now they’d gone on to dancing. She’d explained that everyone in the play would need to sing and
dance a bit (at which some of the boys looked decidedly less than keen) and main characters would have solos. Then she’d demonstrated a few steps that she wanted everyone to do, while Mr Becket, one of the music staff, played the piano. Annabel and Saima had looked at each other and grinned – the steps were so easy! The routine they’d been practising on Sunday was much more complicated. When Ms Loftus called for six volunteers to have a go, their hands shot up. Ms Loftus coaxed four more girls up onstage. Annabel and Saima muttered together while they waited for Ms Loftus to finish going through the steps once more for one of the other girls who’d suddenly gone into a fit of the jitters. Obviously they couldn’t change the steps she’d asked them to do – she might think they’d just got them wrong – but surely they could add a little something? “We just need to do it perfectly,” said Saima, shaking her head. “And maybe add some finishing touches. I mean, Ms Loftus is an OK dancer” – Saima said this with her head on one side, critically watching the Drama teacher’s efforts – “but she’s doing nothing with her hands, look. And her head position is just messy.”
Annabel giggled. Saima sounded so like their ballet teacher, Mrs Flowers, it was uncanny. But she saw Saima’s point. What they needed to do was take those rather boring steps and make them look like something really special.
So while the other girls went through the routine just about OK, with worried faces, and little rushes to catch up when they finally remembered what the next bit was, Annabel and Saima put on a real performance. Crisp turns, perfectly finished steps, and a general impression that although of course they were enjoying themselves, this was so easy it came as naturally as walking.
It worked. Ms Loftus smiled delightedly at them as they came offstage, and made furious notes on her pad. She wasn’t the only one to have noticed. Amy was hissing nastily to her little cronies Cara and Emily: “Did you see them showing off like that? They’re just so desperate, it’s really sad.”
Annabel and Saima exchanged grins as they sat down, and Annabel raised her eyebrows at Amy – as though she couldn’t even be bothered to comment. It was easy to tell when Amy was rattled; that was when she started to be really nasty. And now there was a definite undertone of panic in her voice. Interesting that she hadn’t volunteered to dance yet, thought Annabel. Hmmm. Maybe dancing wasn’t Amy’s strong point.
Suddenly Saima nudged Annabel. “Look,” she muttered out of the side of her mouth. “Over there. Josh Matthews. He’s smiling at you.”
It was true. Annabel had been so excited about getting to audition after all that she hadn’t even noticed Josh, but there he was, sitting with a group of Year Eights, including his girlfriend Julianne. Annabel sighed. Normally she was very happy with her appearance, but blonde hair and blue eyes weren’t very, well, exciting, she decided sadly, envying Julianne’s dark-red hair and green eyes. She smiled shyly back at Josh, and watched with interest as he volunteered to be in the next dance group, dragging Julianne and his mates up there with him.
It was cheering to know that even if Julianne was striking, she was a useless dancer. She was about two steps behind all the way through, and she looked terrified. Josh, on the other hand, was really good. Huh, thought Annabel. Gorgeous, funny, and a brilliant dancer. And taken. Not fair.
Josh smiled at her again as he went to sit down. He was walking behind Julianne, and as he passed Annabel and Saima he rolled his eyes in her direction. Clearly he thought she was a useless dancer as well. Maybe Josh wasn’t as taken as all that? Annabel mused. And then she mentally told herself off. Nicking other people’s boyfriends was not something she wanted to get known for. But there was no harm in hoping that Josh just got sick of Julianne, was there…?
Chapter Three
Becky had walked home with Fran, and she was on tenterhooks waiting for the others to get back. Had it worked? Or had someone caught Katie out? She wandered round the house clutching the Ryans’ ginger cat Orlando like a furry hot-water bottle, and clock-watching. She’d told Mum that Katie had an extra football practice – she felt awful lying to her, but the audition was so important to Annabel. If Katie could go as far as actually pretending to be her sister, then Becky could tell a tiny little lie to Mum, couldn’t she? Luckily Annabel hadn’t told their mum when the auditions were going to be, so Mum wouldn’t realize she’d been in two places at once – she’d just assume the auditions had been in the lunch-hour or something. Finally she spotted Katie and Annabel coming down the road with Saima. Becky dumped Orlando unceremoniously on her bed and dashed downstairs and out of the front door.
“How did it go?” She didn’t really need to ask – one look at Annabel’s face was enough to show that she’d been having the time of her life.
“It was fantastic, it was brilliant – oh, Becky, it’s so exciting!” Annabel threw her bag on the ground and hugged her sister, then grabbed Katie and Saima too, and dragged them dancing round in a massive moving hug.
“And no one noticed?” Becky asked Katie anxiously when Annabel finally let go.
“Nope, it was fine. I’m never doing that again, though, Bel. It was so boring – you can do your own detention next time.”
The mood in the Ryans’ house that night was totally different to the night before. Annabel was jubilant. She didn’t know yet what part she’d got in the play, but she did know that she had managed to show off to the best of her ability at the audition. After all, she reasoned, that’s what auditions were – the ultimate opportunity to show off, without anyone having a go at you about it. Well, apart from Amy Mannering, and who cared about her?
Unfortunately, Amy was the very person that Annabel should have been worrying about. The following day she was still furious that Mr Hatton had apparently let Annabel off her detention – how else could she have been at the audition? At registration on Wednesday morning she was holding forth on this to Emily and Cara.
“It’s just typical. Those triplets get away with everything – they just have to smile at the teachers and they get let off.”
This was actually true, in a way, but Amy was cleverly leaving out the fact that the triplets were generally nice, and being nice got them a long way.
Cara and Emily nodded wisely – they tended to do this a lot round Amy, as she was the kind of person who just wanted people to agree with her.
“Mr Hatton’s really strict with everyone else, so why should Annabel get away without a detention? We ought to tell someone.”
Amy brooded silently on the injustice of all this for a minute or so, but then she got an unexpected interruption. Max had been listening to her complaining, and although he wasn’t sure what was going on, he was one of those people with a sixth sense for stirring up trouble, especially if it involved one of the triplets…
“Did you say that Annabel Ryan was at that audition yesterday?” he asked Amy curiously.
Amy looked down her perfect little nose at him. “Yes,” she said, rather frostily. “Why do you care?”
Max’s whole face seemed to sharpen up, like a dog getting on a scent. “Because she was in detention at the same time, you know. Or at least, somebody was.”
Amy leaned forward eagerly. She wasn’t stupid. “One of the other two did her detention for her?”
Max nodded. “It must have been Katie,” he said thoughtfully. “Becky wouldn’t do it, I don’t reckon. She’s too wimpy.”
They grinned at each other delightedly, practically rubbing their hands. The triplets were going to be in so much trouble! They were interrupted by the bell then, and had to head over to their first lesson – still plotting.
Ms Loftus had said that the cast list of the play would probably go up on the Drama noticeboard some time that day, so Saima and Annabel made a point of detouring past the noticeboard on the way to every lesson that morning. When the bell went for lunch they dashed down to the board again, ignoring the others laughing at them.
By the time
Katie, Becky, Megan and Fran caught up there was a huge crowd around the board, a squirming mass desperately trying to read the list. Laughing, Annabel and Saima fought their way back again.
“So? Tell us!” asked Katie excitedly. It had to be good news – Annabel looked positively smug.
“I’m Cinderella! Isn’t it brilliant? Oh, it’s going to be so coo-ool!” Annabel couldn’t resist doing a little twirl in the middle of the corridor. “Go on, Saima, tell them who you are.” She nudged Saima, who was looking equally pleased with herself.
“I got the Fairy Godmother. There’s a solo song, too.”
“And you know what makes it even better?” Annabel beamed. “The prince is Josh Matthews from Year Eight. He’s going to fall in love with me!” Annabel twirled again, so over-excited that she bumped into someone, and Katie had to reach out and steady her so she didn’t fall.
Amy Mannering reeled back dramatically, as though Annabel had mortally wounded her, and snarled, “Watch it, moron!” Then she stomped crossly past, with Cara and Emily trailing behind her, twittering.
Annabel and Saima giggled. “Look who didn’t get the part she wanted,” murmured Annabel to the others, her eyes sparkling. “She’s furious!”
“So what part did she get?” Becky asked curiously.
“The Queen – it’s not a bad part, but it’s not huge, and she wanted my part.” Annabel hugged herself gleefully as she said this. Her part – she’d done it, she was starring as Cinderella!
Amy hadn’t had much idea what to do to get the triplets into trouble over their switch, but now that (as she saw it) Annabel had stolen her part, her brain was in overdrive trying to come up with something. She marched out into the playground to find Max, who was mooching along the fence kicking a cola can.
He looked faintly worried as he saw Amy approaching – she practically had steam coming out of her ears, and her pretty face was screwed up and cross.
