by Holly Webb
Becky glared back. “I don’t want your help! I’m fine.” She felt furiously embarrassed. It wasn’t fair! She knew that Bel and Katie were just being kind, none of this was their fault, and she should let them help – but at the same time, she was so cross! How dare they? So what if they’d both got loads of friends – they couldn’t leave her out and then suddenly expect everything to be OK as soon as they felt guilty for abandoning her.
“Becky. . .” Annabel sounded as though Becky was being a pain, and it was all Becky could take.
“Don’t ‘Becky’ me! Fine, so you two are really popular – well, I’m not, and I never will be. If it makes you feel bad you’ll just have to suffer – it’s all your own fault for being selfish, anyway!”
Sam squeaked in outrage – Becky had been hugging him way too hard as she got more and more upset. Katie and Annabel just gaped. They’d never seen sweet, gentle Becky get angry like this.
“Just go!” Becky hissed, cradling Sam, and stroking him apologetically.
So they went.
Chapter Eight
The rest of Friday evening was deeply uncomfortable. Mum was working to finish a translation to a tight deadline, so she missed out on the prickly atmosphere. The triplets were glad. This wasn’t one of those silly squabbles about keeping their room tidy that she could jolly them out of. For once, they didn’t chat when they went to bed. Katie and Annabel fell asleep quite quickly, full of righteous indignation, and Becky lay awake seething. By the time she woke up next morning, her sisters’ beds were empty. Becky didn’t feel like getting up. She nipped out of bed quickly and grabbed one of her battered collection of pony books. She needed comfort reading. Then she snuggled back under her warm duvet and read determinedly. Unfortunately, the ditzy heroine kept reminding her of Annabel. This wasn’t working. Stupid sisters!
“Hello, Becky. You’re in bed late.” Mum poked her head round the door.
“Mmm,” Becky replied unhelpfully, hoping that her mother’s sixth sense wouldn’t pick up that something was wrong. Mum could tell that things weren’t right, but also that Becky really didn’t want to talk about it, so she decided to leave things for now. She did pick up on the obvious, though. “You didn’t go out with Katie and Annabel then?”
Silly question! thought Becky crossly. She can see perfectly well I didn’t! “No, I didn’t feel like it. I’m tired.”
“All right, darling. I’m working this morning – just let me know if you want anything, OK?” Mum went back downstairs and Becky was left feeling aimless. She knew where Bel and Katie had gone – they’d told Mum at teatime yesterday. Bel was round at Saima’s, trying on her gorgeous new outfits, and Katie was meeting up with Megan at the park to play football. Even before last night’s row she hadn’t felt much like joining in. Saima seemed to be so much Bel’s particular friend now, as Megan was Katie’s. It wasn’t that she didn’t get on with Saima and Megan, but she didn’t like feeling that she was just tagging along with her sisters. It was so different from before – going to a new school seemed to have changed them into different people, people who didn’t much like her any more.
Just then Pixie wandered into the bedroom, looking for some attention – preferably from a sensible person who would stroke her nicely while she fell asleep curled up on their bed. She turned a charm offensive on Becky to get her own way, leaping gracefully on to the bed and bounding up to her, then headbutting her lovingly on the chin, and winding her slinky body round the book. By the time Pixie’s purrs had settled into sleepy breathing, Becky was feeling more determined – she had to do something. Nice though it would be to hide under the duvet all day, she couldn’t stop herself thinking. She crept out of bed, only half-waking Pixie (who snorted in disgust and went back to sleep), and got dressed in jeans and a cosy blue fleecy top. Then she went to find Mum.
Mrs Ryan was struggling with a particularly complex passage when Becky appeared at her side. “Mmm?” she murmured.
“Is it OK if I go down to the park?”
“The park? Oh, yes, Katie’s there, isn’t she? Yes, sweetie, but be back for lunch, please.”
Becky nodded, and headed out. She was only feeling mildly guilty – she was going to the park, it was just that she had no intention whatsoever of finding Katie, as Mum had assumed.
Ashfield Park was just at the end of the triplets’ road, so their mum didn’t mind them going there together. She wouldn’t have been all that happy about Becky being there on her own, but Becky wasn’t in a mood to care. She mooched down the road kicking at leaves, and peered thoughtfully through the park railings as she neared the gate. Yes, there were Katie and Megan. Becky paused as Katie took a shot at the “goal” that Megan was guarding, and grinned, impressed, as Megan pulled off a very cool save. Then she remembered that officially Megan wasn’t her friend, and made briskly for the lake at the other side of the park.
It was a nice place to sit and watch the ducks. Becky wished she’d remembered to bring some bread. She sat down on a grassy bank that overlooked the water, and sighed. She needed to work out what she was going to do. If Katie and Annabel were finding new friends then she was either going to have to keep being on her own, which felt miserable, or get up the courage to make some friends by herself. She just didn’t know quite how you did that. . .
At that moment she was practically knocked over by a big golden hurricane on legs. The gorgeous Golden Retriever woofed joyfully, and gave Becky’s ear a thorough lick.
“Urrgh! You silly dog!” she told him affectionately, struggling to her feet. He was way too big to be sitting down next to – he’d nearly squashed her. “Who do you belong to, hey? Aren’t you beautiful?” She petted him and he preened happily, rubbing his head against her legs. He knew quite well that he was beautiful, but he didn’t mind being told.
Becky noticed that he had a lead on – just no one at the other end of it. She looked round. No one seemed to be missing this lovely boy. Still scanning the park, she picked up his lead, hoping that he wasn’t really lost. The dog woofed again and set off, towing Becky behind him. She could see how he’d managed to get away from his owner – he was really strong. He was making for a girl about Becky’s age who was running towards them. Becky just had time to decide that she was almost certainly his owner before they all collided in a heap. “Sorry!” she gasped at the other girl, who’d ended up underneath.
“Not – your – fault!” panted the familiar-looking person struggling to get up. “Really – sorry! It was a – squirrel!”
Becky only looked confused for a second. Looking at the dog who’d caused all the trouble, she could see that he and a squirrel would be a really bad combination.
“Feathers, you are a bad dog!” said Fran, the dark-haired girl from school, trying hard to sound really cross. “Bad, bad dog!” Feathers grinned and panted happily, showing a lot of tongue. “You see!” Fran said to Becky. “He couldn’t care less! He’s been to obedience classes, and that’s all very well for ‘Sit!’ and ‘Stay!’ – sometimes – but you don’t do squirrels in obedience class! He raced off after the poor thing, and dragged me with him. I was OK until I tripped up, and even then I held on for a while and he pulled me, but then I hit a molehill.”
Becky giggled.
“You can laugh, Becky – you are Becky, aren’t you, it’s so hard to tell you three apart – bet you’ve never hit a molehill at top speed.”
“Sorry. You’re a bit muddy, you know.”
Fran looked down at her mud-smeared jumper and sighed. “My dad will kill me. You are OK, aren’t you?” she suddenly asked Becky. “Feathers didn’t knock you over, or anything? He doesn’t mean to, he just doesn’t realize how big he is.”
“I’m fine – I’ve just got very clean ears. Feathers is a lovely name for him,” Becky ventured shyly, looking at the dog’s delicate – and muddy – feathery coat.
“Yeees,” agreed Fran. “
But don’t you think it’s a bit – I don’t know – gentle? Sometimes I think Elephant might suit him better.”
Becky laughed – much as she hated to admit it, Katie and Annabel were right, Fran was really nice. She could imagine enjoying being her friend – and Feathers’s. Of course, as soon as she realized this her mind went blank, and she couldn’t think of anything to say. She panicked and managed to stammer out, “I’m sorry. I’ve got to go. Lunch. I promised Mum.”
“Oh, OK,” said Fran, surprised. “You’re sure you don’t want to—” She’d been going to say “come for a walk with me and Feathers” but Becky was already running. “See you Monday!” Fran yelled after her. “Thanks for catching him for me!”
Becky waved, and kept going.
Fran looked at Feathers, with a slightly hurt expression. “Just you and me, then.”
Meanwhile, Megan and Katie had flaked out on the grass, exhausted. After they’d shared a bottle of water and recovered a bit, Megan rolled on to her front and asked, “So how do you like Manor Hill?”
“It’s OK. Different though. St Anne’s was really nice, but it was small, and everyone knew us – or they thought they did. We were like these identical little blonde angels, and they always called us The Triplets, not our names. This might sound funny, but I actually want to be Katie Ryan now, not just one of those cute triplets.”
“I think I see – it’s weird, I’d have thought it would be great having three of you. Do the other two think the same thing?”
Katie hesitated. How much private triplet-stuff should she be telling an outsider? She decided just to see how it went – it might be good to talk about all this with someone who didn’t already know every detail of her life. “Yes and no. I think Annabel wants us to be together a bit less, but Becky’s different. And she’s having a hard time.” She scowled. “We had a fight about it, last night. I don’t remember ever fighting with Becky before.”
“Wow. Never? I mean, don’t you share a room? How can you never have had a fight with her?”
“Because I fight with Bel,” said Katie simply. “And Becky’s the one who always sorts things out when we argue. She really hates it, you see.” She grinned at Megan’s confused face. “Don’t worry. We’ll sort it out, we always do in the end.” She changed the subject. “Megan, do you know that girl in our class, Amy, with the really long peachy-coloured hair, kind of wavy? You were at Hazeldene with her, weren’t you?”
“Huh!” Megan made a kind of disgusted noise. “Why do you want to know about her – she’s a total pain.”
“I thought she might be. She keeps looking at me and Bel and Becky in this really weird way, like we’re dirt. It’s not as if we’ve even spoken to her.”
“You don’t need to. She hates you, it’s obvious. You’re more interesting than she is. She was kind of the queen of our year at Hazeldene – if Amy Mannering invited you round, you were an OK person to know. She was probably expecting it to be the same here, and instead everyone thinks you and your sisters are way more exciting.”
Katie grimaced.
“Sorry, but you know it’s true – most of us have never seen triplets before, and you are interesting. I bet you wouldn’t like to be totally normal, would you?” Megan added shrewdly.
Katie smiled. “S’pose not. I’ll never know, will I?”
The rest of the weekend dragged. Becky was being very silent, and Annabel and Katie kept having to stop themselves automatically talking to her. It was just natural to ask her what she thought of something, or tease her about the way she was talking to the cats. They missed her.
It was also totally obvious to their mum that something was wrong now, and to try and snap the triplets out of whatever was upsetting them, she suggested a trip to the local country park on Sunday afternoon. It was a particularly Becky-ish treat, as the park had loads of animals you could stroke, but the other two liked it as well. They agreed rather listlessly, and went to grab jackets. Mrs Ryan noticed worriedly that Katie and Annabel let Becky sit in the front of the car with no argument whatsoever and chatted in the back seat, completely ignoring Becky for the whole journey.
It was the same as soon as they got to Neale Park. Annabel and Katie disappeared immediately – their mum could see them in the distance, Annabel showing off as usual, making Katie and a whole family of little girls fall about with laughter at her impression of the meerkats – while Becky stayed close to her, stroking the tame deer. Mrs Ryan looked at her. Her hair was pulled back into two bunches, messily, and didn’t look as though she’d brushed it properly. She was offering one of the deer a bunch of grass, and when it turned its nose up (the entire population of the park had been offering it grass all afternoon) Becky’s shoulders crumpled and she really looked as though she was about to cry.
Enough was enough. Mrs Ryan grabbed Becky’s hand and marched her over to a convenient bench. “Becky, what’s wrong? Have the other two said something to upset you? Please tell me, Becky.”
Becky sank her chin into her jacket and refused to look up. “Nothing,” she muttered gruffly. “Nothing’s wrong.” Sensing that she wasn’t going to be able to get away with this, she added, “I just don’t like school much, that’s all.” At least that didn’t sound too babyish. Lots of people didn’t like school.
“But then why aren’t you talking to Annabel and Katie?” asked Mrs Ryan, confused.
“’Cause they do like it,” replied Becky, just about suppressing an “of course” which she didn’t feel would go down well. “I’m just stupid, that’s all.” And she kicked viciously at the leg of the bench to prevent herself from starting to cry. Stupid Becky really sounded very appropriate just now – she felt stupid. She sniffed and stood up. “I’m going to see the donkeys, OK?” Then she walked off very fast, before her mother could start saying nice things that weren’t true, so that everyone in the park saw her crying, and another whole load of people thought she was a total baby.
Over by the meerkats, Katie and Annabel were watching crossly. “I bet Mum’s going to have a go at us now,” said Annabel, as Becky left their mum sitting on the bench looking equally upset. But it seemed not. When Mum caught up with them she didn’t mention Becky at all, just laughed at the meerkats and their cute bobbing up and down. Katie and Annabel followed her at a distance as they went on to the ostrich enclosure, and muttered to each other.
“I don’t think Becky can have said we’ve been mean to her,” mused Katie.
“But we haven’t!” Annabel hissed indignantly. “It’s all her!”
“I know, but Becky probably thinks we have, Bel. I wish we could sort this out somehow.” Katie bit her thumbnail crossly. “I just can’t work out how.”
When they got back from Neale Park the triplets mooched about the house, while their mum watched them worriedly, hoping that they’d be able to sort out the problem themselves. Becky had never been unhappy at school before. Maybe she ought to arrange a meeting with her class teacher? It seemed a bit early on for something so drastic.
After staring at the television without really watching it for half an hour, Annabel surgically removed Katie from her football magazine and dragged her up to their room, leaving Becky huddled in an armchair, cuddling Orlando, who’d decided to be friendly at a useful time for once.
“We have to do something! This is so horrible! I feel like I’ve lost a part of myself,” Annabel said, clutching her stomach dramatically.
“Stop it, Bel! You sound like you’re on EastEnders.”
“I probably will be, one day,” agreed Bel. “I mean it, though. I really hate not being friends with Becky – and imagine how she feels, not talking to either of us.”
“I know,” said Katie, worriedly. “But what can we do? Becky’s being stupid! She needs to stand up for herself at school. She basically said she didn’t think we should have any other friends, and that’s wrong. It’s not that you and Becky
aren’t still my best friends, but I really like Megan. She’s like – like my football friend, and Saima is your—”
“My clothes-mad friend!” giggled Bel.
“Exactly! Becky just needs a cat-and-guinea-pig-obsessed friend like her. See what I mean?”
“Of course I do, but Becky won’t. Especially as we can’t even talk to her! It’s useless. We’re going to have to try and push her into making some new mates – I’ve just got no idea how,” Annabel said glumly.
Chapter Nine
Becky had been hoping that school might miraculously improve the second week. It didn’t. She still wasn’t talking to Katie and Annabel, although at least they seemed to have given up glaring at her. And now she had to deal with Mum giving her worried looks all the time as well. Mum was trying not to be obvious, but Becky kept catching her following her around with a worried little frown between her eyebrows and a bad excuse for why she was hovering halfway up the stairs.
At Monday breaktime, Fran noticed Becky sitting on the steps to one of the classrooms, reading. She wondered whether to go and talk to her, but reckoned that Becky probably wouldn’t want to chat – she might disappear again, like she had on Saturday, and that would just be embarrassing. She decided to go and join in the chase game that Annabel and Katie were playing in over the other side of the playground.
Shortly before the end of break, the game broke up – everyone was shattered! Fran found herself collapsed at the bottom of the big tree with Annabel and Katie, and decided to ask them about Becky.
“Your sister’s really good with animals, isn’t she?”
Katie and Annabel looked at her in surprise, and one of them – Fran thought Annabel, as she had fancier hair – nodded. “How did you know? I didn’t think Becky had even opened her mouth in class recently, let alone had a conversation with anybody.”
