Triple Trouble
Page 14
“Definitely,” Payton said. Then she yawned. Which made me yawn. Which made her yawn again.
“Payton?” I said. “Wasn’t Multipalooza amazing too? Even though we accidentally switched places and lost to those triplets?”
“It was,” Payton agreed. “And we all came together at the end and supported Mason and Jason.”
“No matter how different we all are from each other,” I said, “in the end, we’re all Geckos.”
“That sounded really deep,” Payton said. “And really weird.”
“You know what I mean,” I told her. “We’re all on the same team.”
“But not as close as Team Mills,” my twin said.
“That’s right,” I said. “Twins rule!”
“Emma?” Payton said. “Wasn’t our first dance special?”
“Exceptional,” I said. I wanted to talk about it more, in detail, but I was getting really sleepy. We could relive it together, tomorrow.
“You know,” Payton said, “switching places caused us a bunch of trouble, but it also changed our lives forever. If we hadn’t switched, I wouldn’t have gotten drama or VOGS cast . . . or gotten to know Nick and Tess.”
“And I realized that academics and winning wasn’t everything, made my first real friend, and, well, then there’s Ox.”
“Squee,” Payton whispered.
“Woo-hoo!” I said quietly, and punched the air in the dark.
“Did you just do one of your punches?” Payton asked. “I could hear the awkwardness in the air.”
“What?” I said. “I don’t hear anything. Or anyone. La la la, I’m all alone. This is what it must be like to be an only child.”
“Emma?” my sister said in a small voice. “Would you rather be an only child?”
“Are you kidding me? No!” I said. “You’re my best friend! Nobody gets me like you do!”
“Thanks,” Payton said. “Ditto.”
“Besides, who else could I trade places with?” I joked.
“Seriously,” said Payton. “Do you think we’ll ever switch places again?”
“I’d like to say no . . .” I said slowly.
“But never say never,” Payton finished.
“Just twins forever,” I added, smiling.
“Twinky swear?” said Payton. “I’m holding up my pinkie finger.”
I held mine out too, and imagined we were linking pinkies. “Ready,” I said.
“Twins forever,” we both said. “Twinky swear.”
I put my hand down and smiled. In the dark I could tell that Payton was smiling too.
And before either of us could say “Twinx!” we were asleep in our twin beds.
Acknowledgments
Triple thanks to:
The family: Dave DeVillers, Greg Roy, Quinn DeVillers, Jack DeVillers, Adam Roy, and Robin Rozines.
The Simon & Schuster crew: Fiona Simpson, Bethany Buck, Mara Anastas, Alyson Heller, Annie Berger, Paul Crichton, Lucille Rettino, Carolyn Swerdloff, Karin Paprocki, Katherine Devendorf, and Martha Hanson.
Mark McVeigh.
The Saratoga Springs supporters: Melinda, Claudia and the SIS girls; the Ginley and Greenfield girls; Margaret and Lake Avenue Elementary and Emily Mattison.
Triple thanks to Paige Pooler! Paige Pooler! Paige Pooler!
And to all our Payton and Emma readers!
Julia DeVillers is the taller twin (by three-quarters of an inch). She has longer hair and apparently (as a classmate pointed out) the bigger nose.
Julia’s books have been featured in national publications, including the New York Times, USA Today, and leading teen magazines. Her novel How My Private, Personal Journal Became a Bestseller (Dutton) was adapted into the TV movie Read It and Weep.
Jennifer Roy is the older twin by six minutes. She’s also the one with shorter hair.
Jennifer is the author of Yellow Star (Marshall Cavendish), a middle-grade novel and audiobook that received numerous honors, as well as starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and VOYA. She is also the author of MindBlind (Marshall Cavendish).
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MORE TWIN-TASTIC FUN FROM JULIA DEVILLERS AND JENNIFER ROY
TRADING FACES
TAKE TWO
TIMES SQUARED
DOUBLE FEATURE
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin hardcover edition January 2013
Copyright © 2013 by Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Designed by Karin Paprocki
The text of this book was set in Granjon.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
DeVillers, Julia.
Triple trouble / Julia DeVillers, Jennifer Roy. — 1st Aladdin hardcover ed.
p. cm.
Summary: While continuing to switch places in middle school, identical twins Payton and Emma compete with triplets Dexter, Oliver, and Asher at the Multipalooza festival.
ISBN 978-1-4424-3405-9
[1. Twins—Fiction. 2. Sisters—Fiction. 3. Impersonation—Fiction. 4. Competition (Psychology)—Fiction. 5. Triplets—Fiction. 6. Middle schools—Fiction. 7. Schools—Fiction.]
I. Roy, Jennifer Rozines, 1967– II. Title.
PZ7.D4974Ts 2013
[Fic]—dc23
2012019624
ISBN 978-1-4424-3407-3 (eBook)