Becky's Terrible Term by Holly Webb Page A

choking noise, and she spat gobbets of tuna all over her sister, then looked at what she’d done in absolute horror (for all of two seconds).
    â€œBel! Oh, you are so disgusting!” hissed Katie furiously. “Uurrgh, get it off me! I’m going to stink of tuna all afternoon. You did that on purpose, you, you—” she became aware of Mrs Andrews’s beady eyes zeroing in on their spat, and finished off in a restrained hiss, “you thing !”
    â€œShut up shut up shut up!” chattered Annabel in excitement, flapping her hands around like a mad mime artist, and only just missing Becky who was trying to pass Katie some napkins to mop herself up with. “I’ve just had The Most Brilliant Idea!”

Chapter Two
    Infuriatingly, Annabel refused point-blank to tell anyone but her sisters about her brilliant plan. “Sorry,” she told Saima, her best friend, sounding really apologetic for once. “But this really is triplets-only. I just can’t. I’ll tell you tomorrow, promise. Please don’t be cross?” Annabel could be very charming when she wanted, gazing soulfully at Saima and looking as though a cross word would make her burst into tears.
    Saima looked miffed, but gave in. She and Megan and Fran knew by now that being friendly with the triplets was great – they were all really sweet, in different ways – but it wasn’t like being friends with anybody else. There would always, always be things they didn’t understand, things that were “triplets-only”. Still, it was worth putting up with, so she grimaced, and shrugged. “OK. But you’d bettertell us tomorrow, or else. . .”
    â€œWe will. And you’ll love it, honestly.”
    â€œExcuse me!” butted in Katie. “You haven’t told me and Becky either, you know. When do we get to hear this idea, Bel?”
    â€œWhen we get home,” replied Annabel firmly. “I’ll tell you all about it.”
    Â 
    The rest of Monday dragged on as Mondays do. By the end of school Katie and Becky were practically putting Annabel’s jacket on for her, they so wanted to get her home and talking. For once they almost wished that Fran and Saima didn’t walk home with them most days (Megan lived in the other direction), and they had to try very hard not to show it. When they saw Saima into the turning for her road and they were finally alone, Katie and Becky turned on their sister with positively hungry expressions.
    â€œOK, OK! Don’t look at me like that,” squeaked Annabel, quite unnerved. They were turning into their road now, and they could see Orlando, one of their two cats, prowling round the garden. He was waiting for Becky to get home and fuss over him, though he always pretended very hard that he just happened to be there at the same time every day. Becky made a kiss-kiss noise, and he gave her a very dignified “You think I’m going to come running?” sort of look before leaping (a bit clumsily, he was rather fat) on to the fence for her to stroke his ears.
    â€œBecky!” snapped Annabel crossly. “I am about to tell you something veryimportant! Why are you messing about with that ginger furball now !”
    Becky picked Orlando up, and he arranged himself in his favourite position, one paw each side of her neck as though he was hugging her. It gave him the perfect opportunity to direct a pitying glare from his green marble eyes across her shoulder at Annabel – they didn’t get on. Becky answered over the top of his head, “I’m not stopping you, Bel. Come on, I’m desperate for a drink. Got the key, Katie?”
    Katie burrowed in her jacket pocket for the door key. The triplets’ mum was almost always in when they got home, normally doing her translation work at the kitchen table, but they liked having a key to let themselves in – it made them feel very independent.
    â€œMum!