Triple Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page B

some people were making fun of the glamorous geckos I drew on them. But I mean, I was trying to put some school spirit into the posters. Go, Geckos, and all that.”
    â€œI think they’re not only very cute but they’re also well drawn,” I said emphatically. “I’d never be able to draw lizards in formal wear.”
    â€œThanks, Emma.” Quinn lit up. I smiled, because I’d made my friend smile. I was getting much better in the friends/social skills department. “Hey,” Quinn said. “Where are you going next?”
    â€œOh, I have to go see Mrs. Burkle about something,” I said. “In the VOGS room. Mrs. Burkle is in that room this period.”
    â€œI bet they’re interviewing you for VOGS,” Quinnsaid. “About either your Mathletes win or your TV commercial.”
    â€œI hadn’t thought about being on camera,” I mused. “I was thinking she wanted to talk to me about English homework or something.”
    Well, it was a good thing I’d changed my clothes. Payton would have to appreciate that. I said good-bye to Quinn and headed toward the VOGS room. I was just about to go in when I noticed the new boy coming around the corner. Just one boy. Still. I was feeling jumpy since the double-triple-vision incident.
    Oh no! Another one! I was having another attack of vision problems. Calm down, Emma, I told myself. It could be worse. It could be triple vision, like before. And then suddenly, it was. Another new boy. The one boy had turned into three. Three boys coming down the hall.
    â€œMs. Mills!” Mrs. Burkle’s voice rang out. “Time is of the essence! Entrez vous! ”
    I stumbled into the room and blinked to clear my vision. Only one Burkle. Okay, only one. That was good. I looked around. One Nick, standing at a video camera in front of the VOGS set.
    Then the new guy entered. Whew! Just one of him.But wait, he was followed by another one. And another one . . .
    â€œThe triplets are here!” Mrs. Burkle announced.
    Triplets? TRIPLETS!
    Oh. Duh.
    I hadn’t been seeing triple. Well, I had, but that’s because they were triplets! I was an identical twin. You would have thought that I would have figured that one out. But I was thrown off after hitting my head.
    Plus, honestly, they did look like one person in triplicate. They were all wearing the same shirt, jeans, and sneakers. They all had black hair cut identically sharp. And when they walked, it was practically in unison.
    Even Payton and I weren’t like . . . clones.
    I watched the three boys as Mrs. Burkle ushered them onto the VOGS set. They were so in sync as they sat down in the chairs, sprawled out, and waited. Were they robots?
    â€œAny questions?” Mrs. Burkle asked them.
    â€œNo,” they all said, of course, almost at the same time.
    â€œWe’ve been on TV a lot,” one of them added. The other two nodded.
    â€œOne minute till . . . VOGS showtime!” Mrs. Burkle announced. One minute until VOGS? Why was I here?Was she going to let me know why she had called me here at this time?
    â€œWe’re ready!” Burkle waved at me. “Come on over!”
    Ready for . . . ?
    â€œWhat—” I started to say when a girl I didn’t know suddenly started attacking the neck of my sweater.
    â€œShush while I mike you,” the girl said clipping a microphone on me. “You’ll be heard all over the set. Okay, now say ‘Testing, testing.’ ”
    â€œTesting, testing,” I repeated. “But—”
    â€œYou know the drill. On set in five.” The girl sighed. She practically pushed me onto the set into the seat across from the triplets. “Sometime I hope I get to be on camera too. Payton.”
    Payton?
    â€œIn ten . . .”
    Payton!
    â€œ. . . nine . . .”
    They thought I was Payton! I saw the teleprompter angled