I hated them.
I hated Vanilla's looks, hated Coco's brains, hated the way they assumed I was inferior to them. But they were my triplets and, as many people have told me, I do love them really, if I thought hard enough. I just wish they wouldn't outshine me the whole time. Sure, when it's to my face, they're so lovely and sweet and "Caramel is pretty, in her own way!" "We love her quirkiness!!!" and "Oh, no!!!!! She's not stupid ... just not as smart as me!!". But, the second I walk away, they latch onto the nearest person and tell just how pathetic and horrible I 'really' am. Of course, their idea of horrible is making friends with Rose and James (the former of the two being the arch enemy of Coco, the latter being both mine and Vanilla's ex-boyfriend, sigh!) or accidentally spilling something on them 6 years ago. Still, sometimes, I couldn't wish for better triplets, sometimes, they were genuinely nice to me, sometimes, they didn't try to get rid of me.
"Caramel, Caramel, Carrie, Arrie, Aramel! Guess whose on the TV! And guess what's happening this week!"
That was Vanilla, who loved attention and being a total drama queen. She knew I knew exactly what was on TV and she knew I knew that I was devestated about what was happening this week. We all were. But, then again, Vanilla naturally loved to tease me, even if she was teasing herself at the same time.
"COMING!!!" I yelled, taking the iron wedges on the spiral staircase two at a time. Landing neatly on the carpeted landing outside Vanilla's and Coco's bedrooms on the first floor (I had taken the attic room to get away from the Terrible Twosome and was the only one who could stand the horrible, evil stairs), I raced into the left doorway, Coco land. The walls were plastered in posters about the decimal places in Pi and the periodic table. The floor space was taken up by a massive desk covered in homework and extra assignments. As I walked in, I remembered that it was my turn to provide drinks, biscuits and sweets. Immediately, I turned and skittered back to my room. After the white pristine neatness of Coco's room my totally messy, totally purple (the best colour) totally me den was a reassuring shock to my system. Using my natural ability to know where everything was in the disater zone I called home (every decent slob has this knowledge), I fished around for a box of Sapphire's Dunking Chocolate (disformed ones Rose had slipped me after they had been rejected by her 'cuckoos'), 7 packets of Mentos (Illie eats them 3 at a time) and of course a family jumbo pack of custard creams, the only biscuit we all like.
Suddenly, the opening music of Stuff blasted through the house. In a shot I was downstairs, food, a random blanket, headphones and languages homework in tow. I collapsed on the bed just in time to see James, his twin sister Hannah, and the omnipresent Rose bounce onto the stage. Rose pressed a few important buttons on her revolutionary keyboard invention thing and out blasted some music. It was a cover of a song that I had written, which I loved, and I knew it was one of Vanilla and Coco's pet hates. God I loved those guys. James joined in with the rapping, making weeks of panicky practising look effortless. My voice echoed out of Rose's machine, adding hidden harmony's to the chorus just as Rose and Hannah opened their mouths, making the studio audience turn around, looking for the source of my singing. Automatically, James and Hannah start the little hand movement thing I always do (their mocking didn't hurt me like Vanilla's did) and Rose winked at the camera. Somehow, she managed to make it seem like it was just for me. As the song came to a close, another one (this time a Rose/Elen production) began, and Jack, the host of Stuff, skidded into the studio. The crowd of teenagers sitting in the seats at the end of the room screamed for his attention, so he glided past the front row, grinning, hugging, high fiving his way through the mob. My friends' music faded into the background to allow Jack to talk.
"Hi guys!! That was Klueless and her lovely friends singing for us, who we will be interviewing later. But, first, we are going to... find out who my co-presenter is!!!" Immediately, the audience went wild. For about a solid five minutes they wailed to express their excitment. Eventually Jack shouted over them, "Well, the letter of doom should appear any minute..."
