Glory Days

[1]

"Three plates of purple pancakes for my three purple poppets!" Mum beamed, serving up three piles of steaming blueberry pancakes. The nickname was unsurprisingly met with disgusted reactions from my sisters and I.

"That is awful, please don't ever say that again," Violet huffed, pulling her glossy pink lips into a grimace but keeping her gaze fixed on her phone. The first day of the school year had barely begun and my popular younger sister's phone was already blowing up, no doubt her air headed friends were already firing up the rumour mill for all the summer gossip.

"You make us sound like we belong on Fraggle Rock," Amy added, rolling her eyes. My youngest sister, Amethyst had a very sharp tongue for a thirteen year old. Her dry, sarcastic humour and complete lack of empathy always made me forget just how young she really was.

"Well, what can I say?" Our mother sighed, "It's Amy's first day of high school and Indigo's senior year! I'm just happy to have all my girls together."

And if you haven't realised, all three of us where named after some sort of variant of the colour purple hence The Purple Poppets. Of course there was Logan too, the eldest Donoghue sibling. Mum claims he was named after the lesser known purple-maroon shade of loganberry but regardless of the truth, our brother got off easy. People always got a good giggle out of our names and our mother was known for being 'the crazy purple lady'.

"Thanks for the pancakes Mum, they're amazing," I smiled. If there was one thing I knew about my mother is that sometimes you just had to let her do what she wanted.

"Good morning ladies, you all look dazzling today," Mum's boyfriend, Jim announced, sweeping through the kitchen, giving us all a peck on the cheek. I wasn't sure how a straight-edge, American doctor like Jim came to fall in love with a crazy naturopath like my mother but they seemed to make it work.

"So Amy, shall we drive you in for your first day of school?" He asked, pouring coffee into his favourite blue mug.

"No offence Jim, but I'd rather stick this fork in my eye. Thanks for the offer but I can't go committing social suicide on my first day." She replied nonchalantly.

"No worries, sweetie, if you need anything just call." Jim had a special bond with Amy unlike with the rest of us, meaning he could tolerate her shit better than anyone. Since she had been so young when Jim came into our lives, he was more of a father to her than our biological one.

"She's right, you know. If you don't catch the bus or get a ride from a cool senior, you may as well not even show up," Violet added. She then turned to look at me pointedly, "It's a shame Stella doesn't have a license."

"Hey!" I protested, "I'm just as cool as Stella, I basically paved the way for your 'glamorous' high school experience. Keep that kind of shit up and I won't let you ride with us when I get my car in a couple of months."

My savings were going steady and even though I knew I wouldn't have the fanciest car in the lot, I was excited about being able to say I bought my car myself. Most kids at Berkeley Grammar School were spoiled with a shiny new ride on their 17th birthday from doting parents who loved splashing cash. However, the majority of upper middle class teenagers didn't have three siblings to compete against for their parents affection like I did. This didn't bother me so much though, I liked to think I'd developed a strong work ethic and a good saving routine from always having to share with my siblings. I don't think I could say the same for my sisters though; given the chance, I'm sure Violet would trade me for a car in a heartbeat.

"Oh please, my life is in no way glamorous. It's a tough job setting a social standard but someone has to do it," Violet sighed. I suppressed a giggle as Amy rolled her eyes and mimicked our sister, flicking her hair around. I opened my mouth to tell Violet she was delusional but she had put down her phone and was launching into a mini monologue."And for the record, being best friends with Stella Morris makes you cool to an extent but you only get so far being a ride along, sweetie. If you think about it, it was really Logan who did all the leg work. Although he was infuriatingly over-protective last year, the trade off is that this year, us Donoghue girls will be HOT property. Ergo, I owe you nothing, Indigo."