Triple Trouble (20 page)

“Cuter than Nick?” I teased.

“Ha-ha,” my twin said. “Nick is totally cute and nice and fun and—when I went on that Ferris wheel in Times Square with him? That was . . . squee!”

“That whole trip to New York City was ‘squee.' ” I smiled.

“You said ‘squee,' ” Payton laughed quietly. “It sounds funny coming from a New York City math champion!”

“I did rock the Mathletes competition.” I grinned. “First place! Oh yeah! I won!”

“That was awesome,” Payton said. “But you know what my favorite part of our New York City trip was?”

“Embarrassing Sydney in front of a live, off-Broadway audience?” I guessed.

“No, although she totally deserved it,” Payton said. “It was when you and I were sitting together on top of the double-decker bus touring New York City. The sights and sounds and city breeze through our hair . . .”

“The tree branch in your face,” I giggled.

“Okay, maybe not that,” my twin said.

“Just kidding,” I said. “That was an amazing time, wasn't it?”

“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.

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!

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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For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
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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)