Free Becky's Terrible Term by Holly Webb

and Katie would stand up to anyone, whatever their size. Then she’d have Annabel on the other side, making funny comments about the person who was trying to upset them. Faced with the three of them, most people slunk away after a couple of minutes, especially boys, who always seemed to get embarrassed at being laughed at by three very pretty girls who couldn’t care less what was being said about them. Facing a pack of bullying girls on her own was a completely new experience, and Becky was lost.
    Amy, by contrast, appeared to know exactly what she was doing. “What’s it like being the boring triplet?” she taunted. “Annabel’s the funny one, Katie’s the clever one – what are you? Oh, I see, the crybaby,” she laughed, seeing Becky’s eyes fill with tears. “Go on, run and tell your big sisters we’re being all mean. If you think they’ll care,” she added shrewdly.
    Becky looked round desperately. Where were Katie and Annabel? Even though they weren’t talking to her, she was sure that if they knew what was happening they’d come and help. She stared hopefully over at the group on the other side of the playground, and saw Katie and Annabel looking straight at her, apparently having some kind of argument. Annabel looked as though she was coming to help – thank goodness! – but Katie was stopping her. What was going on? As Becky watched, Annabel gave her a last worried look, shrugged and went back to the huddle, turning her back on Becky.
    This had never happened before. In Becky’s world, your sisters were there to protect you, always. She looked back at the sneering faces of Amy and her little groupies. What was she going to do? Tears streaming down her face, she did the only thing she could think of – she ran.
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    Annabel was feeling torn apart. Although she always seemed confident and had a funny answer for everything, she was also very soft-hearted, and she was gutted about what had just happened to Becky. She and Katie had been happily chatting until Annabel happened to look up, and spot Becky and her tormentors. She’d grabbed Katie’s arm. “Look – isn’t that Amy over there? I think she’s having a go at Becky! Come on!” and she’d started to head across to sort it out, her natural reaction – no one was going to get away with something like that.
    But Katie had caught hold of her sweater. “Leave it, Bel! We can’t just run over there, we’re leaving Becky alone, remember? That’s what she wanted. She doesn’t want us to help. Look, we’ll talk about it at home.” Katie folded her arms stubbornly and glared at Bel, as though daring her to disobey.
    â€œBut­­—” said Annabel, looking worriedly back and forth between her sisters, sure she could feel Becky’s misery.
    â€œ No .” And Katie pulled Annabel round, fixing her with a stare that seemed to pin her to the ground. Katie was definitely the strongest character of the three triplets, and Annabel was just used to doing what Katie said. Helplessly, she went back to the game, casting one last worried look at Becky.
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    That night Katie and Annabel held a Council of War. They hadn’t spoken properly to Becky since Friday evening now, and it was feeling almost painful. They still thought she was being an idiot, but just thinking that wasn’t getting them anywhere. Annabel was guilt-stricken over abandoning Becky at lunchtime, and she’d convinced Katie that this couldn’t go on. They were going to get Becky and Fran to be friends, whatever it took.
    â€œI still don’t see why we can’t just tell Becky how nice Fran is, and what a perfect mate she’d be,” argued Katie, lying on her bed and kicking her pillow crossly. They were up in their room, hiding from Mum more than Becky – Becky seemed to be spending all her time in the shed. She’d even