The next two months are definitely not the greatest.

I try multiple times to talk to Talia, but she ignores me each time.

At the end, I started getting pretty desperate.

"TALIA!" I had cried on one of my last attempts. "Forgive meeeee!" Then I tried to shed a few fake tears, and when none were produced, I tried getting some water on my face from my water bottle, but I ended up pouring the whole thing on me. And remember, this was in the middle of a crowded hallway.

So yeah, I was pretty humiliated.

And then my birthday came around, and I decided that she couldn't possibly be so mad at me that she would ignore me on my birthday.

So I had put on my most calming shirt I had, (A soft yellow shirt with long sleeves that seem to flow at the tips), marched on over to the school and tapped Talia on her shoulder.

She turned around and I could already tell she wasn't in her best mood, because she had her tomato look. (Her tomato look is when her face turns really, really red, usually because she's angry or upset.)

When she saw it was me, she turned back around and started to have a conversation with Rheana about homework. It was a pathetic attempt to avoid talking with me, but what I did next was possibly more pathetic.

I grabbed some homework from my backpack and shoved it in Talia's face.

"Look!" I had screeched. "I have homework too! Talk to ME about homework!"

That was the last time I tried talking to her. Even on her birthday, I just couldn't. I didn't want to ruin the day for her.

I watched her though. I watched her receive hugs and compliments from her new friends.

And as I watched her and her new friends, I thought of a saying I've heard many times: "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other gold."

I guess the old friends are supposed to be gold, but is it the same in this situation? I'm certainly not gold for Talia at the moment. I'm not even silver. I'll keep my hopes up that I'm at least bronze, but I'm not so sure. If I asked her, I'm pretty sure she'd say I'm dirt.

And I think I might still be dirt now.

But today is not a day to think about Talia. Today is Tiegan's birthday and I'm coming over to celebrate with her.

There is a mini emergency at the moment though. Last night, me and Bernie got into a fight. I forget what it was about, but I remember it being something stupid. Anyways, during the night, Bernie took a brown pen and drew some 'freckles' on my cheeks, as if I don't have enough already.

So I'm now trying to wash it all off, though it's proving very difficult.

It does make me feel a little better that Bernie has to do my chores for me because of it, but it still doesn't fix my problem.

I decide to take a last minute shower, and thankfully, the imposter freckles wash off in the water.

I wring out my wet hair and tie it up in a ponytail. Lately, I've been trying to wear my hair down more often, but sometimes it's just a lot more work to do that. For example, if I wanted to keep my hair down now, I would have to blow dry it first. And that would take an extra ten, maybe fifteen minutes to do that and comb it.

Besides, I think I look better in a ponytail. I only planned to start wearing my hair down because of Ava.

Whenever I show up at school in a ponytail, she either grimaces, snorts as quietly as possible, (Which is not very quiet at all), or blatantly stares disapprovingly.

But it's the weekend, so I don't have to worry.

I stomp down the stairs and head to the kitchen/living room. I call it that because those two rooms are combined into one big room in my house.

"Hey Sammy." I ruffle his hair as I plop down on the couch next to him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm on time-out." He pouts.

"That's right!" Mom calls from the kitchen. "And WHY are you in time-out?"

"Because I drew on the wall." He grumbles.

I look behind me and notice Sam's most recent artwork. Hey! Is that ugly stick person supposed to be me?!

This isn't even the first time he's done this. We have his artwork all over the house. He even had the nerve to put one on the inside of my door.

But he's still my little brother. So I need to be the awesome older sister in this situation.

"It's okay." I whisper to him. "I'll make you some cookies later. Does that sound good?"

He nods and a big smile spreads across his small face. He always loves when I make him cookies, even though they're not all that great.

"I want some cookies too!" Bernie calls from the kitchen table.

"Shhhh!" I place a finger to my lips, nodding my head at Mom.

"Is my silence worth a cookie?"

"Fine." I huff in frustration. "But only one! The rest are for me and Sammy, the brother who didn't draw fake freckles on my face."

"Please, it was hilarious." Bernie snorts.

I stare at him in disbelief. "How are you in grade eight? Only kindergarteners would find that funny!"

"Then I guess kindergarteners have a very good sense of humor."

"Just shut up already."

"Gladly." Bernie sticks his tongue out at me and I'm briefly reminded of Lillian.

After that annoying exchange, I down a bowl of cereal, wash my face again, and leave. Well, I try to leave.

"Don't you want me to drive you?" Dad asks, concerned as usual. "It could be dangerous for a kid your age to cross that many streets, and-"

"I'm not a kid anymore!" I interject. "I'm twelve, for goodness sake! That's practically a teenager."

"Practically a teenager is not the same as actually being a teenager." He points out. "I'll go get the keys..."

"This family drives me CRAZY!" I scream and stomp out the door before my dad gets any more ideas.

I'm much braver with my family than I am with anyone else. I just say whatever I want to say to them. I'm not really like that with anyone else.

Well, except Talia of course.

STOP thinking about her, Nicole!

I run the rest of the way to Tiegan's house, so I'm out of breath when she opens the door.

"What's wrong with you?" She demands. "Are you sick or something? You're all red in the face."

"I-I'm fine." I pant. "Let's just go in."

Once I've gained the ability to speak properly again I straighten up and give Tiegan a mini hug.

"Happy birthday!" I cry out, grinning.

"Uh, yeah, thanks." Tiegan shrugs, then pushes me away. "I'm not really a hug person."

"Oh!" I blush in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Tiegan brushes me off. "Follow me."

That exchange might make it seem to some people that Tiegan is a rude person. But she really isn't. If I had to describe her unique personality, then I would simply say that she is completely, and brutally honest.

She's just not afraid. I've never seen her scared, or even a little nervous. She isn't just brave. She's untouchable.

I'd be pretty jealous if I weren't so impressed.

I follow Tiegan up the stairs, my steps quiet and graceful compared to Tiegan's clomping. Tiegan actually has a really nice house, since her parents are both dentists. I can already imagine what Talia would say if she saw this place: "Why do the best things always happen to the worst people?"

Tiegan's room is exactly how I expected it would be. The walls are painted a bright orange, her favorite color. The hardwood floors are all scuffed up but for the floor under her cluttered desk. Trophies and ribbons for athleticism are displayed proudly on her billboard.

"Do you like it?" Tiegan asks me hopefully. "I know it's kind of messy, but-"

"I absolutely love it." I smile warmly at her as she beams back. "Your room is so interesting compared to mine."

"Yeah." She nods. "Yours is kind of bland."

See? An example of her brutal honesty.

I take another glance around her room, and realize that something's missing.

"Where are your books?" I ask, then immediately regret it. Stupid, Nicole, stupid! Not everyone is a bookworm like you!

"If you're looking for books, you can find them in Annalise's room." Tiegan rolls her eyes. "Why would I want to have BOOKS in my room?"

"I-it was a joke." I stammer weakly.

"Um, ok." Tiegan gives me a strange look. "Wanna get a snack?"

"Sure." I say, relieved at the change of subject.

In the kitchen, Tiegan's sisters are sitting at the table; Annalise and Jocelyn. Jocelyn is the shyest of her sisters. She doesn't speak very much in school, but when she does, her voice sounds unnaturally high and squeaky.

And of course, I know Annalise. Talia's new best friend. Annalise gives me a shrewd look, so I'm sure Talia told her all about the big fight.

"Hi." I give a half smile, but neither of them smile back. Jocelyn is too busy hiding behind her sheet of flaming orange hair, and Annalise is still giving me a look.

"She said hi." Tiegan crosses her arms, eyes narrowed. "Where are your manners?"

Annalise rolls her eyes. "Hello." She drawls as unenthusiastically as possible. "What a pleasure it is to have you in our home."

Jocelyn's greeting is just as enthusiastic, but less cold.

"H-hi Nicole." She squeaks, then immediately turns her head back down. I honestly think those are the most words I've ever heard her say.

"Whatever." Tiegan huffs. "Now let's eat."

I sigh and sit down, preparing myself for what will probably go down as one of the top ten most awkward meals ever.

***

I always thought that me and Bernie fought too much. Well, after a lunch with Tiegan and her sisters, I realize I was wrong.

First, Tiegan spilled her chocolate milk on her chair, which caused a shouting match between the sisters. Even Jocelyn joined in! Then Annalise interrupted Tiegan, which resulted in Tiegan tackling her to the ground and pulling her hair. And when Jocelyn accidentally dropped her fork on the floor, Tiegan very nearly poked her in the eyeball with it.

And even when they weren't fighting, they still glared at each other, as if willing the other to burst into flames.

I guess triplets don't get along very well.

It really is too bad, because I always wanted a sister. Well, who wouldn't? It would be better than a brother!

I always thought having a sister would be amazing. We would braid each other's hair. (Although mine would be considerably harder to style, due to its shortness). We would lie down together in the dark, spilling our deepest, darkest secrets. We would have a secret language, much to the annoyance of our parents.

We would borrow each other's clothes. We would bake together, laughing at the flour on our faces. And most importantly, we would be there for each other, no matter what.

Something tells me that Tiegan and her sisters are not like that.

As we leave the kitchen, my phone buzzes to announce I have an incoming call. I glance down to see it's from Lillian.

I accept the facetime call and stare at my screen expectantly. When Lillian's face appears, she looks frazzled.

"Hello." She greets, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose in a fidgety manner.

Before I can answer, Tiegan peers over my shoulder.

"I'm here too, you know." Tiegan tells her crossly. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I forgot, sorry." Lillian replies impatiently. "Look, I have to tell you something. Both of you. Let's just wait until Ava comes..."

At that exact moment, Ava's disgruntled face arrives in the top corner of my screen.

"Is this important?" Ava demands. "Because I'm busy right now."

"Doing what?" I ask.

"Stuff." Ava smirks.

"Mysterious." Tiegan laughs. "Let me guess; The busy "stuff" you were doing was sleeping in?"

"Did I or did I not say I have to say something?" Lillian snaps, and I can imagine her stomping her foot outside of the screen.

"You didn't tell me." Ava shrugs.

Lillian ignores her and continues. "I just wanted to tell you..."

Lillian's younger sister bounds into the room and plasters her face to the screen so we can see the whites of her eyes.

"Go AWAY, Melody!"

"But I don't wanna..."

"MOOOOOOM!" Lillian screams.

We hear someone stomping down the stairs.

"You don't ALWAYS have to call for mom." Lillian's dad huffs, coming into view. "I'm your parent too."

Lillian's dad is the male clone of herself. They have the exact same green eyes and the same shade of dark skin. He even has glasses too, although his are a bit geekier.

"Yeah, yeah." Lillian gestures angrily at Melody. "Can you please get her out of here?"

"Aww, but she just wants to talk with your friends too, princess."

Tiegan and I both clap our hands over our mouths to stop the laughter from escaping. Ava, on the other hand, doesn't try to hide it at all and nearly falls out of her chair from laughter.

Of course Lillian has an embarrassing home nickname. Should I really be surprised?

"Dad!" She hisses, blushing profusely. "Just...go. And take Melody with you."

Melody screams the whole time as she's taken up to her room.

"Brat." Ava rolls her eyes.

"She's not that bad..." Lillian argues, sounding hurt.

"Aren't we getting a bit off-topic?" Tiegan crosses her arms across her chest. "You've held off on me long enough for me to get curious, so spit it out already."

"Right." Lillian squirms uncomfortably. "So the thing is, well, um, my parents just told me.." Her voice cracks and she pauses. "Actually, I don't think I can do this. I..I have to go. Goodbye."

And then she hangs up. Ava scoffs, shrugs, then hangs up as well.

"We're never going to find out what that call was supposed to be about, are we?" I sigh.

"Nope." Tiegan snorts. "I bet it wasn't anything important anyway."

"I guess." I say, a little unconvinced.

"Now," Tiegan clasps her hands together. "Wanna go cut up Annalise's books?"