The Triplets’ Bookworm Novel – The gym was a whirlwind of activity, a chaotic mess of half-finished decorations and loud chatter. The faint scent of pine from the newly delivered Christmas trees mingled with the metallic tang of glitter, which seemed to be everywhere—on the floor, on my jeans, even in my hair.
The basketball hoops had been repurposed as anchors for long, twinkling strands of fairy lights. Blue-and-silver banners lined the walls, each one emblazoned with the Winter Prom theme: *Under the Stars*. Paper snowflakes dangled from the ceiling, swaying gently in the slight draft coming from the open double doors.
Victoria, my cousin and polar opposite in every conceivable way, stood at the center of it all. I stood off to the side, trying my best to glue glittery stars onto a centerpiece without making a total mess. My hands were already sticky, and glitter coated my fingers like I’d dipped them in pixie dust.
It looked like a unicorn pooped into my personal space. But, Victoria, of course, was in her element. She was perched on a ladder, waving her arms like an orchestra conductor as she directed a group of football players hanging the main banner.
Her jet-black hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, and her athletic frame moved with the ease of someone who spent years perfecting her balance as a cheerleader. With her pale skin and dark eyes, she looked like a modern-day Snow White, if Snow White had swapped her woodland cottage for a leadership role in every high school committee imaginable.