Jack:

“Time to go!” I yelled. I did not hear a thing. “Time to go!” I yelled again. 

I groaned because Kat was late. Again. This seemed to always happen in the morning. 

I was in the kitchen with my mom, but Kat was not there yet. I just ate my toast and jam (the best way to start the day, if you ask me). My mom was drinking her tea from a mug in the shape of a cupcake. 

“Mom,” I said, “ Can you tell Kat to get in here? I don’t want to be late.” 

“I never met a kid who wanted to be on time as much as you,” my mom said. “Relax, Jack. Stop and smell the coffee.” 

“I don’t drink coffee,” I said. 

“Oh, right,” my mom said with a wink.

 “I want to be tall when I’m older and coffee can stunt your growth,” I said. 

 “Now where did you read that?” she asked. 

I shrugged. I forgot where I read that.

“Well, how about milk?” she asked. “Do you drink milk?” 

I nodded. 

My mom gave me a grin. My mom was relaxed, even when we were waiting for my sister. Maybe it was the cupcake mug. 

“I read that milk can help you be strong,” I said. 

I got up and she handed me a cup of milk. This mug was in the shape of a fox. My mom had a thing for mugs. I drank a big sip and sat on the chair. The milk did help relax me, or maybe it was the fox mug. 

I went into my bag to get my book. I could see my math stuff packed inside. I was excited for Ms. Star to see my hard work in math. The bag also held my “just for fun” book. Maybe some fun reading might distract me.

 The book was about goblins and magic. These were things Kat did not like. She said if they aren’t real, she’s not into it. Not that she’s into books at all. I like goblin books because they are fun and the kids in them are brave. They help others and do not care what anyone thinks. 

I did not get to turn one page—which is too bad, because the next page had a goblin with ten legs on it—before the yelling started.

“Where’s my shoe? Mooooooom, WHERE’S MY SHOE?” 

Kat was here. She had hair all over her face. Her pajama shirt was still on, and she had just one shoe. Yup, that was my sister. 

 Hurricane Kat was coming in.  

Kat:

“WHERE’S MY SHOE?” I yelled. I prayed a shoe would pop on my foot like magic.

“When was the last time you had it?” my mom asked. This was not my favorite question, but it was one that I got all the time.

“If I knew, I would have the shoe on!” I barked back. This was not her favorite answer to that question. It was also not her favorite tone. I could not help it. 

“You need your backpack,” Jack called from his chair. 

I groaned.

“Thanks a lot,” I said, but I did not mean it. “I have it with me, Jack. Duh!” 

I turned. I did not have my backpack with me. Oops. 

“I guess I forgot,” I said. “Mom, where’s my backpack?” 

“When was the last time you had it?” my mom asked with a wink. 

Grr! I ran back up the stairs to my room. 

The backpack was in my room, under a big pile of stuff. I could deal with the pile later. I switched my shirt, grabbed the backpack, turned back, and went to the kitchen.

When I got to the kitchen, Jack still had his nose in that book. He was always reading. Not me, I did not like to read. How did he read those books by himself? Did he like to read for fun? 

Fun to me was filming a silly bit with my pals, or doing jumps and splits. But not reading. We had to read each day for school and it was a strong dislike of mine (my mom did not let us use the word “hate”). I would do anything not to do it, or often I just pretended to read. 

We got in the car, and my mom drove us to school. I plugged in her phone (we did not have them yet), put on a song from a band I like, and started singing.

“You always know all the words,” my mom said. 

I did. I did not like to read like Jack, but I could sing and the words stuck in my head in a way I did not fully understand. I kept up the singing and Jack sat in the back with his nose in his book. 

I didn’t get a lot of things about Jack. How did he not feel car sick? Also, why did he like to read so much? Reading made my brain hurt. 

One time, Jack left a book in the kitchen by mistake. I picked it up to bring back to his room. I mean, I am a nice sister… most of the time! The book was thick. The front had stars and a goblin on it. I peeked inside. All the words just kind of fuzzed together.

That's the main thing that’s not the same with Jack and me. He reads and I don’t. He’s good at school and I’m not. I could not read one word in that book. But I shut it so fast, I did not have to think about it. 

In the car, Jack and I were buds and siblings. We were those “Zink Twins” who had the same jet-black hair and green eyes.  I get that I am messy and he is not. He reads and I like to sing. But in the car, I still felt like we were sort of the same. 

When we got inside school, it did not feel like that. It felt like he was smart and I was not. 

He is smart at school, at books, at math, and being neat and on time, and I am “Hurricane Kat,” a name Jack thinks I do not know he calls me. But I do. 

“Kat,” Jack said. He was out the door, backpack on. We were at school. I was in a far-off zone, lost in my head.

“Oops,” I said. 

It took a bit of time, but I got out the door too. A day of school before us. I prayed it went fast.

“Do you have your bags?” my mom asked. 

“Yes,” we said at the same time. 

“Lunch?” 

“Yes,” said Jack. 

Oh, no. I would have sworn I had my lunch in my—

Jack handed me my lunch. 

“Yes,” I said.

“Bye, kids,” my mom said with a smile from the car. 

“Bye,” we said at the same time.

We went in as a pair, but when we got to the door, the Zink Twins parted ways. 

Jack: 

I sat in the front of the class. It helped me focus. A lot of kids did not like the front, but I did. I had a pen and paper to get started for class. Across the hall, Kat’s class buzzed too. There were two fifth-grade classrooms. Kat and I were never in the same class. They did not put twins in the same class.  

I got out my goblin book. My best pal, Matt, was not there yet, so I needed to pass the time. Matt was the one pal I had in my class, and I did not like to chat with the other kids. I opened the book. 

“Want to see a card trick?” 

I turned to see Matt. I gave him a smirk. His red hair was short and he had on a white t-shirt. He loved to do card tricks but was not that good at them.

“Okay,” I said. 

“Pick a card,” he said. He held the cards like a fan. 

I picked one and took a peek. I had the 10 of clubs.

 “Now slide it back in the deck.” 

I slid it back in. He mixed the cards and picked one card from the deck. It was the five of spades. 

“Is this your card?” he asked. 

I wanted to say yes, just to make him feel better, but chose not to. 

“No,” I said.

“Hmm,” he said. He mixed the cards and took a fresh one. Six of spades. “This?”

“No…”

“This trick went so well yesterday, and I—” 

Just then, Ms. Star came in and went to her desk. Matt sat at the desk next to me. 

Ms. Star was tall, with blonde hair and a pointed nose. She was kind and ran the class well. Ms. Star was a fan of fantasy books. She often told me the plots of books she read. If she ever gave me a note, she added a goblin sketch on it. 

  “We will be starting a new project,” Ms. Star said to the class. 

Why did teachers grin when they told us we had work? A lot of kids groaned. I waited to see what the project was until I knew how to feel about it. 

“This project will be for the whole fifth grade,” she said. “Each year we do a grade-wide essay about a topic that is important to you.” 

“My sister did this when she was in fifth grade,” Matt said to me in a whisper. He sat up a bit taller in his chair. “They wrote essays about important causes. Hers was protecting the Pandas. I learned a lot of good info.” 

“You will read your essay to the grade next week,” she said. “There will be a prize for the person with the best essay.” 

“What’s the prize?” Blake yelled from the back of the room.

“What’s the topic?” Clay asked. 

“Hold on,” Ms. Star said. “I will tell you all that you need to know. That is my oath as a teacher,” she said with a wink.

She said “My oath as a teacher” a lot. It was kind of like a catchphrase. Ms. Star was the best teacher because she was funny and she had a lot of sayings. 

“As a prize,” she said, “the winner gets a ‘no homework’ pass for a week.” 

The class went silent. As much as Ms. Star was the best, she gave us a lot of homework. 

“A week off?” said Matt. 

We were all impressed. A week off from homework was big.

“Now, the topic,” Ms. Star started. 

We were quiet. She had us like fish on a line. 

“I want you to be brave and open. Write about a time that someone impacted your life.”  

The class buzzed a bit. 

“It can be a member of your family, it can be a pal,” Ms. Star said. “How have these people in your life made you, you?” 

I had to take some time to think about it. Who had helped me most? 

I looked up, and Ms. Star had locked eyes with me. “See if you can let us see a new side.”