"Come on Kelsey! Wait up!" called my twin sister, Xena. "I don't want to go in there alone!"
"Well, if you don't speed up, you might have to!" I called back. But because I'm special that way, I slowed my pace a bit. I clutched my books closer to my chest as we in for our first day at Pine Heights Alternative High School.
We'd just moved to Pine Heights, Indiana from Chicago last month. WE were still getting used to the town.
I glanced around at the paring lot, where tons of other students were getting out of their cars or off the bus. My eyes traveled over to the teacher's parking lot, and I was stunned to see a baby-blue Harley parked in a spot. One of our teachers drove a Harley? I'd have guessed it was a guy if it weren't for the color.
"Hey, Xena! Check it out!" I said, pausing and pointing to the motorcycle.
"Awesome, it's a '68!" she said, catching up with me. She blinked her big brown eyes in amazement.
Don't ask how Xena knew about this stuff. I guess she read too many of our little brother's magazines.
My watch beeped. "Oh, dang it! Three minute warning!" I exclaimed. I seized Xena's hand and dragged her inside. I was so concerned with getting to class, and nearly ran us both into a teacher. Actually, it wasn't nearly. We did crash into her.
"Oh, sorry!" I said, picking up my books off the ground. I brushed a strand of my ash-blonde hair out of my face.
"Whoa, chill out," said the teacher, holding up a hand. "I'm fine."
I was surprised that we didn't do more damage, one, because there were two of us, and two, because we were both about four inches taller than her.
"What are your names?" the teacher asked.
"Xena Hartland," my sister volunteered, holding out her hand. The teacher shook it. "This is my twin sister, Kelsey."
"Oh, twins! That's cool. I'm supposed to tell you I'm Mrs. Wilkins, but you two can call me Jess. Not in class, of course, but whenever there are no other students around."
Xena smiled broadly. "Okay," she said. Mrs. Wilkins – Jess – looked really young. I wouldn't place her over thirty.
"You guys go to class. Just tell Mrs. Mastriani that you were talking to me, and she won't count you tardy." Jess winked.
"Alright," I said. Xena flipped a lock of her auburn hair over her shoulder (her hair was really the same color as mine, but she'd dyed it to stand out and because she was getting tired of getting mistaken for me).
"Nice meeting you, Jess," Xena said. She smiled and started walking off. I picked up a pencil I'd dropped and then began to follow her.
Most people would call Xena a kiss-up after first meeting her, but that wasn't the case at all. She was just honestly friendly; she'd always been that way. I'd always been a little quieter, but I liked it that way.
We headed to class after Jess's suggestion. We came in two minutes after the bell rang.
"You're tardy," said our homeroom teacher.
"Sorry, Mrs. Mastriani," I said, blushing.
"We ran into Mrs. Wilkins on our way here," Xena said.
Mrs. Mastriani's dark eyebrows rose as she observed us. "Ah, I see. Well, take a seat. I was just marking attendance, so you got lucky."
I took an empty seat, and Xena took one a few rows away. I sighed in relief.
Mrs. Mastriani began making announcements, and a few minutes in I felt something poke my shoulder. I looked down and saw a paper airplane on the floor. I picked it up and folded it under my desk.
Why do you think Mrs. M let us off like that? Is she scared of Jess or something?
I could recognize Xena's handwriting from a mile away. All I could do right then as look at her and shrug. Her guess was as good as mine.