CHAPTER one
The Unknown Sister
Popuri is my older sister. You all know and love her. But, I bet you didn't know that she had a younger sister. That's me. I'm Kokeeri and I am the unknown younger sister of Popuri. She is only a minute and twenty-two seconds older than me anyway. She is my twin sister.
We look exactly the same. We have the same pink hair, the same complexion, everything is the same. Except our eyes. Hers are red, but mine are sky blue. We also have different clothes and personalities as well. Popuri wears that white blouse with the black thing over it and a red skirt. She has her hair in a green headband. Popuri is in love with flowers. Maybe that's why Mom likes her better.
I'm not the biggest fan of flowers. And my clothes are a lot different from Popuri's. I wear usually a sleeveless, orange or blue dress with an apron at the waist and a belt on my hip with a buckle in the shape of a star or a heart. I go barefoot mostly and either pull my hair up in pigtails partially or leave it down to blow with the wind. My dress billows outward with the cool and warm breezes that blow it's way.
Like I said before, I'm not obsessed with flowers. Mom wants one of us to take over the flower shop when she gets too old and loves flowers just as much as Popuri does, so obviously, she is the favorite. But I don't mind. Much. I'm more of a "daddy's girl" anyway. My dad, Basil, is always there for me. I'm more of an outdoorsy type like him.
Anyway, so, one morning, I woke up to Popuri getting dressed near my bed. We have to share a room. I rubbed my eyes, hopped out of bed and chose an orange dress with a star belt for today. I didn't feel like doing anything with my hair so I brushed it and left it down. I was done before Popuri had even started on her hair. See? I told you that black thing was bad news!
I had a quick breakfast and left before Mom could criticize my clothing choices. Once out in town, I ran right into Harris the evil, freaky mailman. I swear that guy is so gay. He smiled his stupid smile at me as I backed away slowly into the wall of the Lillia. "HI KOKEERI! HOW ARE YOU?" he asked me and I could still smell his gross breath. I hacked and dove underneath his legs to escape his grasp and ran out of town as hard as I could.
I walked to the vineyard once I was out of town and found Karen sitting in one of the rows, staring into space. I knew what she was thinking about. Karen had wanted to dance ever since she was a baby. It was her dream to move to the city and dance on Broadway. My dream was a tad bit different.
I wanted to sing. I wanted to perform for the rest of my life. I also wanted to act. But I wanted to sing more. Dad always said to me that I had a gift and I should use it to the advantage. Ever since I was little, when Mom or Dad turned on the radio, I would start singing. I knew all the words to a song after hearing it only once. I have a really good memory.
I laughed to myself and started to walk over to where she was when I walked right into someone. I tripped up and so did he and we fell over in a heap. When I got the chance to look to see who it was, I saw a man with dark hair underneath a purple bandana that he wore like a do-rag and was wearing purple pants, black boots, and a white t-shirt with a purple vest over that.
I turned bright red at the sight of him, got up and sprinted over to where Karen was. I dove behind the row so he wouldn't see me and landed right on top of her. I didn't know who that man was, but I wanted to. "Hey." I said to Karen and she nodded without saying hello to acknowledge me.
"Who's the new kid?" I asked staring at the man I had just run into as he started to pick up what he had dropped. Karen smiled and replied, "Oh, him. That's Kai. He came last night to look for work here. He says that his family all got killed in a terrible fire and asked if he could stay here for a while."
I kept staring until Karen started to snigger at me. I ignored her and thought to just myself 'Hmmmmm. Kai. I'll have to remember that.'