Chapter 1
MAVEN
"Mav," Any whispered. She pronounced it "Maf," her mouth full of Cheerios. Bits of soggy cereal flew towards me. I held up the newspaper I was reading to act as a barrier between Any and I.
"Any, do you have any idea how absolutely disgusting and repulsive that is?" I asked.
"Yep."
"Well, as long as you know," I muttered, skimming the page in front of me. Another boring Tuesday. Tuesdays were possibly the most humdrum, drippy days in the entire existence of humdrum drippy days. As though it were proving my point, the morning sky outside the kitchen window was large, dry, and overcast. Ugh. I'm not really the best person to talk to in the mornings. You want cheerful, you go to Corliss.
"Mornin', people!" A cheerful voice said from behind me. Well, speak of the devil. I turned in my seat. She was standing in the doorway that led from the hallway to the kitchen, her dark brown bob already shining from 100 brush strokes in front of a mirror, neat and smooth thanks her best friend, The Straightening Iron. My own shoulder-length hair was wavy and seemed to always go off in the wrong direction no matter what I did with it. Her deep brown eyes were bright while mine were still half closed. She had a little grin on her face. I could feel myself scowling, and I tried to loosen my expression up when I saw her. Corliss always made me feel guilty about my appearance.
"Hi, Cory!" Any chirped, spewing more cereal across the table. Judging on the way her eyes shifted to me, it was on purpose.
I narrowed my eyes at her, then got up from my seat, scraping the legs of my chair against the floor. I felt incredibly cranky all the sudden.
"Bye." I said shortly, turning away from Any and brushing swiftly past my sister without a word.
"Good morning to you too!" Corliss called after me. Can it, I thought at her. I was starting to get a blinding headache. She shut up.
When I said "my sister" earlier? That would be Corliss. We're identical twins, and we don't always have to say everything for all to hear.