Nari's P.O.V

Thwack! My sister’s foot connects with the ball. It’s headed right toward me, but I don’t even bother to look up from my book. First of all, I’m right at a really good part. Second, despite the fact that I’m sitting in a chair placed in the middle of the goal in our backyard, I am one hundred percent positive that the ball won’t hit me. It never hits me- Ari’s kicks are too good.

“Score,” Ari shouts as the ball sails into the high right corner of the net. “That’s fifty-two!”

“Yeah, but who’s counting?” I tease. Now that I’ve finished the chapter I look up for a second, and Ari flashes me a smile.

“I am, of course.” She grins and raises an eyebrow.

I know she wishes I would actually play goalie instead of just sitting here reading, but that’s never going to happen. I almost never play soccer with Ari. Besides, this book is great. I really want to finish it before school starts, which means I only have until… tomorrow! 

I dive into the next chapter while Ari flops down on her back in the grass with her ball. Her head is on the ground to my left and I can feel her gazing up at me with her mahogany coloured eyes- eyes that are exactly like mine. Actually, her whole face is exactly like mine, with maybe a few more freckles from all of the time in the sun on the playing field. The only other difference in our appearance is that she always wears her shoulder-length thick brown hair pulled back, and I always wear mine down. Other than that, we’re identical, as in identical twins.

“Hey, Nari,” Ari says, and waits.

“Hey, Ari,” I say back, giving up on reading and closing my book around my finger to mark my place. I take a look at her face and know exactly what’s on her mind. “You’re thinking about school, huh?” I can read her thoughts as easily as my novel. It’s a twin thing. And I might as well give up reading for now, anyway, because between my sister’s giving me the silent “let’s talk” look and my own excitement about starting freshmen year of high school, I’ve only read that last paragraph about five times. I’m still not sure exactly what it says.

Ari nods and tosses the soccer ball into the air over her stomach, catching is easily. “Can you believe that in less than twenty-four hours another glorious summer will be gone like the wind?”

I wrinkle my eyebrows and look down at her. Ari never uses similes like “gone with the wind.” 

“Since when are you a poet?” I want to know.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m turning over a new leaf for high school. I’m going to become…” she puts on her best serious expression and says, “”scholarly.”

I chuckle and shove her with my foot. 

“That’ll be the day!” I laugh as I slide out of my chair and onto the grass next to her. “The same day I become the ace player on the soccer field!”

It’s pretty amazing, actually, how Ari and I can look exactly the same but be totally different. Ari is super-sporty, has a hot body and has an entire squad of friends. Mum says she has an “overdeveloped social life,” and in the past it hasn’t left her a lot of times for academics.

Me? I’m more into music than sports, and I love school. I always make honour roll and Ari keeps predicting that I will be the class valedictorian for high school someday. I tell her it will never happen because I’d have to give a speech at graduation, which I would never do. Talking in front of a crowd makes my knees wobble and my stomach head for the hills. But maybe I’ll be able to figure something out before then. After all, graduation is pretty far away.

One thing Ari and I have in common, besides our looks, is that we are both totally excited about starting at Daewon High School. Being in high school met we’ve conquered middle school and are moving onward and upward- new teachers, new students, new everything!

“The soccer team at Daewon is awesome!” Ari announces, tossing her ball a little higher. “Did you know that last year both the boy’s team and the girl’s team made it all the way to-“

“Nationals, I know- you’ve told me a hundred times, remember?” In the fall Ari talks soccer nonstop, and if I didn’t know how much she loves it, it might drive me a little crazy. Okay, a lot crazy. I try to act interested most of the time, but Ari knows I couldn’t care less about anything that involves kicking, throwing, or running. I’m pretty sure that between the two of us, I didn’t get a single sporty gene- Ari got every last one.

Please log in to read the full chapter