"Shh…" I whispered to Devin. He leaned over my shoulder and planted a
small kiss on my neck, making me giggle. "Be good! We’re back at the
house, they can’t see us!"

"No one is in here right now, don’t worry," he whispered to me. Then he
kissed me once on the cheek and walked away, blowing a kiss to me as he
left the room. I smiled and sat down on my bed, flumping into a pile of
pillows and blankets. I hated making my bed; I liked making a nest. After
lying on my bed and staring into the ceiling for a moment I got up and
walked over to my door, peering out to make sure no one was around before
shutting it and starting to change into my pajamas. After stripping down
to my underwear I went into the bathroom and started brushing my teeth. I
went back into my room and rifled through my clothes to find a shirt to
sleep in while I was still brushing my teeth. As I pulled the long shirt
over my head and started back to the bathroom Adoncia ran into the room
and shut the door behind her, leaning against it.

She ran up to me and said quickly, "Adele, I have been in here for the
past half an hour. I’ve been doing my homework. When you came in here, I
was over there at our desk and I was reading. Ok?" She looked at me
pleadingly.

I nodded my head. If my mouth hadn’t been so full of toothpaste and
spit I would have said our little maxim: twins watch out for twins.

We were both 17 and a half (when you’re that close to adulthood you
start counting in fractions), we both had curly brown hair and green eyes.
We were both short, both with normal build. That happens when you’re
identical twins. Of course, we had our differences. Adoncia had short
hair; I had long. She wore a lot of make-up and very little clothes; I was
the exact opposite, layering all of my shirts, wearing baggy pants, and
limiting the make-up to just a little bit of brown eye shadow and
liner.

Our mom burst into the room yelling, "Adoncia Lark, Adele Lysandra! You
had better both have alibis for the last half an hour!" I could
tell mom was mad by the tightness of her lips, the slight squint in the
eyes and the hands on the hips. I wondered what in the world Adoncia had
been doing to get mom this mad.

I went ahead and spit the toothpaste out of my mouth and answered
casually, "I took a walk and then came back to go to bed. I’ve been in
here for about ten minutes." I looked at Adoncia quizzically.

I knew she was nervous but she looked cool and calm, "I’ve been in here
doing my homework. I was over there reading." She nodded toward the desk
where a textbook was lying open.

She looked between both of us for a moment then huffed and left the
room, mumbling about figuring something out. After a I knew she was gone I
looked at Adoncia, "What did you do?" I asked.

"I was out with Jason…"

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for not saying anything. I know you didn’t have to stick up for
me but I know you would have… I owe you one," she said softly, smiling at
me.

"Hey, twins watch out for twins. We each owe so many to the other I’m
not really sure who is in debt to whom by now!" I laughed.

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