"Yes Julia... that's a great idea... yes... I agree, yeah it would be good for the kid's to know each other better... oh really?... that's great... yeah.. we'd be happy to come! it would be great to see the twins and Malcom again... yes we're home now, the boy's are asleep but they'll be fine for dinner tonight... oh you don't want to know. It was horrible. Zac dyed Taylor's hair blue, they had pillow fights and split the pillows... ok... we'll see you tonight then... at six?.. ok then Julia.. bye bye" Mrs. Hanson said and hung up the phone. Taylor had wondered sleepily into the den just in time to hear the last part of his mom's conversation and he was now wide awake.
"Mom, tell me that I'm going crazy... please tell me that we aren't going over to the Bennet's!" Taylor said to his mother.
"That's a terrible thing to say Taylor... and yes, we are going to the Bennet's for dinner... tonight and you're going" Mrs. Hanson said.
"Mom! Jaymi and Kayla are stuck up cow's! really they are! Malcom's ok but the twins are monsters!" Taylor cried.
"That's enough" Mrs. Hanson said in a tone that Taylor didn't ignore.
"You know Julia is my friend and I don't care how you feel about the twins, I think they are lovely girls. Now, this year they have gone through a bad time with their father. They haven't seen him in a few months. Anyway, you haven't seen the twin's since they were thirteen, I'm sure they have changed, you did... now you will be on your best behaviour tonight and you will be nice to the twin's... understand?" Mrs. Hanson asked. Taylor nodded and got up. He then walked back to the room that he shared with Isaac and Zac.
"Our lives are over as of tonight" Taylor announced once he saw that his brothers were awake. Isaac looked up from the novel he was writing.
"Why?" Isaac asked, sighing.
"We're going over to the Bennet's for dinner tonight!" Taylor said, sitting down on his bed, expecting Isaac and Zac to groan and agree with him that their lives were in fact over.
"Great... we haven't seen Malcom and the twin's for a long time... it'll be good to see them again" Isaac said and returned to his novel.
"Yeah, I'm with Ike" Zac announced from his position on Isaac's bed. Taylor's mouth dropped open.
"You can't be serious! you guy's don't you remember what bitches Jaymi and Kayla were?" Taylor asked. Isaac looked up from his book again, frowning.
"I don't remember them as bitches... I've always liked them... what are you going on about Tay?"
"Taylor... they're not bitches... you gotta get your head checked" Zac said, flipping down so that he was sitting next to Taylor.
"Hang on.. don't you remember?.. they always used to confuse us and switch identities on us!" Taylor said. Isaac laughed.
"They used to confuse you Tay... I could tell them apart... and as I recall, Zac could to"
"They used to confuse you Tay, I could tell them apart... and as I recall, Zac could to" Taylor repeated in a nasty voice. "Come on... you had to dislike them alittle!" "Nope" Came Isaac and Zac's reply.
"Fine then! I'll be the only one in this damn family who knows the truth about those evil twins! Don't expect me to bend over backwards to be nice to those two... I'm the smart one here!" Taylor shouted and stomped out of the bedroom. Isaac and Zac laughed and then returned to what they were doing.
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"I wonder if they look any different?" Jaymi wondered out loud as the twins set the table out on the back porch for dinner. They were going to have a BBQ and for once, Jaymi and Kayla said that they would set the table. Kayla gave Jaymi a strange look.
"Sure they look different... you do have posters of them remember... helloooo anyone home?" she said, giving Jaymi a grin. Jaymi smiled
"Yeah... opps... ohwell... do you think they have different personalities?... from what I can remember, Taylor hated us" Jaymi said. Kayla sighed
"Yeah... but that was our fault... hopefully he will see that we have changed and we wont switch places to try and confuse him" Kayla said laughing.
"I remember that... Taylor used to get so mad at you guy's" Malcom said, walking out carrying a large bowl of salad that Mrs. Bennet had just made. He set it down on the table and Jaymi moved it to where she wanted it. Malcom rolled his eye's and walked back inside to help Mrs. Bennet.
"Do I look ok?" Kayla asked, looking down at her floral patterned sun dress and brown clogs. Jaymi nodded.
"Me?" Jaymi asked. Jaymi was wearing a pair of short denim shorts and a pastel green baby tee, on her feet she had on her new sneakers with anklet socks. Kayla nodded. "My hair ok?" Jaymi asked. Jaymi's hair was swept off of her face and was back in a loose plat which looked great.
"Yes, your hair is fine... is mine?" Kayla asked. Kayla had her hair back in clips that had small pink silk flowers stuck to them. They had been Taylor's present to her for her thirteenth birthday. "Yep" Jaymi replied.
"How bout me... do I look ok?" Malcom said, imitating his sisters in a high, female like voice as he came back out, carrying a platter of raw meat.
"Oh shut up " the twins said at the same time. Malcom laughed and shook his head. After trying 3 times he finally got the BBQ lit and he started to cook the meat. The twin's mucked around on the back lawn. Jaymi had a baseball bat in her hand and was chasing Kayla, playfully swinging the bat at her but making sure that she didn't hit her sister. Finally Jaymi dropped the bat and stopped running, out of breath she ran inside and got a drink, and her sisters inhaler. Kayla was sitting in the middle of the lawn breathing in and out in gasps. Jaymi handed Kayla her inhaler and Kayla took it. After that Malcom told the twin's that they had to calm down. Kayla slipped on her clog's again and they went inside.
"Mom, what time did you say that they were coming??" Jaymi asked Mrs. Bennet.
"They should be here any minute now" Mrs. Bennet replied. The twins smiled at her and walked into the living room. There they sat and talked, and waited for the doorbell to ring.
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"I really don't see the point in me coming... there's so many of us that they won't notice one missing" Taylor said from the back seat of the van.
"Taylor, enough already... you're coming with us and that's final. Now I don't want to hear another word about it ok?" Mrs. Hanson said while her husband concentrated on driving. "But-"
"Not one word" Mrs. Hanson said, cutting her son off. Taylor slumped back against the seat.
"Fine" he mumbled. Taylor was silent for the rest of the ride and when they pulled up in the driveway he was ready to refuse to get out of the van, but decided against it. He slowly got out and followed his mother and the rest of his family up to the front door. Mrs. Hanson pressed the bell and the twins answered the door. Taylor took one look at Jaymi or Kayla (he didn't know who was who) and decided that he liked what he saw. He looked over at Isaac and by the grin on Isaac's face, Taylor could tell that Isaac liked what he saw to. The teenagers stood around awkwardly as their mothers greeted each other.
"Jaymi, Kayla... why don't you take Isaac, Taylor and Zac out to the backyard so they can say hi to Malcom" Mrs. Bennet suggested.
"Ok" said Kayla or Jaymi. Taylor and his brothers followed the twins out to the backyard and they talked to Malcom for a while. Then, the five of them went and sat on the back lawn in a small circle, not saying anything. Taylor still didn't know which one was Kayla and which one was Jaymi. Then he noticed the clips and decided to take a chance.
"Hey, aren't those the clips I gave you for your birthday?" He asked. Kayla or Jaymi smiled and nodded.
"Yep they sure are... I was wondering if you would remember" she said happily. Ok, now Taylor knew who Kayla was and who Jaymi was. Taylor started to wonder if he should change his opinion on the twins.
"Taylor... don't get me wrong or anything but your hair looks just the slightest bit blue" Jaymi said, peering at Taylor's hair. Taylor blushed and looked at the ground.
"That's 'cause I put food dye in his shampoo bottle" Zac said. The twins cracked up laughing. "I gotta try that!" Jaymi said.
"Don't even think about trying it on me!" Kayla warned her sister.
"Don't hit me or anything but you guy's have changed so much!" Isaac said, smiling at Kayla and Jaymi.
"Well, I should hope so! I was a real bitch when I was thirteen.... come to think of it.. so was Kayla. We used to hate each other... I think that was our most violent year" Jaymi said. Kayla nodded.
"We hit, kicked, pushed, pulled, screamed, punched... we used to beat the hell out of each other" Kayla said.
"I remember two girls who used to confuse me because they thought it was funny" Taylor spoke up.
"We did that to... sorry about that... but ya gotta admit, it was just a little funny" Jaymi said. Just then Malcom announced that dinner was ready. The five of them got their food and went back to their place on the lawn. Malcom soon joined them.
"Ugh... Malcom! what is this crap?" Jaymi asked, holding up a round burnt thing.
"That is a rissole" Malcom said pointing at it with his plastic fork. Jaymi made a face and dropped the piece of meat back onto her paper plate. They ate silently and when they were finished they played a game of partner hide and seek. Malcom and Isaac decided not to play so Jaymi, Kayla, Taylor and Zac did. Kayla and Zac paired together and Taylor and Jaymi. Kayla and Zac were "it" so they went up to the porch to count. It was kind of a childish thing to do but they all had a good time. By the time the Hanson family went home, Taylor had definitely changed his opinion on Kayla and Jaymi.
Chapter Three- They Have Talent!