The Hidden World

Chapter One

The field and playground of Riverdale kinder-8th grade school looked normal. The tetherball chains, without the burden of their balls, clanked against their poles as a light wind rippled the grass. But inside of Riverdale, it was like an electric storm was brewing, occasional shocks of static electricity filled with weekend excitement jumped from one kid to the next, passed along like a football. Kids who had the curse of a strict teacher, were pretending to read or write as their teacher gave up on the losing battle of quieting their fidgety kids.

That's because it was 3:23 on a warm, Friday, October afternoon, and every kid had a better thing to do than read or tap on a computer or sit behind a desk. As the clock hand shivered to 3:24 the teachers gave up trying to keep their kids in their seats. They could all feel the weekend coming at them, they could sense it, like a farmer senses a storm.

When 3:25 was upon them, doors burst open like hot gas had filled the building and the pressure had become too much for the building to bear. Kids, ages ranging from 5-13 burst from the doors. Brendan Espinosa was carried along in the flow. He ducked under flying footballs and frisbees that were being thrown and caught. He was looking for his twin sister.

Some twins look nothing alike, some twins look a lot alike, and some twins don't look alike at all. But some twins look exactly alike, and that was the type of twin Brendan and his twin sister Kendra were. If they had both been girls or both boys, it would have been impossible for people to tell them apart. But they were boy and girl, Kendra girl and Brendan boy, looking exactly alike. They both had the same shade of blonde hair, light as lemon. Both were exactly the same height, 5.2. They both had the same exact color of eye, light blue, changing to green depending on what they were wearing. They even had the same stride and smile, if you happened to notice things like that.

Even though the Espinosa twins looked exactly alike, they were very different on the inside. Kendra was into horseback riding and loved the outdoors. She also was the best gymnast on the Riverdale Academy team. Brendan liked winter more than summer and didn't enjoy the outdoors as much as her. He was the star kicker on the Riverdale Ravens and was the best skier on their ski team. Yes they were both athletic, which might sound like a trap for comparing and teasing but they weren't compared, or not as much as any other identical twin in Riverdale. They weren't bullied either.

Brendan spotted his sister at the edge of the basketball court. She was reading a book, like always. She was always reading a book.

"Hey," Brendan said, as he caught up to her. She looked up and smiled. "What're ya reading?" Brendan asked.

"I'm reviewing our social studies chapter because I have a feeling it will come in handy to know the date of the Louisiana Purchase for tonight's homework," Kendra informed him. Brendan quietly groaned. They had been assigned a bucket load of homework, which didn't make him happy. Kendra gave him a disapproving look.

"What?" Brendan asked, as they walked toward their bus. "We have sooo much homework that I can't help but groan about it!"

"If you want to pass this year, since you have a C average, you have to do-," Kendra started to say.

"I know I know!" Brendan said. Kendra tucked the social studies textbook underneath her arm and walked up the three steep stairs that led to the neat rows of seats of bus nine.

"What's the homework even about any way?" Brendan asked as he boarded after her.

"It's a test on being clueless," Kendra tossed over her shoulder, "I'm sure you'll ace it."

There were 12 buses that parked in front of Riverdale every day. Bus one was reserved for kindergarten students. Two and up were for everyone above that. But only bus three, nine, and 11 actually went up the mountain towards the cabins at the top. And only 12 went to the very top of the mountain. The twins lived a little less than halfway between Riverdale Town and the end of their neighborhood. The neighborhood, Dandelion Drive, was home to several orderly houses and had got it's name for the dozens of dandelions that sprouted from every crack during dandelion season, which was a thing in Riverdale. Better yet, it only took the twins about 10 minutes to get home, and less in good weather. Bus nine didn't stop in front of their house, so they had to walk for one or two minutes. In the best conditions, it only took them around nine to 10 minutes to get home, walk included. In the worst conditions it took them 14 to 15 minutes to get home.