Double Trouble: An All Grown Up fanfiction

Chapter 1: Lil

I was feeling annoyed as I slid my wet plastic tray through the once-again slow lunch line in the high school's cafeteria, the smell of pasta and fruit punch overwhelming me. On my tray was a plate of pasta, a water, a bag of pretzels and a cup of mango. Identical to what was on his tray.

"Really? No lunch money, and on top of that, you have to match my lunch, of course," I sneered at him, after paying the angry-looking lunch lady $5.89, for both of out lunches, since he had 'forgotten' to bring lunch money, again.

"Him" was my twin brother, Phil, looked sheepish as he plucked napkins from the dispenser. "Sorry, Lil, I'll pay you back, after I'm finished being grounded." I rolled my eyes as I absorbed this excuse. Phil, the dunce, had knocked over and completely shattered an antique vase at Kimi's house. Kimi is my best friend, and Kimi's mother was so upset, she almost passed out. Long story short, Mom grabs Phil, makes him run sprints, and grounds him for the next month. Go figure.

"Hey, Lil, over here!"

I turned around and saw Diane waving at me from her table, with her other cool friends. What could they possibly want from me? I started walking over, and called over my shoulder, "Hey, Phil, catch up with you later!" I put my tray down next to one of the cutest guys in our grade: Brett. He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

"So, did you heard about my party this Friday? It's boy-girl, but I'm only inviting the coolest people, and we decided we kinda like you. So, wanna come?" Diane asked, leaning forward and giving me a dazzling smile.

I grinned. "Sure!" I exclaimed.

Lindsay, her best friend, looked at Diane and whispered in a low voice, "Don't forget to tell her about you-know-who."

I was confused. "Who?"

"Your brother Phil," Diane explained. "No offense, but he's, like, S.I. Socially inept. And needs to use deodorant, like, stat!" She giggled, and Brett laughed. I felt like they shared an inside joke, and I didn't understand.

My brother was a little smelly and gross and immature, plus a serious slob, since his side of our bedroom was trashed, but despite all of that, he was actually a pretty sweet and loyal twin. We always had a blast at the arcade in town, playing our favorite game, together and beating everyone's high scores. I was older, and it was my job to defend him when he needed me. I opened my mouth as Diane looked at me expectantly.

"And, Lil, there's absolutely NO WAY Phil would crash my party, right?" she asked sweetly, with a slight edge in her voice. I bit my lip.

I shut my mouth and thought some more. Phil did embarrass me a lot, around our school, with his stupid pranks on me, like putting chunky peanut butter in my shoes and pulling my hair. Diane was SO right! I opened my mouth again, and I said, "You're totally right, Diane. I do need a little space from him. And of course, I'll make sure that he won't crash the party! It'll be awesome." Diane smiled and nodded. Good, she was satisfied, for now.

"We should totally go shopping after school to shop for outfits. Friday is so far away, so we'll need to perfect our outfits for the dance floor," Diane suggested, and I nodded eagerly. Suddenly, Phil sneaked up behind me and tugged at my hair. I yelped and turned around to glare at him.

His face was lit up in a troublesome grin, and his white t-shirt was smeared with cherry licorice juice, and his hair was frazzled and messy. I winced as I watched Diane and Lindsay exchange looks and wrinkle their noses.

"Guess what?" he told me, "Dil smelled my armpit and thought it was fish!" He guffawed and snorted. "It was totally hilarious!"

"Phil," I hissed through my teeth angrily, "What the heck are you doing here?!" Diane cleared her throat and nodded at Brett and Lindsay, who got up and said goodbye, and with a turn, they sauntered away. I turned back to my brother, whose grin had faded.

"You used to love to play that with me!"

"Like, a million years ago, maybe!"

"You mean, a billion."

"Ugh!"

"Come on, we've done this. Now, you say, 'a mega-gazillion'."

"You are so socially inept!" I snapped at my twin, who shuffled his feet awkwardly and avoided my eyes. I stood up and stomped off, not caring about my brother's response.

***

~Francesca