Creepover Truth or Dare...

Take Two

(Payton)

Cell phone! Oh, no, my cell phone was ringing! I opened my tote bag and scrounged around in a panic. I felt my brush and mirror. My raspberry lip gloss. Ouch, sharp pencil. And phew, my cell phone. I changed the ringer to vibrate. And not a moment too soon because the principal was walking toward us... toward us... and, whew. She walked right by us. My phone went bzzzzt. " Good job, Payton,"  my twin sister, Emma, muttered. "Aren't we in enough trouble without you breaking the no-cell-phones-on-during-school rule, too?" Why yes. Yes, we were in enough trouble. Considering we were on our way to after-school detention. "Plus, we are only allowed to use our cell phones for emergencies. We're already grounded. We don't need to get in anymore trouble." Emma went on and on and on...  I sighed as I walked down the hall. We passed a WELCOME, GECKOS! poster that was peeling off the wall. Someone had drawn a mustache and earrings on the gecko, the school mascot. Only a little more than a week ago, I'd been so psyched to be at this new school. My own locker! New people! Cute guys! Different teachers! Switched classes! But then, we had switched more than classes. We had switched places. And the whole identical twins trading places thing? Hadn't worked out so well for us. Emma and I headed to detention office. Emma and I gulped. We walked in silence down the hall, not looking at each other the entire way, and into guidance office. A dark-haired woman was sitting behind a desk. When she saw us, she stood up and gestured for us to take a seat." I'm Counselor Case," she said. " Please sit down." Emma and I sat down. We gave each other a worried look. " I'm afraid this is a sticky situation," the counselor said. " Twin issues are challenging. It must be hard to be identical twins to feel constantly compared to each other. You must feel like you have to stand out to have your own identity. And sometimes, that can lead trouble. Big trouble." And then she got up suddenly and left the room...