CHAPTER I

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Beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep.

A moan rose from the sleeper as his clock's alarm blared from his bedside desk. He reached out a hand and slapped the surface's desk several times in several places before finally locating the clock and hitting the "snooze" button.

"Oh, no you don't!"

On the final word, a pillow hit the sleeper's blanketed body.

"Hey!" Addison Woods lifted his head, blinking blearily—and angrily—at the person who'd thrown the pillow. "What the heck?"

Standing at his bedside with her hands on her hips was his twin sister Veronika, fully dressed in a short golden dress, striped amber leggings, a matching scarf, and matching fingerless gloves that enveloped her forearms.

"'What the heck' yourself, Addi," Veronika scoffed in response to her brother's exclamation. "Are you really planning to make us late on the first day of senior year?" She picked up the pillow she'd thrown and smacked Addison with it. "Come on; get your tail outta bed and get dressed."

Addison gaped at her, his eyes wide. "Veronika?" he whispered, shocked. "What... what are you—"


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"'What the heck' yourself, Addi," Veronika scoffed in response to her brother's exclamation. "Are you really planning to make us late on the first day of senior year?" She picked up the pillow she'd thrown and smacked Addison with it. "Come on; get your tail outta bed and get dressed."

"Five more minutes," Addison groaned, pulling his blanket back over his head.

"NO!" Veronika grabbed Addison's fluffy beige-and-green tail and pulled on it, trying to drag him out of the bed. "Get... up!" she grunted.

"Lemme go!" Addison wailed, clutching his bedpost. "It's just five more minutes!"

"You are not gonna mess up my attendance record, mister!" Veronika yelled back, tugging even harder.

Finally, Addison lost his grip on the bedpost, and the two twins went flying before landing hard on the wooden floor, with Addison sprawled over Veronika's stomach.

"Ugh! Get off!" Veronika snapped, shoving Addison off of her. She stood and brushed hair and fur off her clothes, complaining, "Seriously? You're shedding?"

"Oh, like you don't shed, too!" Addison shot back, getting to his feet and wrapping his blanket around himself. "And at least shedding's all I do at this time of the month!"

"Don't make me hit you," Veronika warned, holding up a fist.

"You already hit me with a pillow!" Addison protested.

36. P̶ O̶ W̶ E̶ R̶ :̶ D̶r̶e̶a̶m̶s̶    |    BlacksdaleWhere stories live. Discover now