"Ashley!" My mom yelled from downstairs. I groaned and rolled over. Nine o'clock. It's nine in the morning on the last day of summer break. Why is she waking me up so early?

"Ashley!" Mom said, opening my door when I didn't answer her.

"What?" I mumbled into my pillow.

"I'm leaving now and I won't be home until supper. Can you please come downstairs and watch Kira and Andy?"

"Mom," I whined, rolling over to face her. "It's the last day of summer break. I want to laze around."

"Be lazy downstairs," Mom said to me. "I don't want your brother and sister getting themselves into trouble."

"Fine," I groaned, getting out of bed. Mom took hold of my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

"Thank you," she smiled at me. "I knew I could count on you. I'll order in dinner tonight, okay? Pizza?"

"Not pizza," I said. "The twins always get pizza. Can we order in from Demitri's?"

Mom smiled at me and pulled me into a hug.

"I know it's hard with your dad away. Thanks for helping out," she said.

"It's okay. Kira and Andrew are brats, but I love them," I smirked at Mom. She smirked back.

"I know you do," she said.

"And I love you too. Even if you wake me up at nine am on my last day of summer vacation."

"Now who's the brat?" Mom laughed. I smiled.

"Go, you're going to be late. I've got the brats. I'm just going to use the washroom and change. Tell them not to burn the house down before I get down there," I said, going into my bathroom. That was one advantage of being the oldest. I had a bathroom attached to my room. Kira and Andrew had to share the bathroom between their bedrooms.

"But it's okay for them to burn it down when you get downstairs?" Mom smiled.

"Obviously," I laughed.

Mom gave me another quick hug and kiss on the head, and left. I heard her telling the twins I would be down soon and to listen to me. And behave.

They would. Honestly, I really do love my brother and sister. They're eight years old and really pretty smart. They have amazing senses of humour and most of the time, we get along. They can be bratty, but with almost seven years between us, I guess it's really just a matter of perspective. I complain about them to my friends, because doesn't everyone complain about their siblings at one point or another? But the truth is, I would die for those two. I would throw myself in front of a bus for them. No one touches my brother and sister without going through me first.

I used the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and went back into my room where I quickly changed into track pants and a t-shirt, ran a brush through my hair put it in a loose ponytail, and went downstairs.

"Okay brats, what trouble are you getting up to already?" I asked, seeing Andy on the kitchen stool at the stove and Kira looking in the pantry.

"We wanted to make you pancakes," Andy said.

"You're not even allowed to use the stove!" I said, making Andy get off the stool by the stove.

"Well, that was the first problem," Andy said. "The second is, we have no pancake mix."

I sighed, but I smiled.

"So, you wanted to make me pancakes. That's nice. Why?"

"Can we go to the pool today?" Kira asked, batting her brown eyes and looking up at me from between the bangs of her strawberry-blonde hair. I looked over at Andy who was looking at me pleadingly, his matching eyes also pleading with me to say yes.

I sighed again, I'm good at that, and made it look like I was thinking really hard on it. We have a pool in our backyard but I know the twins want to go to the public pool in the neighborhood where they could swim with friends. We're not allowed to have friends over to swim when Mom and Dad are out. But the public pool has lifeguards, so we're allowed to go there.

"I don't know..." I said, pretending to contemplate.

"Please?" Kira said, wrapping her arms around me. "We'll be your best friends."

"Ew!" I said, looking down at her. "Why would I want you two as my best friends?" I smirked.

"I'll clean your room for a week!" Andy said. An easy task. I kept my room pretty clean.

"I don't know. That's not much of a trade-off," I said.

"I'll do your chores for a month!" Kira said.

"Now we're getting somewhere," I winked at Andy.

"I'll do them for a year!" Andy said. I laughed.

"Okay, okay! We can go to the pool. And you don't have to do my chores. But," I said, looking at the two of them. "Rules. One, clean this kitchen up and I'll make us some pancakes from scratch. You two clean up from that while I pack the pool bag."

"Yay! Okay!" The twins cheered.

"Rule number two," I said. "I'm in charge so when I tell you it's time to go, it's time to go."

"Fair," Andy said. Kira nodded.

"Rule number three. No running ahead of me, no running at the pool and no going anywhere without telling me. Even if it's just to pee. Just pee in the pool."

"Ew! Ashley! That's disgusting!" Kira laughed. "But okay. Fair rules. And is rule number four 'pretend you don't know me'?"

"No. You may, however, address me as 'the great and wonderful Ashley'," I smiled, as I pulled out eggs, milk, and butter from the fridge, and flour, sugar, baking powder, and chocolate chips from the pantry.

"Chocolate chip pancakes?" The twins cheered.

"Last day of summer break. We should have a special breakfast," I smiled.

The twins smiled up at me and got to setting the table and cleaning up the mess they'd made pulling stuff out of the pantry to find the non-existent pancake mix. Luckily, our grandma had taught me how to make them from scratch when I was their age, and I've been doing it ever since. But the mix is a good backup. Mom uses it on the rare mornings when we have time for a hot breakfast. Getting three kids up and off to school didn't always go so smoothly. Andy sleeps like a rock. A bomb could go off, and he'd probably still sleep through it. Kira, on the other hand, would wake up if you thought her name. And me? I'm fifteen. I just want to sleep as much as I can. I usually wait until the last possible moment before I would run out of time to get ready for my own personal standards.

I mixed the pancake batter, poured in chocolate chips, let the twins each put in an extra handful 'for luck,' and started spooning the mix onto the griddle on the stovetop.

Kira got the syrup out of the fridge, Andy put the butter and cutlery on the table, and the plates were on the counter beside me. He smiled at me, and I ruffled his hair. He'd lost his front teeth at the beginning of the summer, and the adult teeth were just starting to come through. He had an adorable lopsided smile.

"Dude! The hair!" He said, dodging me.

"Please!" I laughed. Andy's hair was always cropped pretty short. It was simply not possible to mess up his hair.

I brought the plates to the table for the twins before grabbing mine and joining them at the table. I put some butter on my pancakes and poured syrup for myself and the twins. Left to their own devices, the entire bottle of Mrs. Buttersworth would be on their plates. If they wanted more, fine, but if we let them pour their own, we'd swim in it.

"Ash? I'm thirsty," Kira said. "Can I have juice?"

"Oh!" I said, looking at the table. "Sorry, Bug! Orange or apple?"

"Apple if we have any," Kira said.

"Andy?" I asked as I got up to get juice.

"Coffee," he said.

"Funny," I said back.

"Orange," he said through a mouthful of pancake.

"Gross," I said, wrinkling my nose up at him. He responded by opening his mouth wide and showing me the whole contents of his masticated pancake. "You're so disgusting."

He grinned at me, turned around, and evidently showed Kira, who then squealed at him and told him he was disgusting.

I got the orange juice from the fridge and looked for the apple juice.

"Ki," I said. "I think we're out of apple juice."

"Oh. Orange is fine, then. It doesn't have pulp, does it? I hate pulp."

"I know. And no. You know Mom only buys the pulp free," I smiled. I agreed with Kira. The pulp in orange juice is gross. I don't want to chew my juice.

Once they'd both had their juice, we finished our breakfast, and I helped clear the dishes off the table. I put the griddle in the sink and ran cold water over it so the twins could do the dishes without burning themselves. The griddle had cooled down, but I didn't want to take any chances.

"Okay, brats," I said once the table was clear. "Do the dishes and load the dishwasher. I'll go pack the pool bag. Grab some snacks. And at least two pieces of fruit each. And not too much junk."

"But some junk?" Andy said, grinning at me.

"Yeah, yeah. Some. But if you try to pack what I think you're thinking of, you can carry the bag," I said.

Andy frowned at me. Given the chance, he'd pack a case of chips and chocolate. And since Dad works for a snack company, we have a lot of chips and chocolate, gum, and other candies. The novelty wears off pretty quickly when you can get pretty much any treat you want from your own pantry.

I mock frowned at Andy, shot him and Kira a warning look, and went upstairs. I could hear the twins in the kitchen laughing while they washed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. I changed into a bathing suit, put on shorts and my favorite band t-shirt, tightened my ponytail, and pulled out the backpack that would hold my binders, laptop, pens, and stuff tomorrow. But for today, it was still a summer backpack.

I went out into the hallway and pulled four towels out of the closet. Andy and Kira would each use one and I always pack an extra one. I also tossed my earbuds into the front pocket, a magazine I was reading, and my book. I put my phone in my shorts pocket and put my sandals on. I went into Kira's room and grabbed her a change of clothes and then did the same in Andy's room. They never remember a change of clothes and somehow always manage to need dry clothes. I have yet to understand how they manage to get everything wet. But I always grabbed extras because Mom always did. It made sense. As an afterthought, I returned to my room and grabbed a sweatshirt, just in case.

"Okay, you two," I said, seeing they'd already managed to soak themselves. "I guess we don't actually have to go to the pool. You're already soaked!"

"No, we aren't!" Andy said, water dripping from his hair. "''Tis but a flesh wound."

"I should never have let you watch 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'," I said, rolling my eyes. "Go get changed. I'll clean up from you two cleaning up."

I laughed as I pretended to chase them out of the kitchen, and set about mopping up the water they'd managed to get all over the floor and counters. On the table was an array of snack foods. Andy had clearly been the one to gather them. No fewer than seven chocolate bars, four big bags of chips, and three tiny clementines. After I mopped up all the water, I pulled three more clementines and three apples out of the fridge, put one bag of chips in my backpack, and put three chocolate bars in a plastic bag that I also put a freezer pack in to keep the chocolate from melting in the sun. A little trick my best friend Erica Cewellan taught me. I tossed in three bottles of water and three juice boxes—fruit punch.

The twins came rushing down the stairs in their bathing suits and a t-shirt covering them.

"Sunscreen," I said, pointing to the front door where we kept our shoes, sunscreen, and hats on a shoe bench.

Once we were all slathered up, I ensured I had my house key, texted Mom to let her know we were going to the pool, and then texted Erica.

"I'm taking the brats to the pool. Please come keep me sane."

The three of us left the house, with Andy and Kira skipping ahead. I let them get just a little ahead before reminding them not to get too far. Kira stopped and waited for me. Andy just slowed down a little.

My phone buzzed as I caught up to Kira—a text from Mom.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm sure that'll make them easier to handle. Just be careful, okay? Hold their hands when you cross the street."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. Mom was not exactly overprotective, but still, just a little. I called out to the twins as we got to the first crosswalk. The pool was only two blocks away, and we lived on a side street off a side street off the main road. But Mom still worried someone would come tearing out of the streets and flatten the twins. Mostly because Andy paid almost no attention to his surroundings, and Kira was always off in some daydream.

I took their hands as we crossed the street.

"Ash?" Kira asked.

"Yep?" I asked.

"What's third grade like?" She asked. Kira worried every year about what school would be like. She's a little introverted and sometimes has trouble making friends because Andy is so outgoing. People gravitate to him, and Kira sometimes gets left in the dust.

"Oh, third grade is really hard," I said. "You'll have to dissect a frog, come up with a plan for world peace, and calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow."

"Eleven meters per second," she said.

"What?" I asked.

"The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is eleven meters per second," she explained.

"How in the world do you know that?" I asked, googling the question and finding out she was right.

"Andy kept running around asking after we watched Monty Python, so I looked it up. And now I know it, so I can answer," she grinned.

"Well, and now you taught me something," I smiled back at her. "But truthfully, Ki, you're going to be just fine in third grade. Aren't Madison and Taylor in your class again?"

"Madison is. Taylor moved to Connecticut in July. Her dad got transferred to Yale!"

Taylor's dad was a professor but he was also a scientist so I guess his research took him to Yale. I felt bad for Kira. As close as she was with Madison, she'd been closer friends with Taylor.

"Oh. I didn't know that. I'm sorry, Ki," I said, giving her a little bit of a hug. "You'll still have Madison. And maybe you'll have a new student who's never been to your school. Make them your friend."

"But what if they don't want to be my friend?" Kira asked.

"Why wouldn't they? You're cute, you're funny, you're super smart, and you're cool!" I said to her. She smiled up at me.

"You really think I'm cool?" She asked.

"You are one of the coolest eight-year-olds I know," I said.

"Who are the other eight-year-olds you know that are cool? Andy?" She asked.

"Ew. No. Not Andy. He's a big nerd. And he's a boy. Boys are gross."

Kira giggled. I hated that she worried about making friends because she really is an amazing kid. She really is super smart and funny. And she is cool. How many eight-year-olds do you know who listen to blink-182, Simple Plan, The Offspring, and Black Veil Brides? Most of their friends were still listening to K-pop, Taylor Swift (not to bash Taylor, she's very talented and her music doesn't suck, it's just not my style), and Olivia Rodrigo. My siblings stopped listening to Fisher Price CDs when they were 18 months old. They always wanted to listen to 'Asa's music'. They couldn't pronounce my name until they were almost three. The 'sh' stymied them somehow.

We'd reached the second crosswalk and Andy had stopped, waiting for Kira and I to catch up to him. Impulsive though he may be, Andy knew the rules and usually abided by them. He took my hand as I approached and the three of us crossed the street, after checking both ways.

Just over the hill was the community pool, and I let the twins run ahead. They stayed on the path and waited at the entrance for me to catch up. I showed our family membership card and the attendant let us in.

"Showers before going in the pool," Charlie Wanless, a classmate of mine who worked at the pool in the summer said, bored.

"Hey, Charlie," I smiled.

"Hey, Ash. Oh no. You brought the Holy Terrors? I thought we banned you two," Charlie winked at my brother and sister. Kira looked concerned. She knew she hadn't gotten into trouble at the pool. Andy put his hands on his hips and looked defiantly at Charlie.

"You must be thinking of someone else. Kira and I are perfect angels," he said.

I coughed trying to hide a laugh. Charlie, however, didn't. He broke down into gales of laughter. Kira visibly relaxed when she realized Charlie had been joking.

"Riiiight," Charlie said. "Perfect angels. Go on in. And don't forget to shower!"

We went to the outdoor showers so I could keep an eye on both Kira and Andy. I never liked the idea of Andy going into the men's locker room alone, and at eight, people took issue with him being in the women's locker room. And they had the same soap as the outdoor showers.

"Okay, let's get chairs and then you two shower before you go in the pool. Clear?"

"Crystal," a voice behind me said. "Hey guys!"

"Erica!" Kira cried, hugging my best friend. Andy smiled up at her.

"Hey brats. Why'd you bring this loser with you to the pool?" Erica smiled at the twins.

"Wow. Thanks so much! And to think, I loaned you my sweatshirt for tomorrow," I laughed.

Erica grinned at me as we headed to the lounge chairs beside the pool.

"I got you guys chairs," Erica said. "Thought I'd save you a little time. "

"Thanks," I smiled, dropping my bag beside one of the chairs before pulling the towels out and setting up our spot. Kira and Andy dropped their T-shirts and started running towards the showers.

"Hey!" I called out. "No running!"

They stopped running but were fast-walking. I didn't bother saying anything this time.

"The twins ready for third grade?" Erica asked me.

"Andy is for sure. Kira's a little worried because Taylor moved to Connecticut," I said.

"Aw. Poor kid," Erica said. "You know, I've always loved that your mom and dad didn't give them matching names. Or, like rhyming or starting with the same letter. Like, Andrew and Andrea."

"Mom insisted that they are two different people, with two different personalities, so they would be named as if they were born separate," I said. I agreed. They are different people. Andy is outgoing, rough and tumble, loud, and, as Mom says, 'all boy'. Kira, on the other hand, is much more reserved, quiet and careful. She hates the idea of people being left out or hurt. Even though it frequently meant she was the one left out. Andy's gregariousness often left Kira in the background, forgotten. Dad used to joke that she was such a quiet baby, they almost left her at the hospital. Until finally, Kira spoke up and told him she didn't find it funny. She was six.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Erica asked.

"We aren't freshmen anymore, so yeah. How bad could it be? We know the school, the seniors won't care about us, because they'll have new freshmen to torment and the juniors will be too busy pretending to be seniors to pay us any attention. Sophomore year is like being a middle child. Everyone knows you exist, but no one really pays any attention. It's the perfect fly-under-the-radar year," I said.

"Facts, " Erica said.

I sat back on my lounge chair and put in an earbud, handing the other to Erica. We shared practically everything. Including our birthday. November 15. Except Erica was born in New York and I had lived in California my whole life. Erica and her parents moved here when we were three, and registered her at the same preschool my parents had registered me at. She had been so scared on that first day and had been sitting alone by the cubbies, crying. I saw her and didn't want her to be sad, so I went and sat with her. We've been best friends ever since. Mom and Dad call her my 'meant to be twin'. We always planned our birthday parties together. It sort of forced my parents to be friends with Erica's parents, since we insisted on doing everything together. We both called each other's parents 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Erica's parents treat me like their own, and my parents treat Erica the same.

Erica had had a brother but he'd died when Erica was two. He'd been born with a congenital heart defect and was only six months old when he died. That's when they decided to leave New York. Too many memories of Erica's brother, Toby. Erica's dad is an entertainment lawyer, so California makes just as much sense as New York.

Erica doesn't talk about Toby much, but there are some photos of him around their house. He was a cute baby. But he did look a little sickly. Big, big eyes, tiny, narrow, thin face. One of my favorite photos of him, though, was one they took while giving him a bath. It was probably a month or so before he died. He has this adorable goofy toothless grin on his face, his blonde curls are wet and there's a drop of water on his eyelashes. He's holding the washcloth and had probably just been sucking on it before grinning at the camera. He had it in his tiny little fist and his bright blue eyes were smiling along with him. Erica says she doesn't really remember him, but that she still misses him even though. I kind of understand. Between me and the twins, Mom had two miscarriages. I know it's not the same. Erica got to know, see, and touch Toby. I never even saw Mom's stomach grow, really. The babies were too small for that. But I sometimes wonder what those two babies might have been like. Would they have been like Andy and Kira? Or would they be totally different? And would Mom have had the twins if one or both of the other two babies had survived? I wondered if that'd be rude to ask Mom. Don't get me wrong. I couldn't imagine the world without Kira and Andy.

"Earth to Ashley," Andy was splashing water on me from his hair.

"What do you want, brat?" I frowned.

"I'm hungry. Can I have a chocolate bar?"

"No," I said. "You can have an apple or two clementines." Andy frowned at me and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Ashley," he whined. "I drank orange juice at breakfast. That's fruit."

"Nice try. Fruit or nothing. In a little while, come back with Kira and we'll have a picnic with the junk," I said. I'm not a total barbarian.

"Fine," he sighed, exasperated. "I'll have a clementine."

"You found the smallest clementines ever. Two,@ I said, handing him the fruit. He stuck his tongue out but took the two tiny gloves and sat on the end of my lounge chair, peeling them.

"Here," I said, reaching towards him. "Give me the peels. I've got a plastic bag we can use for garbage."

"Wow. Are you sure you're not their mother?" Erica asked.

"Thank god, no," I said.

"Hey!" Andy said, turning to me.

"You'd want me in charge of everything in your life?"

"Oh god, no. Okay. I'd rather you a sister than Mom," he shuddered.

"Shut up, brat," I said, tossing a piece of clementine peel at him.

"Andy? Where's Kira?" I asked, looking back up at the corner of the pool where I'd last seen her sitting on the steps and running her fingers through the water. She wasn't there.

"She's in the pool. On the stairs," Andy said, looking up.

"No she isn't," I said, standing up. Erica was on her feet. "I don't see her. Andy, stay here. Do not move from this spot."

He nodded at me, his eyes a little fearful. Both of us were probably worried about the same thing. Was she under the water? Both twins were good swimmers, but accidents happen.

"Kira!" I shouted. Moms with little kids started standing up and looking around. "Kira!"

I ran to the stairs to the pool. The lifeguard standing there asked me if I was okay.

"My sister. I can't find her. She was just here on the steps. But I don't see her," I said breathlessly. The lifeguard blew his whistle and told all the swimmers to go to the edge of the pool. As the water settled, I saw something on the bottom of the pool closer to the deep end. Kira isn't allowed in the deep end here.

Once the water was settled I noticed that it was a dive toy on the bottom of the pool. And way too small to be Kira. But where was she?

"Kira!" I screamed, looking around.

"Ashley! I'm right here!" Kira said, touching my foot from the lounge chair she was sitting in front of.

"Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"

"Because I'm, like, right here. The pool is right there."

"All good?" The lifeguard asked.

"Yeah, thanks," I breathed. He blew his whistle to let everyone know all clear and they could go back to swimming.

I pulled her up and hugged her.

"Ashley!" She whined. "Let me go. Omigod you're embarrassing me."

"Sorry, miss," I frowned at her. "But I didn't see you and I got scared. How am I supposed to explain to Mom that I left you here?"

"You wouldn't leave me here, would you?" Kira asked. I put my hands on my hips and looked at her with a mocking stern look and pretended to lower glasses on my nose.

"Do you think I could ever do that?" I asked in a funny voice. Kira smiled.

"No, you wouldn't," she said.

"Of course not. Mom would kill me," I joked. Kira pretended to hit me.

"Oh! Meet Emma. Her and her mom just moved here from San Diego!" Kira said, excitedly. "Emma, this is my big sister, Ashley. She's in high school."

"Hi," Emma said, quietly.

"Hi, Emma," I smiled at her.

"I'm Emma's mom," the lady relaxing on the lounge chair in a bikini, said. She looked good in a bikini. "You can call me Grace. The girls seem to have hit it off."

I smiled. I found talking to other people's parents awkward. Well, everyone but Erica's, obviously.

"Yeah. I'm glad, too."

"So I'm guessing you live around here," Grace said. "We just moved onto Recida Lane."

"Oh! We're just a block before you from here. We're on Hacienda Crescent."

"Wonderful! Then unless you all go to private school, I'm guessing the girls will be at Second Pine Elementary together."

I nodded.

"Kira and Andy are going into the third grade. They're in Ms. Palermo's class," I said.

"Kira and Andy?" Grace asked.

"Kira's twin brother," I said, shooting Kira a look. She looked away from me.

"Kira didn't mention she had a brother," Grace smiled. "But then, she also didn't mention she had an older sister, either. But that's kids, isn't it?"

I shrugged. I guess that's kids.

"Tell you what, I'll give you my phone number. Pass it on to your mom and we'll plan a playdate for the girls," she said, pulling out a business card and stretching to hand it to me. It said she was a real estate agent. Grace Realty. Oh. I guess she owned the business.

"Yes," she said. "It is my company."

"Oh. Okay. Cool. I'll give this to my mom. Kira, you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Ashley," she said through clenched teeth.

"Okay, okay. Come back if you want a snack. Andy's having his fruit," I said. Kira craned her neck and smiled.

"No he isn't," she laughed. I looked over at our lounge chairs and saw Andy eating a chocolate bar, the clementines, peeled, sitting on my towel. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, he was supposed to. Anyway, come back when you want a snack. Emma can share with us," I smiled.

"Okay, fine. Now go!" Kira whispered to me. I chuckled to myself as I shook my head and walked back to our spot.

"Andrew Benjamin Superstes," I said, standing over him and blocking the sun, letting my shadow loom over him. "What is Mom and Dad's number one rule about junk food?"

"Umm, always share? Erica? Want a bite?" He held the chocolate bar out to her. I snatched it out of his hand.

"Something healthy first. Finish your fruit and then you can have your chocolate bar."

Andy begrudgingly grabbed the clementines and shoved half of one in his mouth.

"You won't be able to enjoy your chocolate bar if you choke to death," I said. He slowed his chewing down and swallowed carefully.

"Ashley? Can we have some chips?" Kira asked, coming up to our spot with Emma. 

"Fruit first," I said to Kira. "Apple or clementines."

"Can I have one clementine and Emma has the other one?"

"Emma? Are you allergic to anything?" I asked.

"No. Well, ragweed, but no one eats that," she smiled. Kira and Emma broke down into gales of giggling.

"Okay," I said. "Well, in our house, it's a rule that you have to eat something healthy before junk food. I know we're not at our house and they're not your rules, but..."

"Fruit is good for you anyway," Kira interrupted me. "And clementines are yummy."

"That's okay," Emma said. "I like clementines."

Kira handed Emma a clementine and the two of them sat on the lounge chair beside me on Kira's towel.

"How come she doesn't have to eat two?" Andy complained.

"Because she's sharing with her friend," I growled at Andy, hoping he got the message to leave Kira alone and let her make a friend without him interfering. He rolled his eyes and I handed him the rest of his chocolate bar as he put the last bit of his clementine in his mouth. He glared at me a bit, but I just glared back. No eight-year-old is going to intimidate me. Especially not my brother.

I opened the bag of chips and handed out bottles of water. I offered one to Emma and decided I'd make do. I probably wasn't going to have many chips anyway. I still had my apple. I handed Erica a clementine.

Emma and Kira sat together on one lounge chair, taking from the bag of chips in front of me. Andy sat on the end of my chair, watching Kira and Emma. He looked like he wanted to interject, but he was holding back. When it came to his twin sister, Andy was fiercely protective, but he's also only eight years old, and I think he was feeling a little left out.

"Andy, I brought a deck of cards. Want to play War? Or Fish?" I asked him.

"Nah. That's okay. Trevor and Dillon are by the snack bar. Can I go over there? And can I get a Coke?"

His water bottle was half empty, he'd had fruit and only a few chips. And hey, I'm the fun big sister! I handed him a five-dollar bill and waved him away, smiling.

"Thanks, Ash!" Andy said, getting up. I watched from our spot as Andy met up with his friends and bought a drink. The server handed him a tray with three drinks. I frowned as he came back.

"I got one for you and one for Kira to share," he said, handing me two dollars in change and offering the tray to Kira. She looked up at her brother and smiled.

"Thanks, Andy," Kira smiled.

"Maybe you're not such a brat," I said quietly to him as I took my drink and the cardboard tray. He smiled at me.

"Kira finally has a friend that isn't Madison," he said. Even he'd noticed Kira's difficulties making friends sometimes. I was really proud of my little brother. I ruffled his hair again.

"Go hang with your friends," I said. He smiled, took his cup, and went back to his friends by the snack bar. One of them had ordered fries, and I watched as Andy shared with them.

"He's kinda sweet," Erica said. "Some girl is going to be really lucky to have him as a boyfriend. Or boy. No judgment."

"Yeah, he's sweet when he wants to be," I said to Erica, settling back in my chair and handing her the cup of Coke. Obviously, I'm going to share with her, too.

Emma and Kira wound up staying by us, so I made Kira put on more sunscreen. She insisted Emma should, too, and handed her the bottle. I smiled. Kira was kind and sweet. The world could eat her up if she didn't toughen up a little. But she's so sweet, I never want her to grow up, either.

Erica and I talked about the next day, and what we were wearing. I'd loaned her my Twentyone Pilots sweatshirt which she said she was pairing with a pair of denim cutoff shorts, ankle socks, and low-cut Converse sneakers. She planned to wear her Bandito Tour t-shirt under the sweatshirt for later in the day when it would be warmer.

I was planning on wearing my The Offspring tour shirt from this summer's tour. My dad had gotten me tickets and had let me and Erica go by ourselves! With strict rules that included checking in throughout the night by text, and meeting my dad outside the venue the instant the concert ended. So no trying to hang out near the stage door and meet the band. But we had our whole lives ahead of us to go to concerts and try to meet the bands.

For my outfit, though, I was going to wear a pair of black ripped jeans, black and white Vans sneakers, and a blue and black flannel shirt undone over top. I'd tie it around my waist when I got too warm.

We talked about our schedules, what we knew about the teachers we had, and the usual mundane day-before-the-first-day-of-school stuff.

At three I told the twins it was time to head home. I was hot, tired, and had had enough of being outside. They only complained a little but helped me pack up our towels. Emma went back to her mom's spot as we packed up, and Kira and Andy threw out the little bit of garbage we'd amassed.

"See you tomorrow," Erica waved as we got our sandals on. "Be good, brats!"

Andy stuck his tongue due out at Erica, who laughed and stuck hers out back at him. Emma and her mom waved at us as we passed them to go out through the pool entrance.

Once we were home, the twins took off to get changed out of bathing suits and went down to the playroom in the basement. I went up to my room, took a shower, and changed back into my sweatpants and a t-shirt. Mom would be home by six with dinner. But we hadn't really had lunch, so I put some cheese and crackers with some lunch meat on a plate and brought it down to the twins, who were playing Xbox together.

People think boy-girl twins don't get along but Kira and Andrew really rarely fight. It's pretty cool to watch. When they were babies, Kira was a little more needy than Andy and there were times Andy would start sort of crying for a bottle and Kira would suddenly start wailing. She seemed to go from 'I'm not hungry' to 'I'm starving! Why aren't you feeding me?' In a nanosecond. When that would happen, Andy would stop whining as if he were saying 'Oh. Yeah. Get her first. I'll wait.' He was so patient with Kira. It was so sweet to watch sometimes.

"Guys, we didn't have lunch and Mom's bringing dinner. So here's a snack until she gets home, okay? Don't leave crumbs."

"Thanks, Ash!" Kira smiled at me. I smiled back at her and went back upstairs to the living room. I turned on the TV and put on a show I'd started watching about a bunch of smart rich people (except one who seemed smart, but not particularly rich. She'd written a book about a cold case she'd solved or something) and they were all in this hotel or something in, like, Iceland or Antarctica. It was really cold and snowy, anyway.

I watched two episodes before Kira and Andy came upstairs. About five minutes later, Mom walked in, laden down with bags from Dimitri's and her work stuff. I jumped up and helped her bring everything in. She smiled gratefully at me.

"How were they at the pool?"

"Good. Kira made a friend," I smiled as Kira came into the kitchen.

"Did you?" Mom asked her. Kira smiled and nodded.

"Her name is Emma, she's my age and she moved here this summer from San Diego! And she's going to my school! But I don't know if she's in my class yet."

"They just moved onto Recida," I said.

"Oh! Right here! We should get Emma's phone number," Mom said, smiling at Kira.

"Oh!" I said and ran to my backpack, which I had left near the laundry room when I'd tossed our towels in for the next load. I opened the front pocket of my bag and pulled out Grace's business card.

"Grace Realty?" Mom said. "She's not Grace Adler, is she?"

"She is, according to her card," I said, pointing and the piece of cardstock in Mom's hand. "Why?"

Mom whistled.

"She is a shark in the real estate world. My boss bought his second house through her firm. She is really good at negotiating," Mom said.

I shrugged. To me, she was just another mom in the neighborhood.

Mom went upstairs to change out of her work clothes while the twins and I set the table and put out the food.

"No pizza?" Andy complained.

"You'll live," I said. "Besides. Any more pizza and you'll turn into a pizza."

Andy rolled his eyes at me. I laughed.

Mom came downstairs and we sat down to eat. Dad called just before the twins' bedtime to wish us all a good first day of school. He'd be home by Thursday.

At nine-thirty, I went upstairs, got my backpack ready for the morning, took out my planned outfit, and got into bed. Sophomore year, I thought. It's gonna be the best.