The Twins

Lily and Rose are twins. They live in Austin, Texas, and they are seventeen. They have the same brown eyes, the same long hair and the same laugh. Even their mother sometimes calls them by the wrong name.

But the twins are not the same inside. Lily is louder and more confident than Rose. She sings in a band and talks to everybody. Rose is quieter, but she is funnier. Her jokes are better, and her grades are higher, too.

One Monday in March, they had an idea. "Let's swap," said Lily. "I'll go to your classes, and you'll go to mine. Just for one day." Rose wasn't as sure as her sister, but she said yes.

At school, it worked. Rose went to band practice and sang. She was more nervous than Lily, but her voice was almost as good. Lily sat in Rose's math class. She was quieter than usual, and the teacher said, "Rose, you look tired today."

At lunch, Rose's friends laughed at Lily's jokes, but they weren't as funny as Rose's. Nobody noticed. Their mother didn't notice at dinner. Their father didn't notice either.

Then Biscuit, the family dog, came into the kitchen. He walked past Lily and sat down next to Rose, with his head on her feet, like every evening. "Hello, Rose," said Lily, in a small voice. "The dog knows."

Their mother looked at the dog, then at the girls. "Wait a minute," she said. The twins started to laugh, with the same laugh. Biscuit didn't care. He was the only one in the family who was never wrong.