Hello, Farty here. Hey, I have to ask you guys something before I continue with the story. How do you like this motto: Bringing farts to your neighborhood! Hehe, yep, it's a bit lame, but who flipping cares. I for one don't give a flip. Ha ha, I am so cheesy. Anyway, so meet Tiffany Torsson, Tancred's twin sister (that's a "T" alliteration).
Tancred awoke from his deep slumber—or as deep as you can go when you're a storm-bringer—and rubbed the drowsiness from his cerulean blue eyes. He opened his mouth wide and emitted a long and foul-smelling yawn. Then he proceeded in waking up his twin sister, who slept in the bed across their bedroom.
"Tiff," he rasped, still trying to wake up.
"Wherr…?" Tiffany groggily answered, still asleep.
"Tiffany, wake up." Tancred half-fell, half-slipped out of bed and lumbered over to his sister's bedside.
"Gerroff meh, Tanc," she replied and absentmindedly pushed him.
Tancred sighed and went to the bathroom. He wet his hands under the faucet and shook his hands over Tiffany's face. She spluttered and sat up.
"Hurry up and get ready," Tancred said while pulling off his top. "Dad's gonna get angry if we're late…again. And you know what happens when he gets angry."
Tancred and Tiffany rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Mr. and Mrs. Torsson were eating breakfast. Tancred had to bend over slightly to hug his mother and give her a kiss on the cheek. Tiffany, however, was her mother's height. The twins used to be the same height, but recently Tanc had shot up almost to Mr. Torsson's height. Of course, both twins had blonde electrified hair, cerulean blue eyes, and storm bringing abilities. And they both ate like pigs.
"They way you eat," Mrs. Torsson said, "you'd swear we don't feed you."
"But in reality, you feed us a lot," Tancred said, already getting up for seconds. "Besides, me and Tiff only had five slices of pizza each last night."
"Yeah," Tiffany added, also getting seconds. "We usually have ten slices each."
Mr. Torsson chuckled from behind his newspaper. "They get it from me," he mumbled.
Tiffany and Tancred rushed down to the bus stop just as the green art bus rolled around the corner. Lysander Sage and Emma Tolly, fellow students and their best friends, were already waiting for them, and Lysander stared at them as if they were aliens.
"Where've you been?" he asked the twins as they stopped to catch their breath. "You're always supposed to be at the bus stop five minutes before the bus comes."
"Well, excuse me, Mum," Tancred replied sarcastically as they climbed on the bus.
That day was horrible for Tancred. He forgot his books in three of his classes (including art, which he didn't know had a book). He got writer's block in English. He also forgot his lunch money, and he and Tiff had to split her lunch.
What a rough day.
During the last period of the day (math), Tancred was literally bouncing in his seat. He couldn't stay calm. Every few minutes he would glance up at the clock, which only made things go slower. At the front of the room, Mrs. Todd, a middle-aged hag, droned on and on about square rationals and root numbers…or was it square roots and rational numbers? Numbers and signs swam in front of his eyes, which threatened to close.
Finally, Tancred had had enough. He tore out a piece of paper from his journal and started doodling. The name Emma was written in large block letters with a heart around it. He was beginning to draw doves on the paper when someone cleared their throat above him.
Slowly, Tancred raised his head until he was face-to-face with Mrs. Todd. She snatched the paper up and Tanc watched her eyes dart back and forth across it. Then she looked up and snickered.
"It says 'Emma' in block letters," she croaked, "with a heart around it and little doves."
All of the students laughed, and Tancred's ears turned bright red. When he looked up, he caught a glimpse of Emma, and she was smiling and blushing. Maybe that's a good sign, Tancred thought.
Suddenly the bell rang, and everyone jumped up and ran for the door, including Tancred.
"Not so fast, Mr. Torsson," Mrs. Todd said. She pointed a bony finger to her desk, with a black rolling chair behind it and a small, lonely chair in front. "Sit. Down. Now."
Tancred nervously sat in the white chair while Mrs. Todd sat in hers.
"Now," she said. "About your punishment."
Tancred caught up with his friends just as they were getting on the bus.
"So?" Lysander said.
"How'd it go?" said Tiffany. "Did you get detention?"
"Nah, just extra homework." Tancred plopped down in his seat next to Lysander, with Emma and Tiffany sitting across. "Old Todd was pissed though. She started ranting about children these days and stuff."
"What a nice lady," Emma said, which pretty much summed it up.