Double Trouble #2: April Fool's Surprise Read online

  by ABBY KLEIN

  illustrated by

  JOHN MCKINLEY

  To Gigi and Nicky—

  Two super cool twins!

  Love,

  A.K.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Introduction

  1. Mike, Ike, and Rocky

  2. The List

  3. Spaghetti Head

  4. The Big Salt Switch

  5. The Secret Mission

  6. The Big Day

  7. The Twin Switcheroo

  8. The Biggest Surprise of All

  Double Trouble Fun Page

  Other Books

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Copyright

  My name is Kasey, and I have a twin sister named Kelly. Whenever we’re together, crazy things happen. That’s why everyone calls us Double Trouble.

  One time on April Fool’s Day, we got into a little trouble.

  Let me tell you about it.

  CHAPTER 1

  Mike, Ike, and Rocky

  “Mom! Mom!” I called. “Kelly and I are going over to Jake’s for a little bit.”

  “Hang on a minute,” our mom called back. She came jogging into the kitchen with our little brother, Kenny, in her arms. Our two wiener dogs, Mike and Ike, came running in behind her. “Would you please take Mike and Ike with you? They really need to go for a walk.”

  Mike and Ike barked and started running in circles.

  “But Jake lives right next door,” I said. “That’s not much of a walk.”

  “I’m sure Rocky needs to get outside, too,” said my mom. “You could all take a little walk around the neighborhood.”

  “Okeydokey,” said Kelly.

  Kenny clapped his hands and said, “Walk! Walk!”

  “Not you, Mister Sillypants,” said our mom. “You’re staying here with me.”

  Kenny frowned and stuck out his lower lip.

  I kissed him on the cheek. “Maybe later, bud,” I said.

  Kelly and I grabbed the leashes, put them on the dogs, and ran out. About three seconds later, we were knocking on Jake’s back door.

  His dog, Rocky, started barking and jumping around like crazy inside the house. Rocky loves Mike and Ike even though he’s about three times as big as they are.

  Jake yelled through the door, “Hey, guys, what’s up?”

  “Want to go for a walk?” we yelled back.

  “Just a second,” said Jake. “I just have to get Rocky’s leash on.”

  “Good luck with that,” Kelly said, giggling. Rocky was so excited that he wouldn’t sit still for a second. He kept popping up and down like a jumping bean.

  “If you just let me get this leash on, then you can go out,” Jake said.

  I peeked through the window.

  “What’s going on in there?” asked Kelly.

  “It looks like a wrestling match, but I couldn’t tell you who was winning.”

  Mike and Ike were wagging their tails and whimpering.

  “It shouldn’t be too much longer,” I said.

  “I don’t know about that,” said Kelly. “That dog is cra-zy!”

  Finally Jake got the leash on, and they came bursting through the door. Rocky almost stepped on Mike and Ike as he bounded out of the house.

  “Whoa! Whoa! Hang on there, buddy,” Jake yelled, as he tried to grab a better hold of the leash.

  I laughed. “I think Rocky is taking you for a walk,” I said.

  “He’ll calm down in a minute,” Jake called over his shoulder, as Rocky dragged him across the front lawn. “He just gets very excited about his walks.”

  “You can say that again,” said Kelly.

  We raced to catch up. Mike and Ike may be small, but they’re super fast on their short little legs.

  “So, what’s up?” asked Jake.

  “Tomorrow’s the big day,” said Kelly.

  “Yeah,” I said. “We need your help.”

  “I’m not very good at math,” said Jake. “I don’t really think I can help you.”

  “We’re not talking about the math test, ding-dong,” I said.

  “You’re not?”

  “No,” said Kelly.

  “Then what are you talking about?” asked Jake.

  “What day is it today?” I said.

  “March thirty-first,” said Jake.

  “So that means tomorrow is …?”

  “April first,” said Jake.

  “And that is …?” said Kelly.

  Just then, Rocky yanked on the leash. Jake tripped and fell right into a big puddle of mud.

  He looked up at us and said, “April Fool’s Day!” Mud dripped off his hair onto his face.

  Kelly and I burst out laughing. “Looks like Rocky played his trick on you a day early.”

  Jake stood up. He was muddy from head to toe.

  We couldn’t stop laughing.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You look like a huge chocolate monster,” we said.

  “I can’t believe I almost forgot that tomorrow is April Fool’s Day,” said Jake. “It’s, like, my favorite day of the year!”

  “We know,” Kelly said. “That’s why we need your help. You always come up with great tricks to play on people.”

  “Yeah, we want to play some really good tricks on people this year,” I said.

  “Well, I’ve got some really good ones,” said Jake.

  “Tell us! Tell us!” we said.

  “I found a website where kids posted their favorite April Fool’s Day tricks,” said Jake. “I actually made a list of the best ones.”

  “Cool,” said Kelly.

  “Awesome,” I said. “Will you share them with us?”

  “Of course,” said Jake. “I have the list in my room.”

  “Let’s go now!” said Kelly.

  “First I think I need to change out of these muddy, wet clothes,” said Jake. “I don’t think your mom wants a swamp monster walking through her house.”

  I laughed. “Good idea,” I said.

  “Why don’t you guys take Mike and Ike home, and I’ll meet you at your house with the list in about ten minutes.”

  “Okeydokey,” said Kelly.

  “See you in about ten minutes,” I said.

  Rocky saw a squirrel and took off like a rocket, with Jake racing behind.

  “Don’t forget the list!” I called after him.

  CHAPTER 2

  The List

  Jake took Rocky home, changed out of his muddy clothes, and arrived at our house a few minutes later.

  As usual, he walked right in the back door without even knocking. “Hi, Mrs. Thresher,” said Jake.

  “Oh, hi, Jake,” said our mom.

  “Jake! Jake!” Kenny said, waddling over to him.

  “Hey, big guy,” said Jake. “Give me five.”

  Jake lifted up Kenny’s plump little hand and gave it a gentle slap. Kenny laughed.

  “I didn’t know you were coming over,” said our mom.

  Jake held up the list. “Yeah, Kasey, Kelly, and I have something we have to work on.”

  “Really? What is it?” asked our mom.

  I looked at Jake. Jake looked at Kelly. Kelly looked at me.

  “Uh, nothing,” said Jake.

  “Jake’s just helping us with something for our math test tomorrow,” Kelly said.

  “Good one,” I whispered to Kelly.

  “That’s nice of you,” said our mom.

  “No problem,” said Jake.

  “So we’ll be up in our room if you need us, Mom,” I said.

  “Me go! Me go!” said K
enny.

  “Sorry, but you can’t go,” Mom said. “They have some important studying to do. Maybe they can play with you when they’re done.”

  Our mom scooped up Kenny in her arms. “How about you and I go fold the laundry?” They walked out of the room.

  “That sounds like a blast,” Jake said.

  “It is for Kenny,” Kelly said. “He plays in the laundry basket while my mom does the folding.”

  “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go upstairs. I can’t wait to see that list.”

  We climbed the stairs to our room and opened the door. Pete, our gecko, ran right up Jake’s pant leg.

  “Hey there, Pete,” Jake said. “How ya doing today?” He patted him on the back. Pete crawled up Jake’s stomach and sat on his shoulder. “Do you want to see our secret list, Pete?”

  “I do,” I said.

  “Me, too,” said Kelly.

  “How about if I read the ideas to you, and you tell me the ones you like,” said Jake.

  “Okay,” we said together.

  “Listen to this one. You tie a rubber band around the handle to the sprayer hose on your sink. Then when your mom turns on the water in the morning, she gets sprayed in the face.”

  “Ha, ha, ha! That’s hilarious!” Kelly said.

  “We are definitely doing that one,” I said.

  “What other ideas do you have?” said Kelly.

  “Here’s another good one,” said Jake. “You add a few drops of green food coloring to someone’s milk. Then when that person takes a sip, she freaks out because she thinks she just drank spoiled milk.”

  “We should play that trick on Madison at school tomorrow,” Kelly said.

  “Yeah,” I said. “She would definitely freak out.”

  “How are you going to get the food coloring into her milk?” asked Jake.

  “Easy,” I said. “She always drinks milk at snack time. You can distract her while we put the drops in.”

  “Great plan!” said Jake. “I can’t wait to see her face.”

  “Me, either,” said Kelly.

  “You guys should bring the food coloring,” said Jake. “I don’t even know if my mom has any.”

  “We definitely have some in the cupboard,” I said. “It’s left over from Saint Patrick’s Day, when we made green cupcakes for the leprechauns.”

  “We’ll bring it for sure,” said Kelly.

  “Here’s a good trick to play on your dad,” said Jake. “You take the salt out of the salt shaker and put sugar in instead. Then when your dad goes to put salt on his eggs, he’s actually putting sugar all over them. When he takes a bite of his breakfast, he’ll want to spit it out because it’ll taste so gross!”

  “Awesome!” said Kelly. “We have to do that one, sis.”

  “Ha, ha, ha!” Jake laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” we asked.

  “This next one would be great to do on Kenny.”

  “Really?” I said. “What is it?”

  “You draw a mustache on his face while he’s sleeping.”

  “We did draw on our cousin’s face last Christmas,” Kelly said, laughing.

  “And this time we can use washable marker,” I said. “That way Mom and Dad can’t get too mad at us!”

  “If you do that one, make sure you take a picture,” said Jake. “I have to see little Kenny with a mustache.”

  “Got any more ideas?” asked Kelly. “These are all so great.”

  “Well, I do have one more,” said Jake, smiling, “but it’s not on this list.”

  “Really? What is it?” I asked.

  “I think it’s the best trick of all,” said Jake.

  “Tell us! Tell us!” we said.

  “I think the best April Fool’s Day trick of all would be for the two of you to switch places at school tomorrow.”

  Kelly and I looked at each other.

  “You both pretend to be the other person for the day. See how long it takes for Mr. Lopez to notice.”

  “Oh, he’ll recognize us right away,” I said.

  “Oh, no he won’t. You two look exactly alike. I can tell you apart because we’ve known each other since we were babies, but most people can’t tell the difference between the two of you.”

  “But Mr. Lopez always calls us by the right name,” said Kelly.

  “That’s because you always wear a skirt and put your hair in a ponytail, and Kasey always wears jeans and puts her hair in braids.”

  “Really?”

  “Really,” said Jake. “If you two switched your clothes and hair tomorrow, then I really think it could work.”

  “That would be such a great trick if we could pull it off,” I said. “Want to do it, sis?”

  “Yes, I do!” said Kelly.

  “That’s the best idea ever!” we said, hugging Jake. “You’re a genius!”

  “Great! Then I’ll see the two of you tomorrow,” Jake said, as he started to leave. “And don’t tell anyone,” he whispered.

  “We won’t!”

  I looked at Kelly, and she looked at me. “It’ll just be our little secret,” I said.

  “Yep,” said Kelly. Then she winked at me and smiled. “Our little secret.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Spaghetti Head

  “Girls, wash your hands. Dinner is in ten minutes!” our mom called from downstairs.

  “Already?” I said.

  “I can’t believe it,” said Kelly. “We have so much to do to get ready for tomorrow.”

  “I know,” I said. “How about we make a list of the things we need?”

  “I could,” Kelly said, laughing, “if Harry wasn’t sitting on the notepad.”

  Harry is our pet tarantula. I picked him up off the notepad and put him on my head. That’s one of his favorite places to sit.

  “Okay,” said Kelly, “ready.”

  “Well,” I said, “we need a rubber band.”

  “Don’t we have a nice big one on our slingshot?” asked Kelly.

  “Yes, we do,” I said, smiling. “That one will be perfect.”

  “We need to find the washable markers to draw the mustache on Kenny’s face,” said Kelly.

  “I think the last time we used them was when we drew hearts on Honey Buns for Valentine’s Day.”

  “Oh yeah,” said Kelly, laughing. “I almost forgot about that.”

  “We need the sugar and the green food coloring.”

  “Dinnertime!” yelled Mom.

  “Let’s go down and eat,” Kelly said, “and then maybe we can do some stuff when Mom is giving Kenny his bath.”

  “Good thinking,” I said. We gave each other a high five, and I started to run out of the room. Kelly grabbed my shirt and pulled me back in.

  “What?”

  Kelly pointed to my head. “You know Mom doesn’t like any pets at the table.”

  “I forgot he was up there. Come on, Harry,” I said. “Why don’t you take a little nap on my pillow while I eat.” I gently put him down on my bed.

  Kelly and I raced to the stairs and slid down the banister.

  Unfortunately, right at that moment our mom had left the kitchen to look for us and saw what we did.

  “Girls! How many times have I told you not to slide down the stair railing? It is a very dangerous thing to do!”

  “But Mr. Fluffy does it all the time,” I said.

  “Mr. Fluffy is a cat,” said our mom. “You are not a cat!”

  “Sorry, Mom,” we said.

  “Now come on. Dinner is getting cold.”

  When we walked into the kitchen, Kenny was banging his spoon on his high chair and chanting, “Getti! Getti! Getti!”

  “I guess he’s hungry,” I said.

  “Guess so,” said our dad.

  Mom put a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs on the table.

  “Well, spaghetti and meatballs is his favorite thing to eat,” said Kelly.

  “Mine, too,” I said.

  “It won’t be tomorrow,” Kelly whisper
ed to me, “when we switch places.”

  I smiled.

  “What are you two girls whispering about?” asked our dad.

  “Nothing,” we said.

  “‘Nothing’ usually means you’re up to something,” said our mom.

  Kenny started to bang his spoon louder. “Eat! Eat! Eat!” he yelled.

  “Calm down, little man,” said Dad. “It’s coming.”

  Our mom put some cut-up spaghetti into a bowl for Kenny and set it down on his tray. He scooped up a big spoonful and shoved it in his mouth.

  “Slow down there, boo-bear,” said Kelly, laughing.

  “So, your mom tells me that Jake was helping you study for your math test,” said our dad.

  Kelly and I looked at each other. “Yep,” we said.

  “Do you need any more help tonight?” asked our dad.

  “No, I think we’re all set,” said Kelly.

  “We have some other important work to do tonight,” I said.

  “I’m glad to see you girls taking your homework so seriously,” said Mom.

  We smiled.

  “Besides the math test, what else is happening at school tomorrow?” asked our dad.

  “Just the same old stuff,” Kelly said.

  “Well, there is one thing …,” I said.

  Kelly stared at me.

  “We’re doing a science experiment with food coloring, and Mr. Lopez asked us to bring some in. I think we have some green food coloring. Don’t we, Mom?”

  “We sure do. It’s in the cupboard right next to the sink. You’re welcome to bring it to school tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” I said.

  “In fact, I’ll get it down for you right now, so you don’t forget it.”

  Mom got up to get the food coloring. Kelly squeezed my leg under the table.

  Kenny started banging on his tray again and shouting, “More! More! More!”

  “My goodness!” said our mom. “You finished your whole bowl already! I’ll be right there to give you some more.”

  “That’s my boy,” said our dad. “He wants to grow up to be big and strong.”