Chapter One A Surprise Assignment Can you shush it Samal It was Anara’s day to sit in the front seat for the ten-minute drive home from school But her twin Samal was already launching into a re-cap of the day’s events in her fifth grade classroom even before she’d buckled her seat belt The rule was that whichever girl sat up front got to talk about her day first And 7-year-old Oliver was begging for a stop at Nonna’s Bakery The noise level was at a 9 5 out of 10 and they hadn’t even left the school parking lot yet Not that there was anything unusual about this chaos The short ride home was one of the best times to share news from the day since Mom headed into her office once everyone had a snack Sorry Ollie I can’t stop at Nonna’s today I have a conference call in an hour that I have to get ready for Maybe on Friday okay Mom looked at Ollie in the rearview mirror He was pouting but would likely get over it once he found something appealing in the pantry Mom did I tell you about the math test I have next week in Mrs Hanson’s class It’s going to be a killer Anara was not a math person Just then Mom’s cell phone rang Anara answered it Yes she's here but she’s driving Can I take a message She scribbled notes down on the pad Mom kept on the dashboard
face Yeah well don’t forget my face is your face Anara retorted Anara and Samal were identical twins so whenever one of them criticized the other’s looks that was their favorite comeback Anara looked at Mom It was some guy named Dr Williamson from UNESCO He asked you to call him back as soon as possible Mom sighed Thanks babe I’ll call him back when we get home Mom worked for UNESCO the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization The agency was part of the UN Mom’s job involved making sure different cultural and natural sites around the world were maintained properly Once they’d parked Anara Samal and Oliver flew up the three flights of stairs to their two-bedroom apartment It was crammed but cozy It never took long for the feeding frenzy to begin Practically every day it was the same scene Ollie curled up on the couch with a bag of pretzels Samal had a huge bowl of cereal with almond milk and Anara made herself a vanilla milkshake and peanut butter toast After they ate the twins watched their favorite cooking show They were addicted to the Food Network Ollie the history buff was playing a game on Mom’s iPad When Mom came out from her study looking totally frazzled none of the kids even noticed Guys Silence GUYS Mom was not a yeller so Samal asked Who was that You were making such a weird everyone knew something was up when she raised her voice Anara paused the show and Ollie took his headphones off Yes Mom
