by Abby Klein
by ABBY KLEIN
illustrated by
JOHN MCKINLEY
To Joel —
The one who can talk me through
any writer’s block.
I love you!
Love,
Me
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Introduction
1. Pet Surprise
2. Pets, Pets, Pets
3. Kenny the Dog
4. Shake, Rocky, Shake
5. The Race
6. The Big Day
7. The Escape
8. Hide-and-Go-Pete
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 our class had a Pet Day,
and we got into a little trouble.
Let me tell you about it.
CHAPTER 1
Pet Surprise
“Guess what we’re going to be learning about for the next few weeks?” asked our teacher, Mr. Lopez.
“Robots?” guessed Jake.
“No, not robots,” said Mr. Lopez.
“Princesses?” asked Madison.
I looked at my twin sister, Kelly, and she looked at me. “Princesses?” we whispered.
“She thinks she is one,” said our best friend, Jasmine.
We all giggled.
“No, not princesses,” said Mr. Lopez.
“I know! I know!” said Jasmine. “The rain forest. There are so many cool animals in the rain forest.”
I started jumping around like a monkey. “Oooh, oooh, aahhhh, aahhhh. Oooh, oooh, aahhhh, aahhhh.”
Kelly made bird sounds. “Caw, caw, caw!”
“Girls, calm down,” said Mr. Lopez. “We are not learning about the rain forest right now. Maybe later in the year.”
“Awwwwww!” Kelly and I said.
“But we are learning about something that has to do with animals,” said Mr. Lopez. He turned to Andy, a really quiet kid in the class. “Andy, do you want to guess?”
Andy just shook his head.
“Kelly, I know what it is,” I whispered. “It’s …”
“Pets,” she said, finishing my sentence.
We looked at each other and laughed. We always seem to know what the other one is thinking.
We both popped up. “We know what it is,” we said.
“You do?” said Mr. Lopez. “What do you girls think it is?”
“Puppies!” Kelly said.
“Kitties!” I said.
Mr. Lopez smiled. “You are right! We are going to be learning about pets.”
“Really?” Kelly said.
“Really?” I said.
Then we both jumped up and down and bumped our hips together, singing, “Oh yeah! Oh yeah!”
“Kasey and Kelly, please sit down,” said Mr. Lopez.
“But we LOVE pets!” we said together.
“Me, too!” said Jasmine.
“Are we going to get a class pet?” I asked.
“Let’s get a hamster. I’ve always wanted a hamster,” said Jasmine, “but my mom won’t let me have one.”
“Then we can take turns bringing it home,” said Jake.
“At my cousin Freddy’s school, his class has a hamster, and he got to take it home for the weekend,” said Kelly.
“Lucky!” said Jasmine.
“The hamster escaped, and they had to chase it all over the place,” I said. “He told us all about it.”
“It was hilarious!” said Kelly. “And my aunt Debbie was freaking out because she does not like animals in the house!”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” said Mr. Lopez. “We’re not going to get a class pet.”
“Aaaaawwwww!” we all said.
“I have an idea,” I said. “If we can’t have a class pet, then let’s have a Pet Day.”
“Yeah,” said Jake.
“Great idea, sis!” Kelly said.
“We can all bring our pets to school,” I said.
“I could bring my dog, Rocky, and my cat, Patches,” said Jake. “Rocky always wants to come to school. Every morning he tries to get on the bus with me.”
Kelly giggled. “It’s so cute when you say good-bye, and he gives you wet slobbery kisses all over your face.”
“Eeeewwww! That is disgusting,” said Madison.
Jake leaned over to Madison. “If I bring him to school, then he can give you a special kiss…. Thup, thup, thup,” he said, pretending to lick her face.
“You are so gross. Get away from me, Jake Brown!” said Madison, backing up.
“Or what?” asked Jake, laughing.
“Or you’ll be in big trouble!”
Andy slowly raised his hand.
“Yes, Andy,” said Mr. Lopez.
“I do not have any pets,” he said in a very quiet voice.
“That’s okay,” Kelly said. “You can borrow one of ours. Kasey and I have lots and lots of pets!”
“Lots and lots. What do you want … a bunny?” I asked, hopping around the room.
“Or a lizard,” Kelly said, sliding around on her stomach.
“How about a cat? Meow, meow, meow, meow,” I said, rubbing up against Mr. Lopez’s leg.
“Or a dog? Woof! Woof!” Kelly said, running around the room on her hands and knees.
“Kasey and Kelly,” said Mr. Lopez with a big sigh, “please go back to your seats.”
We crawled back to our seats and sat down.
“I had no idea you girls had so many pets,” said Mr. Lopez. “Your house sounds like a zoo.”
“You could say that!” we said, laughing.
“And your parents don’t mind?”
“Our dad is a vet,” Kelly said.
“Really?” said Mr. Lopez. “So you girls are pet experts.”
We giggled.
“Well, what do you say, Mr. Lopez?” I said. “Can we bring our pets to school?”
“I would have to check with Mrs. Trumball, our principal. She is the one who makes the rules, you know.”
“Can you ask her today?” asked Kelly.
“I guess I can ask her while you all are at lunch,” said Mr. Lopez. “I should have the answer by the time you get back.”
CHAPTER 2
Pet, Pets, Pets
When we went to lunch, Kelly took one bite of her sandwich and made a face. “Ewww!” she said.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“It looks like Mom mixed up our sandwiches again today,” said Kelly. “This one has grape jelly on it.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Jake.
“Only if you like grape jelly,” said Kelly. “I don’t. I only like strawberry jam.”
I opened up my sandwich and sniffed it. “Ew. You’re right, sis. This one is yours.” I only eat grape jelly.
We switched sandwiches. Kelly took a big bite. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” she said with a mouthful of peanut butter. “Sweet strawberry jam.”
“If we can bring our pets to school, I can’t wait to show you all of the tricks that my dog, Tucker, can do,” said Jasmine.
“What kind of tricks?” asked Jake.
“Really cool ones,” said Jasmine.
“Like what?”
“He can roll over, play dead, shake your hand, and he can even balance a ball on his nose.”
“How did he learn to do all that?”
“I trained him,” said Jasmine.
“Wow!” said Jake. “I�
��ve been trying to teach my dog, Rocky, to sit, and he can’t even learn that. He just stares at me like he has no idea what I’m talking about.”
Kelly and I laughed. “Rocky isn’t very smart,” I told Jasmine.
“He thinks he’s a cow and eats the grass in Jake’s yard,” said Kelly.
“Woof, woof, moo!” I said.
We all laughed.
“Well, my cat, Princess, is very smart,” said Madison. “She is just like me. Wait until you see her. She’s the prettiest and smartest kitty in the whole world.”
“How do you know?” said Jake.
“I just know,” said Madison.
Jake shook his head.
“Does Princess wear pink bows in her fur?” I asked.
“Two of them,” said Madison. “How did you know?”
“A lucky guess,” I said, smiling.
“And I bet you dress her up,” said Kelly.
“Yes, I do,” said Madison.
“I can’t wait to see that!” said Jasmine, laughing.
“Which outfit do you want to see?”
“You mean she has more than one?”
“Oh yes! She has about ten different outfits!” said Madison.
“Ten? Sounds like she has more clothes than I do!” said Jasmine.
“I dress her up in my old baby clothes. She has a little polka-dotted dress with a matching bonnet. She even has a teeny pink bikini.”
Kelly looked at me, and I looked at her. Then we both made the “cuckoo” sign at each other.
“What pets are you guys going to bring?” said Jake.
“How many pets do you have?” asked Madison.
“Well, let’s see …,” said Kelly. “We have a turtle named Zippy, a rabbit named Honey Buns, and a hamster named Skippy.”
“We also have a tarantula named Harry,” I said.
“AAAHHHHH!” screamed Madison, jumping up on the lunch bench. “A tarantula?! Do not bring that to school! I will have nightmares for weeks!”
“I think you should bring it in, and we’ll put it in her cubby,” Jake whispered to us.
“I would pay to see that!” said Kelly.
“Me, too!” I said.
“Tarantulas are actually really nice,” Kelly said to Madison. “Harry is probably more scared of you than you are of him.”
“I don’t care,” said Madison. “I’m really scared of spiders, and tarantulas are huge! I don’t want that thing anywhere near me.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “You can sit down now. Harry is going to stay home. I was thinking of bringing one of the other animals in.”
“How many more do you have?” said Andy.
“We have a cat named Mr. Fluffy, two dogs named Mike and Ike, and a gecko named Pete,” I said.
“A what?” asked Madison.
“A gecko.”
“What is that?” asked Andy.
“It’s a kind of a lizard,” said Kelly.
“Eeeewwww!” said Madison. “That is not soft and fluffy.”
“That’s because reptiles don’t have fur,” I said.
“Well, I would only have a pet that was soft and fluffy,” said Madison. “I like to sit and watch TV with my kitty on my lap. You can’t do that with a lizard.”
“Yes, you can,” Kelly and I said together.
“No, you can’t,” said Madison. “Lizards have to stay in a tank.”
“Not in our house,” I said. “Pete is allowed to walk all over the place.”
“And when we watch TV, he sits on one of our shoulders or on the couch next to us,” said Kelly.
“Yuck!” said Madison, wrinkling up her nose.
“He’s really cute,” I said.
“Lizards are not cute,” said Madison.
“Ours is,” we said.
Just then the bell rang for the end of lunch.
“I hope Mrs. Trumball said yes,” I said.
“Me, too!” said Jake.
When we got back to the classroom, Mr. Lopez said, “The good news is, Mrs. Trumball said we can have a Pet Day.”
“Woohoo!” we all yelled.
“But first, I need to check to see if anyone is allergic to dogs or cats.”
“I’m allergic to peanut butter,” said Madison. “If I eat it, then I get red, itchy bumps all over my body.”
“I get all red and itchy around Madison,” Jake whispered. “Do you think I’m allergic to her?”
I poked Jake. “Good one,” I said.
“But are you allergic to cats and dogs?” asked Mr. Lopez.
“No,” said Madison.
“Then we can have a Pet Day tomorrow, and you can each bring in one pet. I don’t want any animals running around loose in the classroom, or else I might get in trouble with Mrs. Trumball. If your pet lives in a cage or tank, then you must bring it in that. And if your pet is too big for a cage or a tank, then your parents must come with you. Deal?”
“Deal!” we all said.
“See you tomorrow with your pets,” said Mr. Lopez. “It should be a very interesting day.”
CHAPTER 3
Kenny the Dog
When we got home from school, our little brother, Kenny, was running around on his hands and knees acting like a dog. He likes to follow our two wiener dogs, Mike and Ike, around the house.
“Hey, Kenny, are you a doggie?” I asked.
He panted and nodded his head.
“Does the little doggie want a snack?” asked Kelly.
He nodded his head again.
“Come on, little doggie. Let’s go into the kitchen,” we said.
Kenny followed us into the kitchen.
“What does the doggie want to eat?” I asked. “Cookies?”
Kenny nodded.
I went to the cupboard and grabbed a package of chocolate-chip cookies. “This kind?” I said, pointing to the box.
He shook his head.
“Smart boy,” said Kelly. “He wants my favorite kind.” She grabbed the peanut-butter cookies. “You want these, right?”
He shook his head again.
“Guess not,” I said.
He crawled over to the dog biscuit jar and sat up, begging.
“You want dog treats?”
He nodded his head.
I reached in the jar and pulled out two dog biscuits. I sniffed one. “They actually don’t smell that bad. What do you think, sis?”
“Let me see,” said Kelly. She grabbed one of the biscuits and sniffed it. “Not bad at all,” she said.
We both looked at each other and smiled. Then we shoved the biscuits into our mouths.
“They are actually pretty tasty,” I said.
Kelly nodded.
I put two on a plate and set it down on the table. “Come on over here, little puppy. I have your snack all ready for you.”
Kenny crawled over to the table, but he just sat on the floor and looked up at us with sad puppy eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
Kenny whined, “Mmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmm,” and pointed to the floor.
“I think he wants to eat them on the floor,” I said to Kelly.
“Well, that is where dogs eat,” Kelly said.
I picked up the plate and put it on the floor in front of Kenny.
He bent over and picked up a biscuit in his mouth. Just then our mom came in the room.
“Oh, girls, you’re home. I didn’t even hear you come in!” As she started to walk over to us, she almost tripped over Kenny.
“Oh my goodness! What are you doing on the floor?” she said to Kenny.
He looked up at her with the dog treat hanging out of his mouth.
“Is that what I think it is?” asked my mom.
Kelly and I grabbed each other’s hands and started to walk out of the room.
“Get back here, girls,” said my mom. “Did you two give your baby brother dog treats to eat?”
“That’s what he wanted, Mom,” I said.
“Yeah,” Kelly said.
&nbs
p; Kenny barked and wagged his tail. “Woof!”
“It’s one thing if he wants to act like a dog, but I don’t want him eating dog biscuits.”
“Why not?” I asked. “They’re not going to hurt him.”
“They’re actually pretty good, Mom. Do you want to taste one?” Kelly asked, handing our mom a treat.
My mom backed up. “No, thank you,” she said.
She picked up Kenny and pulled the soggy, half-eaten dog biscuit out of his mouth. “Give that to Mommy, sweetie. This is not for you. Those are for Mike and Ike.”
Kenny whimpered and pointed to the biscuit.
“Sorry, but your sisters should not have given it to you.”
Kenny stared at us over our mom’s shoulder.
“Sorry,” I whispered to him.
“You know you two are Double Trouble,” said our mom. “I can’t believe you would let your baby brother eat dog biscuits.”
“Sorry,” we said.
“Let’s see what I can find you to eat,” she said. “Girls, are you hungry?”
“We’re starving!” we said.
“How about some milk and people cookies?” asked our mom.
“Chocolate-chip for me!” I said.
“Peanut-butter for me!” Kelly said.
Mom put Kenny in his booster seat and went to get the snack.
Pete, our gecko, came running in and crawled up on my shoulder. He always runs around loose in the house because he hates being in his tank. The only time he’s in his tank is at night.
“Hey there, buddy. What’s up?” I asked him.
He flicked his tongue in and out.
“How would you like to go to school with us?” asked Kelly.
Mom brought the milk and cookies to the table and set them down.
Kenny shoved a cookie in his mouth and clapped his hands.
“Good boy,” said Mom. “That’s what you eat. People cookies, not dog cookies.”
Then she turned to us. Kelly had her nose in her glass and was trying to lick the milk up with her tongue.
“What are you doing, Kelly?” asked Mom.