Sister love...

So,I thought I would stretch myself and try writing a little Middle Grade today. Ya'll, middle grade is tough to write. It's a really, really hard voice to nail. And I am not good at it! But hey, that's what practice is for, right? See what you think about this one -

(this cuteness via wikipedia)

Here are my 5 words:

eggshells

line

spork

chart

tiptoe

Cadence hugged her bear tighter. She was too old to need a stuffed animal, but at least hugging him kept her from throwing the bear at her sister’s face. 

Emmie bent over the carpet, dragging a roll of blue painter’s tape behind her. When she reached the wall, she tore off the tape and stood. “There. Now we don’t have to share.”

Cadence stared at the blue line running down their room. On Emmie’s side the bed was neatly made, her sneakers lined up in a row along the bottom of her closet. Her stuffed animal, Glenda, a pink rhino, was perched on the top of Emmie’s closet, hidden there since their last sleepover.

Cadence glanced down at her bear. One of his button eyes was missing, and his fur was matted from years of being hugged tight to Cadence’s chest while she slept. Cadence’s leg brushed against the sheet of her bed. Still unmade, because she hadn’t had time to do her chores before Mom had to take them to school this morning. Something that drove Emmie crazy.

Emmie picked up one of Cadence’s socks from her side of the room. “This is yours.” She tossed it over the line onto Cadence’s side.

Everyone at school thought it was cool to be a twin. Cadence thought it was horrid. Especially when your twin didn’t even like you anymore. “My little spork,” Daddy always called them. One a fork. One a spoon. Useful apart, a spork together. Both useful and unique, Daddy said.

They’d always been different. They didn’t look alike, so sometimes people didn’t even think they were twins. But they’d always done everything together. And now Emmie acted stuck up half the time. She was the better twin. At everything.

If Cadence made a B plus, Emmie made an A minus.

Emmie had more stars on her chore chart.

Emmie’s blond curls bounced like Mom’s, whereas Cadence’s hair was flat and brown.

Emmie lay down on her perfectly made bed, and pulled out her book. Cadence peered past her to the bathroom. It was on Emmie's side. What now? Wait until Emmie fell asleep and then tiptoe to the bathroom? Emmie and her stupid tape and stupid rules.

She didn't even know why Emmie was so upset. It hadn’t even been that big of a deal. Cadence had borrowed one of Emmie’s shirts. Yellow with ruffles at the bottom. It was new and cute, and seemed just the right thing on wear today. She’d thrown a sweater over it because it was cold this morning, so Emmie hadn’t seen it until school. She’d been so mad she’d yelled then left the lunch table, taking half their friends with her.

She’d ignored Cadence all day, and when they got home she had rummaged in mom’s craft room for the tape, then divided their room in half.

I’m tired of being your twin, she had said.

Cadence’s stomach tightened like when she had to give a report out loud in class. Normally she and Emmie drank smoothies and watched TV after school. Now everything Cadence did seemed wrong. "Walking on eggshells" is what Mom called it after she and Daddy had a fight and things were tense and quiet the next day. That’s how Cadence felt, like her insides had been thrown into the blender and chopped up like pieces of strawberry Mom put in their smoothie today.