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Two of a Kind #02: How to Flunk Your First Date

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

"Whoa! Watch it!" Ashley Burke cried. She covered her blond head with both arms to protect herself. Then she threw herself on the living room couch.

"You almost smacked me with the hockey puck!"

She aimed a pleading glance at her twin sister, Mary-Kate. "How did I ever let you talk me into this?" she wailed.

"Quit complaining. That puck couldn't have hurt you. It's just a balled-up sock!" Mary-Kate called. Ashley was such a wimp when it came to sports! "Come on! We're stomping them!"

Ashley and Mary-Kate were playing house hockey in the living room. It was three against three -- girls against guys. Mary-Kate's team was fighting to the death against Max, Brian, and Brandon.

The boys were in the twins' seventh-grade class at school. Normally, any team with Ashley on it was doomed. She wasn't much of an athlete. Even super-athletic Mary-Kate couldn't make up for Ashley's butterfingers.

But the twins had a secret weapon -- their babysitter, Carrie Moore.

Mary-Kate knew that she and Ashley were pretty old for a baby-sitter. After all, they were almost twelve! But the twins' mother died three years ago, and their father often had to teach late classes at the university where he was a professor. He wanted someone to be with the twins after school. That's where Carrie came in.

Carrie was the best baby-sitter the twins ever had. She was really easy to talk to. She knew how to shop till she dropped. She knew how to do cool stuff with her hair. And she knew how to handle boys.

She also happened to be a fabulous hockey player!

"Come on, Ashley!" Carrie called. "We're going to win this! Let's go!"

Ashley nervously glanced at Brandon, who had sent the "puck" flying toward her head.

"Sorry about that," Brandon called sheepishly.

He waved his hockey stick in the air with a guilty grin. "I... uh...slipped."

"Come on, Ashley!" Mary-Kate yelled. "We're on a roll here. We've got to keep our rhythm going!"

"This is pitiful," Max moaned. "We're getting crushed by two girls and a baby-sitter!"

"Okay," Ashley agreed, hopping off the couch. "I'll get back in the game."

"All right!" Mary-Kate cheered. She tightened her grip on her hockey stick. Hockey wasn't normally her favorite sport -- she was more of a basketball fan. But hockey was really fun to play indoors! Carrie had pushed all the furniture to one end of the room. The goal was a big overstuffed armchair by the front door. Carrie had strapped two couch cushions to her legs, to use as shin guards.

"Okay," Carrie whispered as the three of them huddled at one end of the living room. "Here's the plan. Mary-Kate -- you're going to be goalie now. And Ashley, you're going to score the next point. Throw a body check on Max, and I'll feed you the puck at center ice. Got it?"

"A body check?" Ashley raised her eyebrows. "What's that, and how do I throw it?"

Mary-Kate held back an exasperated sigh. "Never mind. Just try to get open."

"Right," Ashley muttered halfheartedly.

Carrie flipped her bright red hair over her shoulders. She tugged on her gray sweatshirt. Then she crouched down in a face-off position with Max.

"Get ready, Max," she said, staring him right in the eyes. "'Cause I'm going to roll right over you!"

Max gulped. Then Brian dropped the sock-puck on the floor.

BAM! Carrie's stick hit it first. She sent the puck flying toward Ashley, who was waiting in position to score.

"I've got it! I've got it!" Ashley cried excitedly.

No, she doesn't, Mary-Kate thought. She winced as she saw Max and Brian closing in on Ashley. Their hockey sticks jabbed in her direction.

"No, I don't!" Ashley's voice sounded panicked. As fast as she could, she passed the puck to her super-sports-star sister.

"It's mine!" With one smooth move, Mary-Kate whacked the sock straight into the goal.

"Yeah!" Carrie cheered, shooting her fists into the air. "Great shot!"

All three girls started jumping up and down, yelling. Mary-Kate was cheering so hard, she didn't even notice when the front door swung open.

But then she spotted her father, Professor Kevin Burke, standing in the doorway with his briefcase in his hand. She froze in the middle of a scream.

Uh-oh!

Dad wasn't supposed to be home for another half hour!

Carrie had already stopped cheering. She put on a stern face.

"You kids have a lot of nerve, playing hockey in here!" she said. She waved a hand around the living room, which was a complete mess. "Honestly, you could break something!"

Carrie whirled -- and pretended to spot Kevin for the first time.

"Oh, hi, Professor!" she said in a surprised voice.

Mary-Kate swallowed hard. She knew why Carrie wanted to stay on Kevin's good side. Not only did she work for him -- she was also one of his students! Kevin taught her environmental studies class at the university.

"Hi, Carrie," Kevin said. A small smile crept across his lips. He stared at the couch pillows that were strapped to Carrie's legs. "Where did you get your hockey equipment? Sofas 'R' Us?"

Carrie's cheeks turned slightly red. She yanked off her shin guards.

"Uh, Max made me do it?" she said with a shrug.

"Me?" Max said. "Are you kidding?"

"Oh, don't act all innocent," Carrie scolded him. She turned back to Kevin. "Well, I suppose you want to give them a good talking to. I'll be in the kitchen."

With that, she hurried out of the room.

I hope Dad isn't mad, Mary-Kate thought, watching Carrie go. She knew that ever since Kevin had hired Carrie, he'd been wondering if she was the right person for the job. And it was true, sometimes Carrie acted more like a teenager than an adult. But that was part of what made her so great!

"Why are you home so early, Dad?" Ashley asked.

Excerpted from Two of a Kind #02: How to Flunk Your First Dateby Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen Copyright © 2006 by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen. Excerpted by permission.
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