“Now, Carson, what is it that you were about to tell me? Oh, yeah, how was your first day at Hillcrest High?”

“Good. I like my teachers. What’s more important are the kids in my classes. Before each class when I came into the classroom kids would see that I’m new and they came up to me and introduced themselves. After class some of those same kids came up to me and asked what class I had next and the ones who had the same class walked with me to that class. Most of the kids here are friendly with new kids. Another thing is that kids here smile a lot, like in class and in the halls. That’s all very different than Riverview. I’m not sure why, but I’m going to watch and try and find out what is different and why.”

“That’s interesting. It’s hard for me to understand what’s going on around me at school because I’m so used to it. As you see things, talk to me about them. Maybe I can help you figure out what’s different between Hillcrest and Riverview and why it’s different. How about what’s covered in your classes. How do they compare with Riverview?”

“Actually, pretty much the same. I talked to Mr. Rodriquez after class, and he said he’d prepare a list of audio lessons that if I listen to them I can pull my grade up to an A. He said he’d have them for me in the morning. Wait a minute. Tomorrow morning! I just realized that is one of the differences. When a teacher here says they’re going to do something, it’s not ‘check back with me next week’ it’s ‘I will have it for you’ and at a specific time. The teachers here make it their responsibility. At Riverview with most of my teachers it was ‘you check back’ so it’s the student’s responsibility. At least it was with all of my teachers. Wow, when I get home I’m going to start writing these things down.”

Carson was beaming. If I’d ever wanted to see a very, very happy teen that was Carson right now, walking alongside of me on our way home from his first day at Hillcrest.

“Since we have it together, what about Algebra 2?”

“Mr. Glendon is a good math teacher and gives good examples. But Mr. Brock at Riverview is a good math teacher too. Actually, he was one of my best teachers. With Mr. Glendon I don't think I’m losing anything. I like him and I like the class.”

“You have Mr. Trenor for English 2. How do you like that class?”

“He’s fantastic. He makes learning English fun. I could tell all of the kids in that class want to be there. Everyone got there a long time before the bell, and everyone was smiling when the class ended.”

“What is it you have next? Oh, yeah, Chorus. How’s that?”

“Actually, good. Ms. Lovell had me audition. I hate to audition. Whatever, I auditioned for her and the class. She said she loves my voice, and she actually added me to the chorus. She knows I’m thinking about taking Communication Studies next semester, and she told me she’s going to do her best to convince me to stay with Chorus. She’s a great chorus director, and the kids in the chorus are friendly. David, I’ve never had any teacher say they’re going to convince me to take their class. That’s something else that’s different than Riverview.”

“So, are you going to stick with Chorus?”

“I don’t know. It depends on how much time my homework is going to take me each day. I don’t want to get burned out. Chorus has extra rehearsals for performances, and then there are the performances themselves. I’ve got to ask her for the rehearsal and performance schedule. I forgot to do it today. The problem about taking Chorus next semester will be conflicts with JV tennis team practices and matches. It might not work.”

“We were in California History and Government together, so I know about that. How about Biology?”

“Mr. Voisard is a wonderful Biology teacher. He explained a few things in class today that were like turning on a light bulb for me. Then my last class was PE and Tennis. Obviously I didn’t play. Coach Kim wants me to go to a sports orthopedist and have my arm evaluated, and to have a physical therapy schedule worked up for me. I’m okay with that. The guys on the JV team are all friendly, and a few of the guys on the varsity team came over to see the newbie with the broken wing, that’s what Coach Kim calls it. They were friendly too.”

“We skipped the most important thing, lunch. How’s the food in the cafeteria? I never got a chance to ask you.”

“About the same as Riverview. The only difference I saw is that there are more healthy choices like the salad bar and a couple of veggie juice blends. I usually took my lunch. What do you do for lunch, David?”

“Same as you. I usually brown bag it. I eat in the cafeteria if they’re having a special that I like.”

“I’m the same. You’ll have to tell me which specials you like.”

“At the end of each month they have the — I guess you’d call it a menu — for the next month online. I always print it out and highlight the good specials. I’ll make a copy for you each month.”

Carson smiled. “Thanks, David!” 

By then we’d arrived home, and we walked around to the back door. Carson unlocked the door and we walked in.

“Mom, we’re home!” I shouted.

“Don’t shout, I can hear you,” she replied. “You guys hungry? How was your first day, Carson? How are your classes?”

“Mom, we’re going to go up and change first. Then we’ll be down and Carson can answer your questions.”

We dropped our backpacks in my bedroom and changed to shorts and T’s, then went downstairs to the kitchen and sat down at the table.

I said , “Hi, Mom,” then Carson said, “Hi, Mom.”

We sat there grinning.

“Alright, boys, it’s time for Carson’s inquisition. So, how was your day?”

Carson told Mom a shorter version of what he’d told me on the way home. While he did that Mom heated two chimichangas in the microwave then put them in the toaster oven so they’d get crisp. She put a bowl of salsa and some napkins on the table.

“Mom, the best thing is that I’m finding the kids at Hillcrest seem a lot friendlier than the kids at Riverview. I don’t know why that is, so I’m going to take notes about what I see and try to figure out the reasons. Also, the teachers here are better because they actually tell me that they’re going to do something and when they’ll have it for me. Then they take responsibility for having it for me. At Riverview it’s left up to the kids to keep after their teachers for everything that they need.”

“I’m not sure I understand about the teachers. Can you give me an example?”

“I talked to my Spanish teacher, Mr. Rodriquez, about the problems I had with Spanish grammar. He said he’d give me a list of audio lessons after class and that if I listen to them I should be able to get my grade up to an A. When the class was over, he called my name and gave me the list. The lessons are online, and he gave me the list with the links right then, just like he’d said he would. At Riverview my Spanish teacher would have told me something like ‘check back with me next week.’ It would be my responsibility. Mr. Rodriquez took responsibility. That’s a huge difference between how the two high schools work.”

“Alright, I understand what you mean. But remember, you have the final responsibility for what you do in school.”

“I know. Another thing is that I auditioned for Ms. Lovell in front of the class in Chorus. She said she loves my voice, and she actually added me to the chorus today. I told her that I’m planning to take Communication Studies instead of Chorus next semester, and she said she’s going to try to convince me to stay in the chorus. I’ve never had a teacher say they wanted me to take their class at Riverview. Oh, and Coach Kim wants me to go to a sports orthopedist to check out my arm and to come up with a set of physical therapy exercises he wants me to do both in PE and at home. He gave me the orthopedist’s name, address, and phone number. Can I do that?”

“Certainly, Carson. Do you have the name of the sports orthopedist with you?”

“Yes,” he pulled out a printed sheet of paper and gave it to Mom. “This is the contact information about the sports orthopedist Coach Kim recommended. I can also get my sports physical at the same time.

“One more thing. I met a couple of guys who are on the JV tennis team. One of them, Gavin Douglas, told us something that none of us had thought about. Gavin said that because we look alike, and we’ll have the same last name, and we’re the same age and were born on the same date, everyone is going to expect that we’re twins until we explain it to them. And we’re going to be explaining ourselves to both students and teachers.

“He also said that because you adopted David and you’re adopting me, that it’s real love. That was such a cool thing for him to say.”

“I agree, Carson. Gavin is a very smart boy. Anything else?”

“I guess that’s about it, Mom.”

She looked at me.

“And how was your day, David?”

“Same as, same as. Nothing any different than what’s usual. I have homework, AmLit, Algebra 2, and Spanish. Then I want to work on my California History and Government project, and Carson wants me to help him pick a topic to for his project. My AmLit homework is to write an essay about my individual reactions to race, based on Maya Angelou’s short story ‘My Name is Margaret’ that we read and discussed in class today. I have reading to do in Spanish, and problems to solve in Algebra 2. Carson has the same Algebra 2 class, so we’ll do that homework separately and then compare our answers and if they’re different we’ll each try to figure out why and which one is right. For once I don’t have any homework for Chemistry or California History and Government, so I left those textbooks at school. That’s it. Oh, yeah. A question. I thought Alan was going to be home until he leaves for San Diego tomorrow. Thing is, I haven’t seen him at all since Friday.”

“He’s been here, leaving early and coming home late. He’ll be home for dinner at 6:30.”

“What’s he been doing?”

“Alan’s been helping Rich pack up his things. He’s going to UC San Diego too, and will be living in the apartment with Alan and one other boy. What’s complicated things is that Rich’s dad just got a promotion and he’s been transferred to Atlanta. So, Rich has to move all of his things that aren’t going to San Diego to a storage unit. Alan says it’s a lot of stuff, including his bedroom furniture and a lot of clothes. They’ve been using Rich’s pickup to do the move, and it’s been a lot bigger job than they expected.” Mom shook her head. “They thought they’d be done over the weekend, but it’s taken twice as long. I just hope they finish by dinnertime tonight.”

We finished our snack and cleaned off the table. Time to do homework. We went upstairs, grabbed our backpacks, and went to the kitchen to use the table. Two hours later we were far enough along and bored enough to put our books away and go to the family room to watch some TV before dinner. We kept switching around the various MTV and VHI channels trying to find music videos that we liked. All of a sudden I realized something.

“Carson, do you know that we haven’t argued or even disagreed about any of the music videos? That either means we completely agree or we totally do not care. I’m not sure about you, but I’m absolutely not in the ‘do not care’ camp. How about you?”

“Neither am I. I mean that I’m not in the ‘do not care’ camp either. I really do like everything we decided on. I assumed you did too.”

“Yes, I did. That means we completely agree, at least on the music that we just saw in TV. Now, if you’d wanted Country, then we would definitely had an argument.”

“Country? ME? No way, José!”

“Umm… my name’s David, not José.” Carson rolled his eyes and I grinned. “So we’re on the same page, totally.”

“Yup. Just like identical… you know, ‘the name that cannot be said.’” Carson busted up laughing, and so did I.

Mom came in and asked what was so funny.

“We were not arguing about music.”

“And that’s funny?” she asked.

“I guess you had to be here,” I said, and then I grinned.

Mom walked back into the kitchen, mumbling loud enough for us to hear what she said: “Boys. I’ll never understand them.” That made us laugh even more.

I heard the garage door. “Hey! Dad’s home.” Carson and I walked into the kitchen and waited. After a minute or so Dad came in from the garage.

Carson and I said “Hi, Dad,” at the same time.

Dad said, “Hi, guys.” Then he pulled us into a soft group hug, being careful of Carson’s arm.

He walked over to Mom and gave her a kiss, and said “Hi, honey.”

Mom replied “Hi. How was your day?”

“Good, as usual.” He peeked around Mom at the stove. “Smells good. What’s for dinner?”

“Beef Stroganoff, noodles, green beans, and homemade biscuits. Oh, there’s a package for you in your office.”

“Ah. Something I was expecting?”

“I think so.”

“Good. I’m going up and get changed and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I walked over to the stove and peeked in the pan with the Beef Stroganoff.

“That smells great, Mom.”

“Dinner will be on in a little while. How about you and Carson set the table?”

“Okay. Come on, Carson, let’s get the table set. Oh, Mom? Do you want the plates on the table or on the counter next to the stove?”

“On the table. And don’t forget to set a place for Alan.”

We set the table with minimal direction from Mom, then went back to the family room and turned on the TV.

“I’m tired of music videos. Let’s see what else is on,” I suggested.

“How about the news?” Dad sat down in his chair and waved his hand, meaning he wanted the remote. I had it, so I got up and handed it to him. He turned on the 6:00 news.

We watched for a few minutes, and it was boring. War, the economy, the price of gasoline, all bad news. Then the weather report came on. The weatherman said that the warm weather we’ve been having would continue through next weekend.

Alan walked into the family room. “Hi, guys.”

“Alan!” I shouted. We hugged and I called out, “Mom, Alan’s home.”

Alan grabbed Carson in a hug, being careful of his arm. “How’s my newest brother doing?”

“Great, Alan, great!”

Dad hugged him. “Good to see you, Alan. We thought maybe you’d gotten accidentally locked inside Rich’s storage locker.”

Alan laughed. “Could have, it sure took a lot of effort getting all of his stuff packed and moved. Especially the furniture. He’s got at least twice as much stuff as I have. That includes about twenty boxes of books.”

Mom came in, wiping her hands on a towel. Alan hugged her. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi to you, Alan. So, you finished moving Rich out of his folks’ house?”

“Yeah, it’s finally all done. I am so glad that we got it all moved, and the stuff he needs in San Diego is packed in the back of his truck and he’s ready to head out in the morning.”

“How about you? Are you ready to go, Alan?” I asked.

“I packed last week. I’m ready. More than ready.”

“Well,” Mom said, “I assume you’re here for dinner, and you don’t have anything to distract you tonight. Am I correct?”

“Yes. I’m sticking around home tonight. What’s cooking? It smells good. Like Beef Stroganoff.” He grinned. That’s his favorite meal.

“It’s a surprise. You’ll find out when we sit down for dinner.”

“I gotta quarter that says it’s Beef Stroganoff.”

“This is a no-betting household. Just wait until it’s served.” Mom turned and walked back into the kitchen.

“Carson, why don’t you go up and tell Lynn and Barb that dinner is about ready, and that Alan is here.”

“Okay, Dad.” He headed upstairs.

Alan, Dad, and I went into the kitchen and sat down, and Carson, Lynn, and Barb joined us in a couple of minutes. Mom brought the dinner to the table and Alan clapped his hands.

“Yes! Beef Stroganoff and noodles. My favorite. Thank you, Mom. You’re the best!”

We spent the next twenty minutes doing a lot of eating and a little talking, mostly Alan telling about what he and Rich had to do to get him completely moved out of his parent’s house.

When we were finished Dad tapped his water glass with his knife so it sounded like a chime.

“David and Carson, I received the two DNA testing kits today, both are for twin and sibling DNA tests, the second one takes longer because you two will have to go to a special testing facility so it takes longer to get the results back, and the report they supply is legally binding in all states because the blood draw is witnessed. They are essentially the same, it's just that if we are going to court the legally binding test is better to get around that your official birth certificates show the same birth dates but different hospitals. They should show the same DNA results, whether you're related or not related, twins or not twins, and identical or fraternal if you’re twins.

“We’ll follow the instructions for the test that has a faster response and your Mom will take the box to FedEx tomorrow morning. We should get the results back in about a week.

“I don’t have any information back from Wayne Hagen about the apparent conflict in Carson’s birth certificates, assuming that there’s actually one from Redwood Hospital in addition to the one from Kettering Hospital. Regardless of the outcome of the DNA tests, I want both of you to remember that you’re going to be brothers whether you’re twins or not.”

I looked at Dad. “When will you do our test? Is it like on CSI where they swab the inside of a suspect’s mouth?”

Dad looked very serious. “I don’t know how the DNA tests will be done. I haven’t had time to open the boxes and read the instructions. For all I know I have to take blood samples, or do a skin biopsy.”

I knew he was kidding, but Carson didn’t and he looked panicked. Thing is, Dad couldn’t hold his serious expression and Carson caught on.

“That’s not very friendly, Dad. But very funny.”

“Alright,” Mom declared, “Carson and David, you go with Dad to his office and figure out how to take your samples. Lynn and Barb, you’re helping me with the dishes. Alan, you’ve been working hard helping Rich move so you go watch some TV and relax. Everyone come back in a half hour and we’ll have some dessert.”

Carson and I followed Dad into his office. He opened both boxes, set one aside, and removed the contents from the other box.

“Okay, here’s what we have in box number one.”