The Banana Split Affair (2 page)

“Hiya, Sooz, Here, I brought you an apple. I want to be remembered as someone who helped cultivate a great talent. If I can’t be a famous artist, at least I can help
you
get there. Maybe you’ll even dedicate a painting to me someday. Or do my portrait. I can see it now:
Girl in Blue Jeans.
Or better yet:
Girl with Frizzy Hair.”

“Hi, Chris. Thanks for the apple. I’m famished.”

Chris glanced around her sister’s bedroom. Hung all along every wall were paintings and drawings done by Susan. And each one was more impressive than the last. Portraits, landscapes, still lifes—Susan seemed to have a knack for them all. And she had used every medium imaginable, from crayons and colored pencils to oil paints and paper collages.

As she noticed the seascape on the desk, she felt a twinge of regret. While she had spent her Sunday afternoon flirting with a boy she didn’t even particularly
like,
her twin had used the time to create a beautiful painting she would have forever.

Not that
I
could,
Chris thought sadly, even if I tried.

The next thing that caught her eye as her sister swiveled around in her chair so they could talk were the shelves and shelves of books. Some of the titles sounded interesting, some of them just plain dull. But she knew that Susan had read them all. Not only that; she had probably also
learned
something from each one. Chris never managed to find much time to read. She was too busy talking on the telephone and braiding her hair and going out on dates.

Susan probably
will
become someone important one day, she thought, suddenly feeling sorry for herself. Maybe even someone
great.

“So tell me, Chris,” Susan was saying to her as she plopped down on the bed. “How was your date with Tommy Turner?”

“It was okay,” she answered distractedly.

“What did you do?”

“Oh, nothing much.”

“Where did you go?”

“A movie.”

“Are you going out with him again sometime?”

“I don’t know.” Chris sounded as if her thoughts were a thousand miles away.

Susan finally said impatiently, “For heaven’s sake, Chris, what’s the matter with you? I thought you
liked
Tommy. I mean you
are
going out with him!”

“He’s okay.”

“Then what’s wrong? Or is it that you don’t want to tell me about it?”

“Oh, Sooz, it has nothing to do with you. The truth is it was a total waste of an afternoon. I had a terrible time. I should never have gone out today, with Tommy Turner or anyone else. I was so worried about that history test tomorrow that I couldn’t think about anything else.”

She stood up and began pacing around the room. “I couldn’t concentrate on Tommy or the movie or anything. I kept seeing little dates dancing before my eyes—1492, 1812....”

“That’s too bad,” Susan clucked, still envious that her sister had at least
had
the option of going out on a date.

“Hey, Chris, that’s a pretty scarf.” Susan eyed the red wool muffler thrown carelessly around her sister’s neck. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. Is it new?”

“Not exactly. It was Tommy’s. He gave it to me just now. He said it made my eyes gleam like an Arabian princess’s.” Chris sounded bored. She paused near the desk and gave Susan’s watercolor an admiring glance. “That’s terrific, Sooz! I love the color of the ocean. It looks so real! It reminds me of the time we went to the shore with Mom and Dad last summer.”

“Thanks.” Despite her sister’s sudden enthusiasm, Susan still sensed that something was wrong. She hesitantly asked, “Is everything all right, Chris? You seem kind of down. Did anything happen with Tommy?”

“Something
is
wrong, but it has nothing to do with Tommy.” Chris dropped onto the bed once again. She sighed deeply, then said, “Gee, Susan. I’m so envious of you! Look at that painting you did this afternoon. You whipped it off like it was nothing. I wish I could paint like that. Look at this room. It reminds me of an art museum!

“And I wish I could get A’s as easily as you can. Except for math, I never do very well in school. I’m going to have to spend the whole night studying for that stupid history test, and I’ll bet anything that I’ll
still
end up getting a C and a lecture from Mr. Stevens. He’s always saying, ‘Christine, why can’t you be more like your twin? She gets A’s without even trying!’ Everything comes so easily to you.” She pulled off the scarf and tossed it onto the bed beside her “Oh, Susan,” she cried, “sometimes I wish
I
were you!”

Susan was so flabbergasted that she nearly dropped her brush and ruined her painting. “Chris, I can’t believe you just said that! Maybe there really
is
something to the idea of twins being on the same wavelength! Unless you happen to be some kind of mind reader.”

“What do you mean, Sooz? Did I miss something?” Chris looked puzzled.

“I was just sitting here watching you from my window and wishing that
I
were
you!”

“You’re kidding!” Chris squealed. “You wish you were me? Whatever for?”

“Mainly because you’re all the things that I’m not! You’re popular with boys. You always know the right thing to say. You always look like you just stepped off a page of
Seventeen
magazine....”

“But Sooz! You’re positively
brilliant!
All the teachers love you. You hardly have to put in any time studying. Plus you happen to be an artistic
genius....
How could I
not
wish I were more like you?”

Susan stared off into space thoughtfully. “I guess it
is
kind of funny that even though we’re identical twins, we turned out to be so different. We’re practically the exact opposites of each other. We couldn’t be less alike if we tried.” She paused for a few seconds, then chuckled to herself.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Oh, nothing. I just had a crazy idea, that’s all.”

“What?”

“It’s silly.” Susan dismissed her thought with a wave of her hand.

“Come on. Try me,” Chris insisted. “I promise I won’t laugh.”

“Well, here I am, wishing I were you. And here you are, wishing you were me. It’s really too bad. What we need is a fairy godmother who could take all our personality traits and combine them and split them between us equally. Then we wouldn’t have to go around wishing we were each other.”

“Yeah,” Chris sighed. “Too bad there’s no such thing as magic. I’d give anything to find out what it’s like to be you, even for just a few days.”

“I know,” Susan agreed. “I’d love to find out what it’s like to be you, too. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could really change places for a while?”

The two girls were silent for a minute, each lost in her own thoughts. And then, suddenly, a devilish look came into Chris’s eyes. At the same time, a similar expression crept over Susan’s face. The twins looked across the room at each other.

“Sooz,” Chris said softly, “are you by any chance thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yes,” said Susan in the same tone.

Diabolical grins appeared on both girls’ faces.

“We could trade lives!”
Susan’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “I mean we could trade identities!”

“Yes! Oh, yes!” Chris clapped her hands. “I could become you, and you could become me! After all, we’re identical twins. We could make ourselves look like each other!”

“We could dress like each other.  ...”

“And act like each other ...”

“And no one would be able to tell the difference!”

“That’s right!” cried Chris, “I’d get to be Susan Pratt, and you’d get to be Christine Pratt!”

The two girls broke into peals of hysterical laughter at the idea of changing lives and identities with each other. It was a wonderful fantasy, one that was so obvious that neither could believe it had never occurred to them before.

“So when do we start?” Chris asked when the two of them had quieted down and caught their breath. “How about tonight?”

“What?” Susan gasped. “Do you really mean it? You’d actually go through with something like that?”

“Of course! Why not? You were just saying you wanted to be me. And I’d jump at the chance to try being you. So let’s do it!”

“We can’t just become each other,” Susan protested. “It’s crazy!”

“So much the better. Sooz, we
have
to do it, now that we’ve thought of it. It’s too good an idea to pass up!”

“Do you think we could really fool people?”

“You bet! As a matter of fact, I’ll bet you the biggest banana split you can find that no one will guess that we’ve switched identities.”

Susan tried to think up some reason why switching lives with her twin for a while would never work. Eventually she had to admit that there were few good reasons not to give it a try. Meanwhile, Chris watched her anxiously, eager to hear her decision.

Finally she took a deep breath and said, “Okay, Chris. It’s a deal. But the banana split bet is still on. If we manage to carry this thing off, I’ll buy you one. And if we get found out, you do the buying.”

“You’re on!” Chris threw her arms around her twin. “What an absolute brainstorm! Oooh, I can’t wait to get started!”

Susan suddenly drew away and frowned. “Hold on a minute, Chris. We won’t switch
forever,
will we?”

“Of course not. That would be impossible, even if we wanted to. No, all we want is a chance to experience life the way the other twin does. That’s the whole reason for this, isn’t it? We’ll do it for ... Let’s see.... How about two weeks?”

“Hmmm. Today is Sunday, so that’ll be two full weeks of school and two weekends. Sounds fair. Not too long, but we’ll still have a chance to get a taste of each other’s lives. Okay. I’m game!”

“Terrific! I knew you’d come through, Sooz!”

In her usual organized manner, Susan took out a piece of paper and a pen. “All right. So it’s agreed. Now we’ll have to work out the details of our plan.”

“What details?” Chris asked impatiently, gleefully throwing the red scarf up into the air.

“For one thing, we’ve got to decide who we’ll tell.
Somebody
has to know what’s going on.”

Chris crossed her legs Indian-style and rested her chin in her hands. “Let’s not tell anybody. Not a living soul.” Her brown eyes gleamed mischievously.

Susan shook her head. “No, we’ll have to tell someone. In case something goes wrong.”

“What could possibly go wrong?” Chris pouted. But when she noticed her sister’s stern expression, she said, “Oh, all right. I suppose you’ve got a point. As usual. You’re always so levelheaded. Who do you think we should tell?”

“We should at least tell Mom and Dad.”

“Okay,”
Chris agreed. “We’ll tell Mom and Dad. But we won’t tell anyone else. All right?”

“All right. Now we need to draw up a contract. It won’t be legal or anything, but it’ll put our plan down in writing. Then we’ll both be sure of the rules we have to follow. And I think we should think up a name for our scheme.”

“What kind of name?” asked Chris, looking interested.

“A
code
name. Something that no one will understand but us. You know, like in spy movies. That way no one will ever guess what we’re talking about if they overhear us at school. Besides,” she smiled, “it makes this thing even more exciting.”

“Do you have any ideas? You’re much better at that kind of thing than I am.”

“Let’s see.” Susan thought for a minute. “I’ve got it! How about ‘The Banana Split Affair’? After all, those are the stakes we’re playing for”

“The Banana Split Affair,” Chris repeated with a grin. “I love it!”

“All right. Then ‘The Banana Split Affair’ it is.” She wrote it at the top of the page.

“One final thing,” Chris said. “We both have to
promise
to carry this through. Completely. One hundred percent. No matter what happens, we won’t spill the beans. Not to
anyone,
under any circumstances.”

Susan, hesitated. “Well, okay. I guess I’ll write that into our contract, then.”

“Great! Let’s shake on it!” The girls shook hands, then collapsed into hysterical laughter once again.

“We’d better get started,” said Susan when she finally caught her breath. “We still have a lot to do. And we only have an hour or so before dinner. Changing me into Christine Pratt isn’t exactly going to be the easiest thing in the world!”

“The same goes for changing me into you, too. Hey, Sooz, can you teach me how to paint like you in half an hour?”

“I’ll have to teach you how to fake it. I have a feeling that Susan Pratt is going to develop a sudden passion for modern art in her painting class at school.”

“Good. Because drawing triangles and squiggles is about all that
Christine
Pratt can handle!”

“How about math? You know that trigonometry is my worst subject. And your very best. Can you turn me into Albert Einstein by tomorrow?”

Chris rolled her eyes. “It won’t be easy. But I guess I’ll have to try.”

“We sure have a lot to do, then! Let’s get going right away.”

“We’ll do you first, okay? Come try on my new jeans. I think they’ll fit you just fine, Sooz. I mean Chris!”

The girls started for Chris’s bedroom, arm in arm. They were still caught up in the excitement of their plan.

Chris said, “You know, Sooz, there’s one thing I have to say about this idea of trading lives with each other”

“What’s that?” asked Susan.

Chris grinned at her sister. “This plan of ours is so outrageously crazy, my dear twin, so wildly off-the-wall and totally bizarre, that it just might work!”

For the next hour the sound of laughter mixed with muffled bits of serious conversation emerged from behind the closed doors of one or the other of the twins’ bedrooms. The girls tried their best to be quiet, planning to hide their little secret from their parents until just the right moment.

Fortunately, both parents were out of the way. Mrs. Pratt was downstairs in the family room finishing up her mystery book while checking on dinner every few minutes. Mr. Pratt was out in the driveway washing the car. Even so, Susan and Chris treated the switching of their identities like some top-level spy mission, keeping their voices down to a whisper when they weren’t overcome with giggles. All that secrecy made it that much more fun.