Chapter Text
Marshal stared at the ceiling.
He knew it was before 6:30, or Quentin would be up, telling him to do homework.
At 7:00 his dad, Eddy, woke up and Marshal always heard him cursing about how women always use the hot water out of the shower.
It was after 5:30, because the sun was up.
Marshal considered hanging down from the side of the bunk bed and making an ugly face right before Quentin's alarm went off… but that would just earn him a lecture from Quentin and a slap on the bottom from his dad.
Marshal sighed and stepped cautiously down the ladder. He was careful not to wake Quentin.
Quentin, in the lower bunk, snored on. He was Marshal's identical twin, but looking identical was far from being identical.
Quentin ate oatmeal for breakfast.
Marshal had sugar cookie frosty rainbow flakes.
Quentin believed in getting good grades.
Marshal believed in flushing his terrible grades down the toilet before his mom could see them and make a fuss.
Marshal slipped out of the room and snuck downstairs for a look at the clock.
6:25.
Oh. Well, he was right.
It was a monday, so after school dad would have Uncle Ed and Uncle D over to watch football.
And that would mean they would bring their kids.
Which meant he would see Juliet,
and he really didn't want to see Juliet.
But Marshal guessed he would have to.
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juliet's p.o.v
I was up with the sun.
I always am.
I like to get up early so I can document my dreams in my dream diary.
I always have very interesting and weird dreams, like last night.
It was cold, and the wind hit my face with a bitter sting that I chose to ignore.
The palace, it was so far away, and yet it seemed so near just a second ago.
I hear a voice calling my name.
It is my brother.
he calls for me from the highest tower …
But I am frozen in the ice.
I cannot answer him.
I cannot answer his call for help.
i am frozen.
Spooky, right?
I always have those kinds of dreams, about my brother.
He's very special.
Well, he's not special, but he's dear to me.
All the other kids my age think it's so weird I care for my little brother the way I do.
Maybe it's because I know I love him, and the other girls just think their little brother's are very annoying.
I sigh and roll over.
I don't really feel like getting up today.
Maybe it's because we're going over to marshal's house today.
UGH.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Juliet and marshal didn't always get along.
No, that's not the right sentence.
Juliet and marshal almost never got along.
Maybe because they were total opposites.
it started way back before any of them could remember, with Juliet saying something like;
"daddy tol' me dat 2+2 is 4, SO THERE."
and Marshal would reply with something like;
"Huh UH, cuz if you have 2 that's 2 ones so you carry the 1 and you get 5, MISS SMARTY-NOT-SO-PANTY-PANTS!"
Most of their arguments were pretty pointless, and not a whole lot of them made any sense, especially on Marshal's side.
But they didn't tolerate each other, and that was that.
It didn't help that their dad's were the best of friends.
In first grade, Juliet would be the one the teacher would call on, and she always got every answer correct.
This infuriated marshal.
Juliet got straight A's.
Marshal rarely got a C.
He got F's, F minuses, and occasionally a D.
This made marshal even more furious, and one day, he snapped.
"HEY! Juliet!" he yelled across the hall when they were the only ones there.
She was getting a drink of water and she turned with a bored expression.
"Yeah, were you talking to me?!"
"WHO ELSE IS NAMED JULIET IN THIS WHOLE STINKING SCHOOL?!" he screamed, even though there was nobody in the hall and even if he had whispered she still would have heard him.
"I dunno," she said casually. "I don't memorize the school yearbook, do you?"
That was just like her. Smart and snappy with a good tone of sarcasm.
"NO, only nerds memorize stuff like that!" he yelled back. He had no idea why he was screaming. She was able to push his buttons just right.
"I would've thought YOU did stuff like that, miss bossy know it all!" well, at least his insults were getting better.
"Only nerds get good grades, moron. I want to get good grades so I can get into a good college!"
"We weren't even TALKING about grades!"
"Oh, sorRY! I was just saying you don't get good grades!"
"I don't get good grade's cause SCHOOL IS STUPID!"
"It is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
This screaming match went on until a teacher came out and told them to get to class.
And this was the kind of thing that happened almost everyday, now.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quentin had a morning routine.
Everybody in his entire family said that made him like uncle dee, but quentin couldn't see any similarity's beyond that. Besides that he was always trying to stop marshal's brash behavior. Or that he liked neat things. Or that he was into science. Other than that, really, there were no similarities.
Quentin had to go through the same routine every morning or else things would go wrong.
Eddy had freaked out when Double D tried to give quentin a labeler for his birthday.
Eddy had returned the gift immediately and said he didn't want his son turning into a miniature Double D.
But it seemed like that was happening anyway, and no one could do a thing about it.
Step one of the morning routine:
Set your alarm for the next day. Be sure tomorrow isn't saturday or sunday before setting the alarm for 6:30.
step 2:
change into daily attire; which consists of a tannish whitish tee shirt with a purple q on it, light blue pants, black shoes, and red leggings just like his uncles. of course, Ed and Double D weren't really his biological uncles, but Eddy treated them like family and they treated him the same. besides, their REAL uncle, Eddy had said, was dangerous and he wasn't letting Quentin or Marshal anywhere near him.
3:
Comb out your hair so it looks presentable. Marshal always looked hideous because he hadn't brushed his hair in months.
4:
Eat a well balanced breakfast with essential vitamins to start the day.
5:
avoid Marshal's prank of the day
6: pack lunch and backpack
and 7:
Board the bus, letter S.
Marshal's schedule went something like this:
Eat food, get dressed, (red shirt, with m marked on it, light but pants, red shoes, white socks) prank somebody, board bus.
Today when Quentin stepped out of bed he knew immediately Marshal wasn't in bed because Marshal didn't put his pajama's in the dirty laundry pile.
He sighed and braced himself for a prank.
It happened when he poured the milk out of its carton, it was green.
the first time this happened, quentin had retched and thrown the carton away, this time he simply glared at the milk and said;
"Food coloring, you've really outdone yourself."
Marshal's hopeful glance shattered and now looked like a sad puppy who was kicked out on the streets.
Quentin rolled his eyes. If he gave any sort of reaction, it would encourage Marshal.
To marshal, everyday was April Fool's Day, which was bad, because today in the lunchroom they were serving pie.