“Have a nice day Aislin!” called her mom.

“You too, mom!” responded Aislin. She jogged up the steps of her school. First day of school! So exciting! Now, where’s 203. She looked around but couldn’t find it. After a couple of minutes spent wandering around the school, Aislin found 203. She went inside and placed her backpack beside the desk labeled with her first and last name. Aislin bent over to get something from her backpack. When she found her binder and put it on her desk, someone was already in her chair. “Excuse me, that’s my seat,” said Aislin.

“Umm…” said the other girl. “This desk has my name on it.”

“Wait… Your name is Aislin Shires?!” exclaimed Aislin.

“How do you know my name?” said the other girl.

“That’s my name too!” exclaimed Aislin #1.

“Really! That’s awesome” Aislin #2 said. “But that doesn’t solve the problem of whose seat this is,” she added.

“I’ll go look for the other Aislin Shire’s desk,” Aislin #1 said.

“Attendance!” called the teacher. All the students of class 203 slid into their seats. “Hello class, my name is Ms. Rubenhines,’’ announced the teacher. “It seems as though we have two Aislins in this class” she added.

Both Aislins slid lower into their seats.

“We’ll see how that goes” muttered Ms. Rubenhines. “Anyway…time for science! We’ll be doing baking soda volcanoes!” said the teacher. “I used a random group generator to decide who you’ll be working with.”

When the names came on, everybody quickly found their partners. Both Aislins were paired up for the project.

“It might be fun?” said Aislin #1.

Once everybody was settled into their seats the project began. After the project was over, it was almost the end of the day. “Hey, do you want to hang out with me after school?” asked Aislin #1. “Sure!” responded Aislin #2. When school was let out, the two Aislins went to the park to get ice cream. “This is so funky, two Aislin with the same first and last name in the same class!” exclaimed Aislin #1 “

At least we don’t have the same birthdays. Speaking of which, when is yours?” questioned Aislin #2.

“November 11, 2008,” said Aislin #1 proudly.

“Guess what!” exclaimed Aislin #2.

“What?” asked Aislin #1.

“That’s my birthday too!” shouted Aislin #2.

“That’s redonkulous!” exclaimed Aislin #1.

“I know right!” said Aislin #2.

“Anyway, it’s getting dark. I should be going home,” said Aislin #2.

“Yeah so should I,” replied Aslin #1. They both left the park thinking about how fun it is to have a non-biological twin.

The next day in class both Aislins felt as though it was going to be a great day. “Hello class, my name is Mr. McGuire. I’ll be your substitute for today.” A quiet murmur rippled through the class. “Why was there a substitute on the second day?” “How come Ms. Rubenhines wasn’t there?”

When it was time for attendance, the teacher got through the list pretty fast. But when he called on Aislin Shires, both girls responded. “Oh dear, this is going to be difficult,” said the teacher.

The first half of the day was filled with mix-ups about which Aislin was needed. During math, the substitute called on Aislin. They both gave different answers to the problem. The teacher said whose answer was correct. Aislin #2 was embarrassed because she had gotten the wrong answer.

During science, Mr. McGuire asked Aislin S. to bring up 30ml of vinegar. He seemed pretty proud that he specified which Aislin. But he forgot that both Aislins had the same last name. There were two vinegar stations on opposite sides of the room. Aislin #1 and #2 both walked up to the experiment and put the vinegar in. There was some baking soda in the mixture so when the vinegar went in… there was a giant eruption. Bubbles spewed everywhere covering both Aislins and Mr.McGuire. He sent both back to their seats. At lunch, both Aislins were exhausted and embarrassed from having to specify which girl was needed. They talked for the rest of lunch about what to do. Lunch was over, and they still had no solution.

When they went to Ms. Wilson’s classroom, they were filled with dread. The day seemed to go slow without any mishaps. Until Ms. Wilson called on Aislin to come up. (She didn’t specify which one). They both walked up to the chalkboard and grabbed the same piece of chalk. Embarrassed, they both dropped the chalk, and it fell to the ground. And broke. Ms. Wilson specified which girl, and she sent Aislin #1 back to her seat. Having the same first and last name isn’t fun thought Aislin #1.

Having the same name isn’t fun at all thought Aislin #2.

At the end of the day, both girls met and thought of a solution. “I have an idea!” said Aislin #1. “How about we think of code names. Mine can be Sprinkles!” exclaimed Aislin #1.

“I don’t think our teachers would allow that,” said Aislin #2. “But now that I think about it, there may be something to your idea. What if I went by Shires and you went by your first name?” explained Shires.

“That’s a really good idea,” said Aislin.

“It’s settled then. I’ll go by Shires and you’ll go by Aislin” said Shires.

“Deal!” responded Aislin.