Top
Free Shipping On Orders Over $35!
Get Rewarded for Ordering Your Textbooks! Enroll Now
Customer Reviews Read Reviews
Write a Review
The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.
The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.
Dear Diary,
I love surprises. Surprise parties, surprise phone calls from friends, sometimes even the meat loaf surprise in the school dining room. But surprises don't mean a thing to my sister. That's because no matter how hard I try, Mary-Kate just can't be surprised!
But this morning at breakfast, I decided to give it another shot.
"Hi, guys!" I said. I sat down at our usual table in the dining room. "How's the banana-nut oatmeal?"
"Let's just say you'll need a fork," Mary-Kate said as she poked at her bowl. "It's extra lumpy today!"
Oatmeal for breakfast is a big tradition here at the White Oak Academy for Girls in New Hampshire. It's hard to believe that our boarding school has been around for more than a hundred years. Maybe that's why our dining room looks like the inside of an old castle!
I glanced around the table at our friends. Cheryl Miller, Summer Sorensen, Phoebe Cahill, and Elise Van Hook all looked half-asleep as they swirled their spoons in their oatmeal.
"I'm still zonked out from that statewide history test we studied for all weekend," Cheryl said with a half-yawn.
"I'm just glad it's over." My roommate Phoebe groaned as she buttered her toast. "All those names to remember!"
Phoebe was wearing a denim miniskirt, purple cowboy boots, and tights with a black-and-white pattern that made me dizzy. Phoebe's way-cool clothes are all vintage. Sometimes I tease her that "vintage" is just a fancy word for hand-me-down!
"And all those dates! Like I492, I776, I8I2!" Elise said. "I am so horrible at remembering dates!"
"Unless they're with Peter Juarez!" Mary-Kate teased.
Elise lowered her eyes and blushed. Peter is her boyfriend at the Harrington Academy for Boys, right down the road from our school.
All this talk about history tests and boys was distracting me from my plan. If I was going to start surprising Mary-Kate, I was going to have to start now. . .
"Mary-Kate, forget about your lumpy banana-nut oatmeal," I declared. "Because this is your lucky day!"
"Why?" Mary-Kate asked. She glanced back at the kitchen. "Are there banana-nut muffins instead?"
I shook my head and said, "Something better. I have a surprise for you!"
"I love surprises!" Summer said. Her smile gleamed white against her California tan. "What is it, Ashley?"
"Summer!" Cheryl said. She rolled her dark eyes. "It wouldn't be a surprise if she said what it was."
"What do you think it is, Mary-Kate?" I asked. "Go ahead. Guess."
"Hmm," Mary-Kate said. She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes as she thought.
I held my breath.
Mary-Kate doesn't seem to have a clue! I thought. Could this be it? Is she about to be surprised for the first time in our lives?
"Let's see," Mary-Kate said slowly. Her blue eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers. "Is it a peanut butter-chocolate energy bar with vanilla-yogurt icing?"
My jaw dropped. She did it again! Mary-Kate guessed another surprise!
"Well?" Mary-Kate asked with a smirk. "Is it?"
All eyes were on me as I pulled a peanut butter-chocolate energy bar with vanilla-yogurt icing from my bag. I tossed it on the table, saying, "You got it."
Our friends went totally wild.
"No way!" Elise squealed.
"How did you know that, Mary-Kate?" Phoebe asked.
Mary-Kate tore open the energy bar and took a bite. "Because I saw it in Ashley's bag yesterday," she said between chews.
"You saw it in my bag?" I asked, disappointed.
Summer clapped her hands and squealed, "Mary-Kate has X-ray vision, everybody. Just like Superman!"
"I don't have X-ray vision, Summer," Mary-Kate said. "Ashley was carrying her light blue jelly bag yesterday, and I could see right into it."
I gulped. Mary-Kate was right. My light blue jelly bag is practically transparent!
"Plus, Ashley hates yogurt icing on anything," Mary-Kate went on. "So I figured it must be for me."
I shook my head and said, "I should have known you can never be surprised. What was I thinking?"
"That's crazy, Ashley," Cheryl said. "Everybody can be surprised."
"Everybody but Mary-Kate," I said. "Back home in Chicago, Mary-Kate's softball team won a citywide championship. So I invited all of our friends from school to a surprise party for Mary-Kate."
"I remember," Mary-Kate said with a grin.
"We all heard Mary-Kate coming into the house," I went on. "We turned off the lights in the living room and hid behind the chairs and sofa. But Mary-Kate walked in the room, turned on the lights, and yelled, 'What a surprise!"
"So she was surprised," Cheryl said.
"Not exactly," I said. "Mary-Kate yelled it out before we even jumped out!"
"How did you...?" Phoebe started to say.
"It was a no-brainer," Mary-Kate explained. "I saw all the jackets hanging in the hall. And a stack of pizza boxes in the kitchen."
"You see?" I said to my friends.
"Hey, don't sweat it, Ashley," Mary-Kate said. "I guess I'm just naturally... unsurprisable!"
A crackling noise filled the dining room. That meant an announcement was about to come across the loudspeaker.
"Good morning, girls," a cheery voice said.
It was Mrs. Pritchard. She's the headmistress of the White Oak Academy. Sometimes we call her "the Head."
"Good morning, Mrs. Pritchard!" Summer replied.
"Summer!" Cheryl said with a laugh. "She can't hear you."
Most of the other students kept on eating. But some actually turned to face the loudspeaker.
"A few quick announcements," Mrs. Pritchard said. "There will be a meeting of the Student Council after last period today. The Glee Club is selling raffle tickets during each lunch period all this week. Don't forget that your class evaluations will be due at the end of this month. And finally, I would kike Mary-Kate Burke to please see me in my office after breakfast. Thank you, and enjoy your oatmeal."
Two of a Kind #39: Candles, Cake, Celebrate!. Copyright © by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
Excerpted from Candles, Cake, Celebrate! by Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Need Help? Copyright © 1999-2024