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tectonics,” one continued.
    What I knew about plate tectonics couldn’t fill one of the glass beakers on the shelf in front of me.
    â€œThat’s interesting,” I said glumly.
    I could already imagine them at the top of the class, smiling down at me with identical dimples.
    It was one thing to be outplayed on the basketball court, but in the lab, too?
    That, as Owen would say, was pushing it.

Jump Ball
    Ever since the first practice, where they had totally dominated the court, I’d been worried that the Twinvaders were going to take over the Pioneers in two or three quick moves.
    They were so good, it was ridiculous!
    And the other guys thought so, too.
    I noticed that Nate had started to copy them, like wearing a black rubber bracelet on his wrist. And Paul had asked them eight hundred questions about Minnesota, as if he actually cared how cold it got there or how big the mosquitoes were.
    The guys were acting like Mitch and Marcus were movie stars or something, and it was really starting to bug me. After all, we’d grown up together and always been equals. No one on the team had been special, no matter how wellthey played. And now these two strangers were being treated like they’d invented the freakin’ game.
    Even worse, they acted like they deserved to have the rest of us Pioneers as
fans
!
    I mean,
come on
.
    I tried to talk to Chris about it at our lockers one morning. “It must be nice to go from zeros to heroes in less than a week, huh?” I asked as I pulled out my math book.
    â€œWhat?” Chris asked, looking confused.
    â€œThe new twins.”
    â€œZeros to heroes?”
    â€œYeah, they came out of nowhere and now they’re worshiped by everybody.”
    Chris shook his head. “I don’t think they were zeros in Minnesota, O. Their team went to state last year.”
    I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”
    â€œNot really,” he said. “Nobody’s worshiping them. I think everybody’s just excited that two more awesome players joined the team.”
    â€œWithout trying out,” I reminded him.
    â€œYeah,” he said, shrugging. “But like Coach said, it’s not their fault they transferred midseason.”
    Frustrated because my best friend had been brainwashed, I told Chris I’d catch him later.
    Just like every other day at lunchtime, the Pioneers made sure that there was enough room at our table for the Twinvaders.
    And just like every other day so far, they hadn’t shown up.
    â€œDo you think they go home to eat?” Nate asked.
    â€œNo idea,” I told him. And who cared, anyway?
    â€œYou invited them to sit with us, right?” Paul asked Nicky Chu.
    â€œYeah, during art class.”
    I rolled my eyes as I bit into my tuna and sprout sandwich. They probably thought they were too good to eat with us.
    Why couldn’t anyone else see that they were jerks?

    By the time our next game rolled around, I was feeling kind of nervous. It would be the first game for the Matthews twins, and I didn’t know what to expect.
    I concentrated even less in my classes than usual, and when I got nailed in the head by a piece of beef jerky at lunch, I barely even noticed.
    â€œThink Coach will start them?” Nate asked the table.
    â€œM&M?” Paul asked. “Totally.”
    â€œSeriously?” I practically choked.
    â€œWouldn’t you?” Nicky Chu asked. “I mean, if you had that kind of a combo ready to go, wouldn’t you want to give them as many minutes as you could?”
    I took another big bite of my tuna sandwich so I wouldn’t have to answer.
    â€œWhere’s Russ?” Chris asked a couple of minutes later.
    â€œHanging out with his Masters team, I guess.” I glanced at their table and saw that he’d laid out his apple, cookies, and drink and was pointing in turn at each of them. He seemed to be using them to explain …