Jain, Shawn K.: Scholastic Audio presents, Bye For Now by Malia Sadiki, read by Shawn K. Jain.

Usher was not a morning person. If someone tried talking to him before he was wide awake, irritation invaded his whole body like a swarm of bees. Mom liked to be at work early and now that they lived alone, she wouldn't let him take the bus because she didn't trust him not to miss it.

So he had to get up and leave the house with her, which meant he got dropped off too early for it to be legal. Plus he was still in a bad mood after last night. Mom tried to cheer him up by promising to buy him new skates ASAP, but it didn't help. With his extra time, Usher decided to skip the auditorium and go to the library to print out as many practice tests as he could get his hands on.

Since he wasn't going to a formal prep class anymore, Usher had to come up with his own strategy. He would take one practice test every week until the Arlington admission exam in November. He'd watch Khan Academy videos until his brain fizzled out. Not having a tutor, wasn't going to stop him. He was going to get into Arlington and join the ice caps.

When the bell rang, Usher hoisted his now heavy backpack and left the library to go to homeroom. A few students and teachers gave him drowsy first day sort of waves in the hallway. His phone vibrated with a text after leaving homeroom for first block.

It was from Zora. He had a couple of other unread messages from Eddie and Ramiz, but he read hers first. Zora, "Where are you?" Usher, "Going to first block, laying arts with Burns." Zora, "Something weird is going on. There's this new kid that looks exactly like you. It's freaking everyone out."

Guess Zora forgot that she was supposed to be mad at him. Usher, "So you're saying he's cute?" Zora, "I'm not kidding, Ash. We're all confused." Usher rolled his eyes at the screen. His cousin was overreacting. When he finally made it to his language arts class in house A, a handful of students were already there, and Mr. Burns was digging for something through his desk drawers.

Usher plopped his bag down on the nearest desk. He rubbed his eyes and yawned feeling the sleep he'd lost. He was stressed out about how he was going to fit in studying for the Arlington exam on top of regular homework and ice hockey. The reading section, he might be able to pull off, but science.

Usher opened his bag to fish for a pencil thinking his only choice was to study before school, between classes, during lunch, a shoulder rammed into Usher knocking his bag out of his hand and spilling its contents onto the floor.

At any other moment, Usher wouldn't have made a big deal out of it, but his tiredness mixed with disappointment and worry set him off. "Will you watch where you're going?" Usher snapped, bending down to pick up his things.

" Sorry, didn't see you," said another boy's voice. "Then next time, don't walk around with your eyes close." Usher raised his head and his voice caught in his throat like someone had hit his off switch. A gasp caught in Usher's throat and he jerked back like the boy in front of him was a hot plate that would burn him.

Those were his brown eyes that sat a little too far apart on his face, his button nose, his wavy black hair if he let it grow out. Oh God, he even had the same freckle on his upper lip. The other boy, this other Usher looked equally astonished.

His eyes bulging out of their sockets. Usher screamed first startling everyone. Mr. Burns shot up to his full not so tall height. "Excuse me. Was that necessary?" Usher and other Usher stared at each other like their teacher hadn't said anything.

The former half leaning against the desk, the latter frozen with both hands limp at his sides. "Gentlemen," Mr. Burns prodded, "... one of you isn't supposed to be in here." Not Usher blinked at the comment, "Why not?" "Siblings aren't put in the same classes together."

" We're not brothers," the boys emphasized together. Mr. Burns pressed a button on his computer's keyboard. "Names?" Shahir Athik. Usher's stomach rolled at the name. "Usher Malik," he said, feeling woozy. "So you're Usher," said Shahir. People have been getting us mixed up all morning.

" Geez. I wonder why?" Usher exclaimed. Zora hadn't been exaggerating. This kid was Usher's literal doppelganger. Besides the hair, the only difference between him and Shahir was that Shahir was a tad bit skinnier compared with Usher's more athletic build.

" Interesting," Mr. Burns interrupted squinting at his computer screen. "You're both on my roster. Guidance doesn't usually make a mistake like that. Are you two sure you're not related?" he asked with more than a hint of skepticism.

Usher didn't blame him for not believing them. He'd think he was tripping if he'd been in Mr. Burns' shoes too, but it was still an absurd question. "What do you mean, are we sure?" asked Usher. "Wouldn't we know that? I've never seen him before in my life," he added for good measure.

Shahir didn't say a word. Usher couldn't read his face. If he was flipping out on the inside like Usher was, he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it. "He's telling the truth. Mr. Burns" piped up Val Lopez. "We've all known Usher since elementary school. Shahir is new."

Mr. Burns passed one last look over them and appeared to finally take their word for it. All right then, have a seat. Shahir chose the desk next to Usher. Usher wished he hadn't. He didn't like looking at Shahir too closely. It felt like bugs were crawling all over him when he did.

But Usher didn't want to make it obvious by moving to the other side of the room. So he sat down beside his clone with one thought racing through his head, I should have stayed in bed.