Double Trouble: Includes and exclusive interview with the cast! Read online

  Copyright © 2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Cover design © 2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Disney Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Press, 1101 Flower Street, Glendale, California 91201.

  ISBN 978-1-4847-1788-2

  Visit www.disneybooks.com

  Contents

  Part One

  Liv

  Maddie

  Liv

  Maddie

  Liv

  Maddie

  Liv

  Maddie

  Part Two

  Maddie

  Joey

  Liv

  Parker

  Joey

  Maddie

  Joey

  Parker

  Liv

  Joey

  Maddie

  Liv

  Joey

  Parker

  An Interview with Joey Bragg & Tenzing Norgay Trainor

  Photos

  I had been waiting for that day for, well, forever! Liv Rooney here—actress, singer, star, and twin sister to Maddie Rooney. It was finally time to start planning Maddie’s and my sweet sixteen party. To be clear, I’d been planning the party for months already, but it was finally time to put all my plans into action.

  So that night after dinner, Maddie and I were ready to go into full party-planning mode.

  “One week till our sweet sixteen!” Maddie announced once the table had been cleared.

  “After four years of being apart, we are finally together on our birthday! Yay-sies!” I said in a singsong, clapping enthusiastically. I was so excited!

  “I know.” Maddie grinned back at me. “We get to blow out the candles together again.”

  “Woo-hoo!” Mom hooted. “The three Rooney girls together again and ready to party.” Based on the look on Maddie’s face, I was pretty sure my mom was doing a dance around the kitchen.

  “Liv, don’t turn around,” Maddie warned, shielding my eyes. “You don’t want to see what Mom’s doing.”

  “I don’t need to. I can feel the desperation on the back of my neck,” I replied.

  Mom stopped dancing. “All right, fine. Guess I’ll just save my moves for the par-tay.”

  “Back that party up over here, Kare-bear,” Dad hollered.

  I needed to move the conversation along pronto, before Mom started dancing again.

  “Anyway, so for our party, I have a few thoughts,” I announced. Then I walked over to the stairs, picked up my stack of “sweet sixteen party” binders, and brought them to the table.

  Maddie gave my binders the side eye and raised her hand. “I have a thought,” she said, pulling a wrinkled orange sticky note from her pocket and smoothing it out on the table.

  I wrinkled my nose and opened the top binder. “Okay. So I’m thinking red carpet, designer gowns. We enter Cirque du Soleil–style, spiraling in on silks.”

  “I’m thinking peanut shells on the floor, steaks the size of our heads. We enter Hungry-Man-style in our casual eating pants,” Maddie interrupted, sticking out her stomach and rubbing it like she’d just eaten her weight in steak. She smiled at me as if it was the best idea ever. It wasn’t.

  “Maddie,” I said, trying to be reasonable and pulling on my blond curls, “this is our big one-six. It needs to be epic.”

  “I know. And I’m thinking epic. There’s this new cowboy-jail-themed restaurant—the Hoosegow,” Maddie countered, smiling. She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder.

  Oh! My! Gosh! She was actually serious about this icky cowboy/casual-eating-pants party.

  “Wow, we have very different ideas of epic,” I said slowly, trying to think of how I could convince her to abandon this gross-tastic idea. I adjusted my black cardigan over my cream lace-peplum top.

  “You know what’s epic?” Dad asked, slinging one arm around each of us. “Mini-golf birthday parties! They worked for years for you two, ages six to twelve. Done!”

  “Dad’s right.” Mom nodded. “Maddie, you loved it because it was sporty. And there was a castle, so Liv could dress up like a princess. And I loved it because you two were together celebrating your birthday. So, Rooney girls, let’s get ready to party!”

  “Mom, Mom! Stop,” Maddie said desperately.

  “Hater,” Mom quipped as she turned away.

  This was not going at all how I had planned. I needed to regain control of this meeting, and fast. After all, you get only one sweet sixteen. It was supposed to be glamorous and fabulous and wondrous—not a mini-golf kiddie party or dinner at a hoosegow, whatever that was.

  “As much fun as mini golf was, we’re turning sixteen now and we can plan our own party. So, Maddie, let’s figure this out. Nothing’s been set in stone,” I said, laughing nervously.

  Just then, Joey pushed his way through the kitchen door, wrapped almost head to toe in bright red silk.

  “Liv, I picked up the silks for your epic party entrance,” he announced. “Epically bad decision to bring them home on my bike.” Then he hopped up the stairs, leaving a long trail of silk behind him.

  I gave Maddie my most charming smile, but, clearly, that was not going to work, since I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.

  “The silks have already been ordered? You’ve already planned our entire party, haven’t you?!” she yelled.

  I threw my hands up. “Well, it’s not like I can leave it up to you! Casual eating pants?!”

  “Spiraling in on silks?!” Maddie countered, making a disgusted face.

  “You’re being impossible!” I huffed.

  “I wish we could just have separate birthdays!” she shouted back.

  “Girls!” Mom said firmly, putting herself between us.

  “Uch!” Maddie snorted and stormed off into the living room.

  “Uch!” I responded, crossing my arms.

  Just then, Joey’s bike slammed into the kitchen door, rattling the windows. It must have been tangled in the other end of the silk Joey was wrapped up in. A second later the silk trailing up the stairs went totally taut, and Joey got pulled back down the stairs and collapsed onto the landing.

  “Little help?” Joey asked.

  The next afternoon my mom grabbed Liv and me as soon as we walked into the kitchen after my basketball game—we won, of course, and guess who the MVP was? Yep, it was me. Bam! What?!

  Anyway, Mom made us cover our eyes, and she brought us into the living room for some surprise. Liv and I still weren’t talking, so I wasn’t thrilled about any surprise that involved her, but I was trying to be a good sport, since Mom seemed so excited.

  She had us stand back-to-back and then launched into a speech: “My twins can’t have separate parties on their sweet sixteen. So while you two were at Maddie’s basketball game, I came up with something I call a mompromise. Take a look.”

  I opened my eyes to see that Mom had turned our living room into a super-fun-looking rodeo party. There were bales of hay for guests to sit on; the couches and chairs were covered in cowboy-themed fabric; a wagon wheel was propped up by the window; and there was even a cow-print banner over the mantel.

  “Dazzleberry!” Liv exclaimed from behind me. Well, that was a relief: she liked it, too.

  “Awesome!” I yelled, jumping up and down a little. This party was going to be so fun—and it all felt totally me. br />
  “Hold on,” Mom said. “You haven’t seen the best part. Turn around.”

  I turned around, expecting to see more rodeo stuff, but instead I saw what looked like the red carpet to a Hollywood premiere. No wonder Liv had been okay with the decorations: she had been looking at an entirely different setup. Well, it wasn’t my first choice, but this way we both got what we wanted.

  “Two themes, one party!” Mom announced, sounding delighted with herself.

  “It’s a red-carpet rodeo!” Dad added. He was standing next to a karaoke machine by the windows and messing with the microphone. “Hey, why isn’t this thing working?”

  “Maddie, honey, you wanted to go to the Hoosegow, so we’re going to have a western barbecue right here in the house,” Mom explained. “Joey?”

  “Mom, I don’t want to say it.” Joey pouted. He was dressed as a cowboy—complete with boots, a hat, a leather vest covered in gold-star pins, and chaps.

  “Oh, come on, say it!” Mom insisted.

  “Yee-haw,” he muttered in a monotone voice. I snort-laughed. Joey looked miserable.

  “And, Liv, you wanted a Cirque du Soleil red-carpet gala. I give you…Parker-razzi!” Mom continued, gesturing to Parker.

  “Liv Rooney, Liv Rooney! Who are you wearing?” Parker yelled, snapping pictures of Liv.

  Liv immediately started posing for Parker. “Boom, boom, boom—send!” she squealed. Then she turned toward us and smiled. “Mom, this is great. I think we’re halfway there—the half that doesn’t look like a barn. So I think we should clear out these hay bales and all the barbecue-y stuff, and I just really want to class this place up. I’m thinking we bring in some French contortionists—”

  “Why are you tossing out everything I like?” I interrupted. I couldn’t believe her! “I thought this was our party.”

  “Honey, it’s time to come clean,” Dad hissed to Mom. He was still trying to fix the microphone. “We’ve kept this secret for way too long.”

  Mom whispered back, “No, Pete, I’m not telling them”—at the same time Dad finally hit the microphone’s on button—“that they were born on separate days.”

  My mouth dropped open. I turned to stare at my parents, but I couldn’t get words to come out. This made no sense. Twins couldn’t be born on different days, right?

  Mom laughed nervously and then started singing, “Camptown ladies sing this song. Doo-dah! Doo-dah!” She paused and smiled weakly at us. “This karaoke thing works great. Who’s next?”

  “What did you just say?!” Liv demanded.

  “We have different birthdays?” I asked, stepping forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Liv. Our fight was suddenly the last thing I cared about.

  “Girls, your mother and I have something to tell you,” Dad said gently. Then he nudged Mom. “Go ahead, honey.”

  “Coward,” she whispered at him. Then she turned to us and threw up her hands. “Liv, Maddie, the day you were born was truly the greatest day of my life.”

  “Hey!” Joey exclaimed. “Well, that feels nice.”

  But Mom just ignored him. “But it actually was the days you were born. You see, Liv, you were born on the fifth at eleven fifty-six P.M. But, Maddie, honey, you were born at twelve oh two. On the sixth.”

  “I was born on the sixth?” I felt like I’d been dipped in icy water. That couldn’t be right—it just couldn’t. I pointed at the big five on my basketball jersey. “But…I mean…five’s my number because I was born on the fifth. I’m a five.”

  “Apparently I’m a zero,” Joey inserted.

  “Wait,” Liv interrupted. “Maddie’s never celebrated on her actual birthday?” Liv and I exchanged looks. This was so messed up.

  “What kind of parents are you?!” Parker yelled, coming to stand next to us. “This is preposterous! I say again, preposterous!”

  “Parker, this isn’t about you,” Dad said sternly.

  “It’s about all of us,” Parker replied, and then turned to us. “If they can do this to her, what does that mean for everybody else? Am I six? Am I eleven? I could be nine.”

  I shook my head and trudged up to my room. I had a lot to think about.

  I was leaning against my bed, trying to process my new identity as a six, when Mom came in and sat down on Liv’s bed.

  “Hey,” Mom said.

  “Hey,” I answered. I threw my basketball into the air and caught it.

  Mom sighed. “Maddie, honey, I’m so sorry. You know, every year your birthday would roll around and I’d get so excited at the thought of you sitting together, blowing out your birthday candles.”

  “Then why did you use those trick candles that wouldn’t blow out?” I asked, raising one eyebrow.

  She thought for a moment and then shrugged. “We wanted the moment to last forever. Plus, a joint birthday party is double the fun.” She paused and then threw up her hands. “And it’s also half the work. See, I’m trying to be totally honest with you from now on.”

  I snort-laughed but quickly stopped myself. “Don’t be funny. I’m still trying to be mad,” I scolded Mom.

  “I get that,” she said. “Your dad wanted to tell you years ago. But when you were little, you and Liv were inseparable. And as your mother, it just felt wrong to take your special day away.”

  I raised my eyebrows at her. “Are you seriously trying to take credit for being a good mom right now?”

  This time it was Mom who snort-laughed. “Yes, I tried to slip that in. Just tell me what you want to do for your birthday and your father and I will make it happen. Sky’s the limit.” She paused. “Okay, there’s a budget. Again, just being totally honest.”

  I shook my head. “Thanks, Mom, but honestly, the last thing I want to do right now is celebrate my birthday. I don’t think I want to have a party at all this year. I’m sure Liv feels the same way, too.”

  Mom gave me a hug. “Well, think about it. In the meantime, I made your favorite dinner, chicken potpie.” She sighed. “Okay, I didn’t make it. It’s frozen, out of a box. Woo, the truth really will set you free!”

  The next day I called our family, plus Maddie’s boyfriend, Diggie, and Maddie’s best friends, Stains and Willow, together for a meeting. I clapped my hands as the last of them walked into the living room. “Everyone find a seat. Maddie’s off on a run. I bought us some time. She always runs till the end of her playlist, so I added six songs.”

  “Hey, Joey, I got a spot for you right here,” Willow called out from the sofa. She shoved Stains right off the cushion to make room for Joey next to her. Willow has had a hopeless crush on Joey for as long as we’ve known her. Unfortunately, he does not feel the same way. I wasn’t sure who I felt worse for: poor desperate Willow or poor harassed Joey. It was a total crush fail!

  “I’m going to say yes because I’m scared to say no,” Joey said, cringing as he sat down and Willow scooted as close to him as she could get, pinning him against the arm of the couch. “Ow.”

  “Okay! You are all here because you are Maddie’s best friends and family,” I explained. “I want you to help me throw a surprise party for her. You have to keep it a secret.” I turned to Mom and Dad and gave them a look—their lie still wasn’t excused as far as I was concerned. “I know that won’t be a problem for you two.”

  “Mom said Maddie doesn’t even want a party this year,” Joey protested. “Also, I cannot feel my ribs.”

  “I can,” Willow said dreamily.

  “Maddie says she doesn’t want a party, but I know my sister better. This birthday bombshell has knocked her for a loop, and we’re going to fix it,” I pressed on.

  “That’s very sweet,” Mom said.

  “We’ll do anything to help,” Dad added.

  Parker laughed. “Of course you will. You’re totally on the hook for this.”

  “Well, I’m in,” Diggie piped up. “I want to make Maddie’s sweet sixteen as amazing as it can be.”

  “Careful,” Dad said, giving Diggie his sternest look.
r />   “Right,” Diggie said with a cringe. “Sorry.” Poor Diggie was so intimidated by our dad. It was kinda adorable how much he wanted Dad to like him for Maddie’s sake. Maddie was lucky to have such a good boyfriend.

  “Maddie’s never had her birthday on her actual day, so I want to give her a party she’ll never forget,” I said. Now that everyone was on board, it was time to outline the rest of my plan.

  “You rock, Liv. I have eight sisters and all I got for my last birthday was a comb. It’s a nice one, though,” Stains said, pulling a comb out and running it through her hair. “Unbreakable. See?” She bent the comb, and it immediately snapped in half. She moaned, “Aw, man.”

  I shook my head. Keeping this group on track was like herding cats. “Willow, Diggie, Stains? You’re going to take Maddie to the Hoosegow on Saturday while the rest of us get the house ready for the party. Do not bring her home until midnight. That’s when her actual birthday begins.”

  “Midnight? Isn’t that awfully late for a party?” Mom protested.

  “You mean like sixteen years late, Mom?” I replied pointedly.

  She cringed. “Midnight party? Fun!”

  We stayed until we’d worked out all the details. Joey’s job was to goad Maddie into throwing herself a party at the Hoosegow. Maddie’s friends and Diggie all had to pretend they had plans Sunday so that Maddie would be forced to do her party on Saturday night. They aren’t great actors, so this was the riskiest part of the plan, but I knew they would try their best. The rest of us would set up for the big surprise! I’d been excited about my sweet sixteen, but I was even more excited to give Maddie the most surprise-tastic party ever!

  The next day I hid around the corner from our lockers and watched as the first part of my plan started. Right on schedule, a contortionist delivered Maddie’s and Joey’s invitations to my fake Cirque du Soleil gala.

  See, it was crucial that Maddie think I was throwing a party for myself so she’d get mad enough to blow off my party and stay away, giving us time to set up for her surprise party. And it was working like a charm. I watched as she stormed down the hall to her friends and invited them all to the Hoosegow.