Twins

At dinner, Fran says that Maureen should not have used the photo from the Earth Day essay contest, but Maureen counters that the award was for the essay itself, not for reading it aloud. Dad asks what’s going on, and Fran eventually confesses that seeing Maureen’s poster made her so angry that she told others about the vomiting incident. Fran feels that Maureen’s poster was portraying her as “the smart one” (160), thereby implying that Fran is “the dumb one” (160). Mom and Dad are disappointed in Francine for telling Maureen’s secret, especially after hearing how badly the poster was vandalized and how much it hurt Maureen. The parents leave to discuss the issue privately, then return and tell the girls to go to the living room. They ground Francine and say that she has to quit the election. Maureen reflects that without Francine, she will automatically win, but that doesn’t feel like winning to her. Plus, nobody will know the difference between them anymore; they’ll just know that they are voting for one of the twins. Reflecting on this, Maureen says she doesn’t want Francine to quit.

Francine thanks Maureen for letting her stay in the election and promises not to do anything else that’s against their rules.