The Gender Swap

Chapter 1

"Sam, I need more out of you kid," called my boss Jane.

"I know, I know," I grumbled from my desk. It's not easy to find a good story. It's not like every week they just happen to fall into your lap.

Being a journalist is tough. Being a journalist while also attending high school, very tough. At first, working for the paper was just an extra-curricular I picked up to give me an edge on college applications. However, after spending more and more time at the office, I found myself enjoying the work a lot. The only issue, finding a solid story.

♂♀♂♀

♂♀♂♀♂♀

♂♀♂♀♂♀♂♀♂♀

By the time I finally made it home, I was starving and exhausted.

"Sam honey! What do you want to eat? I made your favorite tonight," my mom exclaimed, while also pulling me in for a hug.

"Thanks mom," I replied, and took my bowl of mac n cheese to the table. As I was eating, my older brother Reese walked in, with an earbud in blasting his latest rap obsession. He made his usual meal- a protein shake and a piece of fruit, and sat next to me. His new phase is to only consume protein, in attempt to bulk up for the upcoming football season, when school starts.

"Reese, please eat something else, you need other nutrients besides protein to get stronger, you know," my mom chastised.

"Okay Mom, but you know how important this season is for me. Durham is in our league now, and if we want a chance at beating them, our whole team is going to have to step it up."

As I listened to their conversation, I considered my brothers argument. My school, Dennis High, has been the top team in football for the past 7 years. This season, the all-boy boarding school, Durham High is being added to our league. This wouldn't be a big deal, but my brother and his teammates have it etched in their brains that going to a private all boys school makes them better competition.

Lightbulb.

"Hey Reese, why are you so afraid to play Durham anyway?" I ventured.

"Sam you know why, they're all bigger at schools like that. Bigger and more fit than us. It's just a fact."

"It's a fact?"

"Yes, a fact. You're making me sound like a broken record, keep up."

By then, my mind was already racing, like it does when I get a good idea for a story.

"Hey Mom, would you mind if I went to private school?"

♂♀♂♀

♂♀♂♀♂♀

♂♀♂♀♂♀♂♀♂♀

After telling Jane about my idea, and her agreeing enthusiastically, I began planning for how I was going to pull this off. It wasn't exactly going to be easy to go to an all boys school, and try to fit in.

My first order of business was to speak to Durham's principal, and explain my case. At first, he was confused as to why I was doing this. Why I would spend half of a year at a school, pretending to be someone I am not. When I explained my plan, and how I was going to go about executing it, he seemed to start to agree, on the terms that I must maintain an above 75 average in all of my classes, and if I got into any trouble, our deal was over.

Next, I had to work on my appearance, and who the new Sam was going to be. Finding a wig was the easy part. Finding a way to keep it on my head, while looking natural was a different story. For clothing, I took most of Reese's old clothes, that were far too small for him, but fit me just fine.

One definite problem however, was the female factor. To pass yourself off as a teenage boy, you can't have boobs. One feature that I do have. To fix this problem, I decided to double up on sports bras, and hope for the best.

I spent the next week before I had to leave for school, preparing for everything. I had packed all of my clothes to wear, and a few posters and small items for my dorm room. As I was packing my writing equipment, I stopped to take it all in.

Was I really going to pull this off? Would this even be worth it? What if I hate the school? What if the story tanks?

I shook my head. I was just psyching myself out. And with that conclusion, I continued packing.

♂♀♂♀

♂♀♂♀♂♀

♂♀♂♀♂♀♂♀♂♀

Leaving behind my friends for a half of a year wasn't going to be much of a problem. Most of my friends were school friends. The kind of friends you only talked to at school, and left it at that. My only non-school friend is Autumn. Autumn and I have known each other since we were in the same first grade class, and have been best friends ever since.

"Make sure you text me all the time about all the hot guys you spend your time with," Autumn gushed on the car ride to Durham.

"You realize I can't do anything about hot guys right? They're all going to believe I'm a guy, I'm not going there to find a boyfriend," I replied.

"You still are going to be around hot guys 24/7! That's like every teenage girl's dream!" Autumn exclaimed.

"Yeah, because I've been just dying to have to look like this all the time. I barely even look like a boy," I retorted.

"You'll blend in fine eventually Honey, I wouldn't even worry about fitting in," my mom said.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about the story. It's going to be tough to dedicate almost all of my time to that," I replied.

"Don't worry about it Sam, you'll do fine, and the story will be amazing. I believe in you," my mom comforted.

And with that, we pulled into the entrance of Durham Boarding School for Boys.

♂♀♂♀

♂♀♂♀♂♀

♂♀♂♀♂♀♂♀♂♀

A/N:

Make sure to leave a comment below with feedback, drop a vote, and save the story for updates!

~Megan