Switch

chapter 3 -School

"You don't have a school bag?" I ask, searching through my cupboard.

Harriet shakes her head as she inspects her nails.
"Here, borrow my old one."
I hand her a blue polka dot bag that was a little scuffed in places.
Harriet wrinkles her nose, but takes the bag anyway.
I notice she has nothing to put in it so I give her one of my notebooks and a few pens.
"Thanks" she mumbles.
Harriet watches me as I choose something to wear.
"You um, want to borrow something?"
Harriet perks up and joins me in searching the wardrobe.
"Thanks Tasmin, can I borrow this?"
She holds up a dark blue tea dress against herself, smiling as she looks in the mirror.
"Yeah sure, you can keep it if you want."
Harriet gives me her classic wide grin, her normally pale grey eyes appearing more green.
"Thanks, I love it."
I choose my usual white t-shirt and jean shorts feeling glad that Harriet picked the weird dress that Mum always hounds me to wear. She can have it now.

A quick glance in the mirror tells me that my hair is in dire need of some fixing. I walk to the bathroom to get my hairbrush, running it through my hair in front of the mirror.

A sharp pain reacts to the bristles as the brush nudges my neck. I lift my hair and turn around to see an x shaped red bruise on the nape of my neck. Hesitantly, I run my fingers over it, feeling it pulse at the center.

"Ouch."

I quickly flinch my hand away as a deep throbbing ache spreads down my spine.

"You ok in there?"

Harriet's concerned voice calls from outside the bathroom.

"I'm fine,"I shakily reply. Worriedly staring at the strange bruise on my neck, I decide to leave my hair down today. Whatever the hell it is, I don't want anyone to seeing it.

I walk out taking deep breaths to see Harriet admiring herself in the mirror.

"Time for breakfast?" she asks sweetly, doing a twirl.

I nod, telling her she looks nice.
Harriet proudly walks downstairs in her new frock, making my mum clap and smile.
"Oh Harriet you look positively delightful! I always try to get Tasmin to wear that dress."
I roll my eyes as I start to make pancakes.

...........Harriet's POV............

Tasmin keeps touching the spot behind her head where I fed last night. She winces in pain as she rubs it, I feel the pain too on the tip of my tongue. I relish it.

Tasmin's a light sleeper, she barely sleeps at all. In a vital need to feed, I accidentally let the glamour slip, exposing my true form. I must feed less urgently, or find other ways of doing it.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts when the bus screeches to a halt outside Westfield high school.

It looks like a shithole.

Windows cracked, walls covered in moss and a  muddy patch of grass they call a field.

Think about why you came here

forcing a smile on my face, I notice Tasmin's friends approaching her from the canteen holding fizzy drinks and Popsicles.

The tall caramel skinned girl with brown eyes hands Tasmin a fanta, seemingly oblivious to my presence. "Hey Taz"

Beckoning me over, Tasmin introduces me to her friends

"Guys this is Harriet, she's my cousin who's staying with us for a while."

The three of them smile politely to me, the girl with big hazel eyes and a spiky blonde haircut tells me her name is Alex as she offers me a chocolate Popsicle, asking where i'm from.