Broken Horse

Chapter 1 - Jacey

"Please, please, please, please." Four pleases and still I wasn't sure that I wanted to help her out. Like I had the time to anyway. It was stupid, and childish, and something we did back in high school a few times. I loved my sister, but today, I was hating her for even bringing it up.

"So, why do you want me to go to your class for you?" There was always an agenda for her, always something, but to uncover it would be the real puzzle.

"Because, just... please. I can't do that class and you're smarter than I am." Switching places shouldn't happen. We were adults now and switching was something younger identical twins did. But as I looked at her light dusty brown hair and those greenish tinted hazel eyes, the heaviness weighed into my heart as I looked into my mirror. Sisters, right?

"This will never work." Biting my bottom lip, the situations of what could happen played through my mind. The biggest one, getting kicked out of college for something so childish and immoral.

"Please. I will never ask you to do this ever again." Her slender fingers thumbed the hood of my deep, dark blue pickup from my twenty-first birthday.

Looking at her made me feel ugly. She was the beautiful side to us. Her silky toffee hair was always neatly styled, always dressed in the latest fashion showing off the wonderful curves that we were blessed with, and her makeup was always impeccable. Me? My life consisted of living out in the barn with the horses, blue jeans, flannel shirts, and cowboy boots.

"If we can get away with it tomorrow, I will do it. If anyone notices, then you will have to suck it up and do the class yourself." Why was I even offering to swap places with her? Probably because I couldn't do calculus and she was the math brain. I didn't stand a chance at passing any type of math class. "Calculus is at one on Tuesday and Thursday."

"I love you so much. And besides, Calculus is easy. I've taken it already."

"Good, then I better not get lower than a B." Rubbing my forehead to dull the instant throb she put there, I gritted my teeth knowing this was not going to be so easy. Geology. Crap. Now I had to take that class and hoped like hell this didn't get out. Jacki's classes were mostly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, all except for this one. And why in the hell did she leave this for the last year? I took my science classes in the first year just to get my generals out of the way.

This year, I took three classes on line and calculus was the one that I needed to have in the classroom because I really was bad at it; at math in general. Any kind of math and I was stumped.

"You are going to have to dress yourself up a little and do something with your hair. And..." Her eyes shifted over my dusty jeans with the hole in the knee and my red and black flannel with the red tank top on underneath. The disgust curved in her lips and she grumbled under her breath. "And, um... you will need to dress a little more like me."

So, she was a ten and I was a seven even though we looked exactly alike. I knew that by all the guys who were constantly sniffing around her. it was the easiest tell we had. Jacki was always surrounded by guys, and not horses.

"I can't go to class nude!" That sounded a lot better in my head, and I cringed as soon as the words left my mouth.

Her hand flew at me slapping me in the arm. "Wow! I was going to let you rummage through my clothes, but you are on your own now, honey."

"You know I don't have any time to get something to wear." I flipped my wrist checking my watch, the one piece of jewelry that I actually wore and it wasn't dainty either. Working outside as much as I could, I couldn't afford to have a good, expensive one. I liked my nylon, Velcro strapped watch that took a beating day in and day out.