Switch Up

Chapter 1

Claire

    Senior year was the year where everyone was aiming to finish the goals they set up on the first day of high school. It was the year where everyone expected to come out as their best selves, with everything they had ever wanted theirs. I was one of those people who was aiming for all of those things to come true.

    I sat in the cafeteria on my table with my clique. Our table was in the very centre of the room, purposely there because we wanted to be the centre of attention. As the most popular guys and girls in our school, we wanted all eyes on us.

    Putting a hand on Tori, my best friend's shoulder, I laughed loudly at a joke Jake made. Although it wasn't very funny, we all laughed as if it was the funniest thing we'd ever heard. Solely because that was how high school worked. To be in the popular crowd, you had to behave a certain way. You had to always support each other, even when you didn't necessarily agree with what was being said, and you always had to be chill. I did all those things and that was exactly how I stayed popular for my four years in high school.

    Knowing I looked pretty when I smiled, my eyes scanned the busy cafeteria, looking for my longtime crush. I soon found him, sitting with his hockey team, and my heart skipped a beat. Watching as he laughed, throwing his head back and all, my heart felt warm. Carter was the guy I had a crush on ever since freshman year and I was practically in love with him.

    "Someone can't keep their eyes off of Carter," Tori teased, causing me to bring my attention back to her.

    I found myself blushing, embarrassed because they had caught me. Although everyone in my clique knew about my crush on Carter, I felt embarrassed about the fact that I hadn't been able to win his heart yet.

    "I don't get why someone as hot as you has a crush on Carter," Jake said, rolling his eyes. "He's just a dumb jock."

    "We can say the same thing about you," Maya, my friend, joked.

    "Jake, Carter is hot," Tori said, rolling her eyes. "Look at those broad shoulders. Look at that dirty blond hair and those hazel eyes. He's gorgeous."

    Jake snorted and he mumbled about how he didn't see it. Tori shook her head, ignoring him.

    "Don't listen to Jake, he's just jealous," Ryder joked, punching Jake's shoulder. "Actually, he's just salty because he didn't make the hockey team."

    "Shut the hell up," Jake said, glaring at Ryder.

    We all laughed at that and I smiled at my friends. It was so easy being with them. No one took anything seriously and all we did was joke around. That was why I loved being popular. As long as you followed some simple rules, high school life was pretty fun.

*****

    Sitting with Tori in the back of the class, I found myself praying that Carter would be in our English class. He wasn't in either of my morning classes and I was growing desperate that he would be in at least one of my afternoon ones. Since it was our last year of high school, I knew I had to make my move before it was too late.

    "Oh, your sister is in this class," Tori suddenly said.

    Looking to where Tori was looking, I soon spotted Blair, my twin sister, sitting near the front of the class. She was sitting with her best friend, Erin, and I watched as the two of them talked animately about something. Blair looked happy and despite how distant we became, I found myself happy that she was.

    "You guys are so different," Tori commented, studying Blair. "It's so weird because you guys look exactly the same, but are so different anyways."

    "How are we different?" I asked, curious to hear what Tori thought.

    "Well, for starters we're sitting in the back of the class and she's sitting at the front. Her hair is usually tied up and yours is always out," Tori said. "You're popular and she's not. You're loud and she's quiet. She's a straight A student and you're barely getting Bs. Wouldn't you think twins would be more alike?"

    A lot of people had asked me about how different we were and I never had an answer to their question. It didn't matter if we were twins I knew because I felt like personalities were determined by our environment. Blair and I had been very similar before high school since we had practically lived the same lives then, but things changed when we got to high school. I had become popular and Blair became a wallflower. That seemed to change me in the sense of how loud I was and how I dressed and that seemed to make Blair less willing to bring attention to her. That was why we were different, I knew.

    Even though I knew that was the most likely reason to why we were so different, I decided not to tell Tori that. It would bore her. There wasn't enough drama in the tale and if I used the word environment, Tori would think I was becoming a nerd. So because of that, I decided to play dumb.

    "I don't know," I said. "I guess I got most of the fun genes, which is why she's a boring version of me."

    Tori laughed and for a moment, I nearly felt bad for putting down my sister. Even though I would never forget how she had refused my offer of becoming popular together, I loved her. She was my other half because we had literally did everything together at one point. We had been inseparable as kids and sometimes, I would miss those days.

    "Oh my god, guess who's here," Tori hissed, grinning suddenly.

    My eyes flew to the door of the room and widened as I saw Carter standing there, looking gorgeous. I found myself shooting Tori a grin as I thanked the lord for answering my prayers. Honestly, I was so happy that Carter was in my class because my biggest goal was to get him to be my boyfriend. That was what I wanted to achieve my senior year.

    Staring at Carter, I watched as he scanned the room, seeming to look for a spot to sit. The seat next to me was empy and I began to pray once more that he would choose to sit beside me. If he did, I swear I would die of happiness.

    But staring at him, I watched as his eyes fell on Blair. They remained on her for a moment, studying her, and then he was suddenly walking towards her. Confused, I watched as he sat in the empty seat next to her with a small smile on his face. Blair didn't even notice and I watched as he glanced at her once more before pulling his phone out.

    "What was that about?" Tori suddenly asked, voicing my thoughts.

    "I... I don't know," I said, frowning.

    "He was staring at Blair. He... Okay, I think we're just overthinking this. A guy like him would never be interested in her."

    Even though I hated how we had to put down Blair, I forced myself to agree with what Tori said. Only because it made me feel better. Seeing Carter look at another girl left my heart hurting, so I tried to convince myself that what I saw was nothing.