Sister Switch

by Beth Garrod

  ‘So then, Lily.’ Wow, I didn’t even remember Dad telling her my name. ‘What are you after?’

  I always found this bit embarrassing. What I wanted was to walk out looking the coolest I ever had done – but I wasn’t sure how much making my hair strands slightly different lengths could do that.

  ‘Er, just something good. Something y’know… That’s… I dunno.’ A style to stop Frankie in her tracks? ‘Less terrible than this.’

  ‘Gonna be hard,’ Erin muttered under her breath.

  Agatha turned to look at her, but didn’t say anything before slowly swivelling back to me.

  ‘You’re sisters, correct?’ Agatha asked as she washed my hair. We’d moved to the sink.

  Her head massage felt so good all I could reply with was, ‘Mmmhhrgghhha.’ Which was an error – I’d given Erin an opportunity to answer for me.

  ‘More’s the pity,’ Erin said as she flicked a page in a magazine.

  ‘She’s always like this,’ I said quietly enough for just Agatha to hear – but she didn’t react, clearly not wanting to get caught up in it. And soon I was back in the chair, a damp towel round my shoulders, with Agatha snipping into my wet hair. I’d never seen this place before and I wanted to know more about The Hairy Godmother. Agatha didn’t say much, but did explain that she’d just opened the salon, as she normally visited homes or did backstage at events. I fired loads of questions at her, especially ones about the celebs she’d worked with as I swore she’d let the name ‘Chase’ slip. But Agatha was more interested in my life, and soon I’d told her all about Micha, and her football tournament, and GettingLilyWithIt, and what had happened on Saturday, and how I’d accidentally made Frankie even madder at me. In what felt like minutes, not only had I told her my whole life story but my hair was cut, dried and looked the best it ever had.

  ‘Wow,’ I whistled as Agatha held the mirror up behind me. ‘You’re some kind of scissor wizard!’

  My brown hair was trimmed to past-shoulder length, the tufts totally gone. It was so shiny it was almost reflective.

  ‘My pleasure.’ She grinned. ‘A new haircut can make you feel like a new woman, right?’ I nodded – it sure could. I already felt a bit less worried about tomorrow. But my time was up – Agatha was gesturing for me to swap with Erin. I picked up my mug so as not to leave the cold drink in front of them, but it was still piping hot.

  Weird.

  I flopped down in the swivel chair next to them, keen to chat more to Agatha. Maybe I could come back and do a blog post about her? But Erin was taking out her super-neat French plaits and moaning that her long bob looked a bit flat (even though her red hair never looked anything other than perfect). Now she’d seen what Agatha had done to mine, she was clearly looking for some of the same magic. But as Agatha started pasting on some purple goo, Erin and I glanced at each other. Dad was going to be here in forty-five minutes – did we have time for this?

  But soon Erin had the most amazing deep-red lowlights and there was still… half an hour left. Phew. I must have got the time wrong. As Agatha blow-dried Erin’s hair I studied the most amazing tattoo on the side of her arm. Sort of like a flower, but with symbols in it.

  ‘What’s that?’ I asked, hoping I wasn’t intruding.

  Agatha lifted up her arm. ‘This?’ She held it up to the mirror. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘Is it a puzzle?’ It was my only guess.

  ‘Kind of.’ Her eyes sparkled.

  Erin squinted. ‘It’s letters, right?’

  ‘Kind of.’ Agatha laughed.

  But then I saw it in the reflection – and it made sense. It was a picture of a mirror made up of the letters of Hairy Godmother. ‘Oh I seeeeee. It’s the right way round in the reflection!’ See, Erin, you’re not always the smartest one.

  Agatha chuckled. ‘Exactly. Sometimes it’s easier to understand things when you look at them a new way.’

  I had no idea what she meant, but in my opinion anything she said was gold, so I nodded hard in agreement.

  And by the time Agatha had finished perfecting Erin’s extra bouncy bob, my sister was fangirling as hard as me. Sorry, Anita, but you and your ear-chopping days were behind us.

  ‘Thank you. Seriously…’ Erin flicked the ends of her hair. ‘I didn’t know it could even look like this!’

  ‘Well, I always knew, Erin.’ A weird thing for Agatha to say considering we’d only met an hour and a half ago. ‘But now you see it you can believe too. Anyway…’ She walked over to the desk, Erin and I suddenly beside her in our jackets even though I didn’t remember standing up. ‘Your father will be here soon – so are you going to do what he asked?’ Agatha typed something into the bookings screen. ‘I don’t want him cross at me too!’

  ‘Oh deffo.’ Agatha had cheered me up so much, I’d almost forgotten I was mad at my sister. ‘Honestly, you’ve saved the day. Completely.’ I checked myself out again in the big wall mirror. ‘No more looking like a total weirdo for me!’

  Erin laughed. ‘Well, no more than normal anyway.’

  And just like that, the zen of Agatha poofed into thin air and normal Erin-rage resumed.

  ‘All right, sister. Let’s not forget you’re the one who dragged me out in that stupid wig in the first place.’

  Erin folded her arms. ‘It was funny. Not like you breaking my boyfriend’s wrist.’

  ‘That was an accident!’

  ‘Hello, catchphrase.’ Erin’s eyebrows wrinkled. ‘Wonder if Frankie would say that about her phone?’

  I knew she’d loved hearing about that. But there was one thing Erin didn’t know.

  ‘I’ll ask her tomorrow. The two of us are doing all the backstage stuff now.’ I paused to let it sink in. ‘Mrs Saddler asked for me by name.’ True on a technicality (even if she did think it was Laura).

  Erin looked horrified. Good. Although within a millisecond she’d composed herself. ‘Fingers crossed there’ll be no disaster with the special effects this year.’

  She had a point. Working backstage wasn’t just time-consuming, it was dangerous. Last year a flame-throwing prop had charred both of Singed Simon’s eyebrows (I was pretty sure his real name was Pete but no one could rhyme anything eyebrow-related with that). Singed Simone wasn’t a look I could ever live down.

  ‘Girls.’ Agatha stepped between us. Cringe. ‘Please. Your dad will be here any second. You should be supporting each other.’

  But maybe Agatha, who hadn’t taken sides this whole evening, was the person to finally make my sister realize how she acted towards me. ‘Well, I would, but Erin never takes a moment off from reminding me, reminding everyone, how much better she is than me.’ I sighed. ‘It’s as if she doesn’t realize how much harder life is when you’re not the over-achieving big sister.’

  Erin spluttered. ‘Harder? I just try more. If you stepped it up a bit, maybe you’d find all your accidents magically stopped happening?’

  But Agatha didn’t say anything. Instead she lifted up two handheld mirrors.

  ‘Look.’ She had one in each hand. ‘Both of you. Take a moment to look in the mirror – at each other.’ And we did. Something about Agatha made you want to do whatever she said. ‘Do you see each other differently when do you it this way?’ Erin and I scowled at each other. ‘Because you cannot see unless you try to look.’ Agatha paused. ‘I know what having a sister is like. But no more arguments. Not like this. Let that be your promise to me.’

  Erin and I both nodded.

  Maybe we were as tired as each other of all the bickering?

  Agatha looked pleased. ‘Good. Trust me, if you try to understand each other more, I promise understanding will flow back.’

  I had no idea what she was on about but it sounded good.

  But the second she looked away and Erin shot me her smug little smile, I had a suspicion that not even Agatha could stop our feuding.

  TINKLE DING!

  Dad pushed open the door and almost tripped over his own feet with the shock o
f me and Erin standing calmly together, my tufts a thing of the past.

  ‘Wow.’ He looked super pleased. ‘Agatha, you’ve really worked your magic here!’

  ‘It’s what The Hairy Godmother does.’ Agatha smiled gently. But as we thanked her again, and went to follow Dad out of the door, she blocked our way.

  ‘Erin. Lily. I’m glad to see you leave happier than you came. As I said, a new haircut can make you feel like a new person.’ I did like Agatha, but she couldn’t half say some odd things. Anita normally just told us to come back in twelve weeks and not to worry if our hair didn’t look quite symmetrical for at least three washes. ‘But…’ Agatha lowered her voice so Dad couldn’t hear. ‘Remember your promise. I would not want you to realize the hard way that what you look like on the outside is only half the story. Understanding comes from really seeing – not just looking at a reflection. Good luck.’

  Yup, she was bonkers. But I loved her.

  And as Erin and I jumped in the car (her shotgunning the front seat, of course) things did feel a little less tense between us. Dad seemed positively victorious. As I stared out of the window, Erin chatting away about playing Titania and getting full marks in her geography test, I couldn’t help but wonder.

  Maybe this was a turning point for me and Erin, just like Dad and Mum and even Agatha wanted?

  CHAPTER SIX

  My alarm went off early. Too early. And three hit-snoozes later I was still mad at it. But I needed to drag myself out of bed. Today had to go well.

  After the news about Frankie’s phone, last night’s dinner had been a mix of frosty silence mixed with Mum and Dad listing chores I could do to earn back the money. So with Mrs Saddler holding me hostage at school with play rehearsals, if I wanted to get any spare time back to have a life, I needed to make them all less cross at me. Starting with getting up early to fit in making myself look presentable, mentally preparing to see Frankie and making it on time for school for once. Mum and Dad had begrudgingly agreed I could swap my normal last place in the shower queue for first to help me out.

  Half asleep, I grabbed my towel, tightened my wonky ponytail and fumbled my way into the hall. But there was something at the end of it by the towel cupboard.

  My sister.

  ‘I’m first, remember?’ I croaked, sounding like a swamp thing.

  ‘But I’ve got my first read-through as Titania,’ Erin said, taking a step forward and holding out her perfectly folded towel as if it were evidence she deserved my place.

  Sorry, but how did that beat my Frankie issue?

  ‘No, Erin. Not today. We agreed, remember?’

  ‘Did we?’ She knew full well we had. Just because no one was around to hear her, she thought she could get her own way like normal.

  But nearly thirteen years of dealing with her meant I knew what this was. A distraction technique.

  And as she scoped out the bathroom door I knew exactly what she was planning.

  A sprint to the bathroom.

  No way. I was not having it. We’d all agreed!

  If she was going to play dirty, so was I.

  I ran. Fast.

  But so did my sister. And instead of being first to hit the shower, the only thing I hit was her head. With mine.

  BANG.

  Ow.

  Owwwwwwwwww.

  * * *

  Did I pass out?

  I couldn’t be sure, but when I stood up I felt weird. The world had gone blurry.

  Dizzy, I staggered into the bathroom, feeling Erin do the same next to me.

  ‘You… okay?’ I clutched my head. My hair was messy and loose – my ponytail must have fallen out.

  ‘Errrrrr,’ is all I heard my sister say.

  Well, not strictly true – she then flicked the light on and screamed. Incredibly loudly.

  What was up? I leant against the sink, looked up and blinked hard. There we were, in the mirror. No blood. We both looked fine.

  But my head did hurt. A lot.

  As I heard the shuffle of Mum and Dad getting up, I kicked the bathroom door closed. I didn’t want to have to explain yet another argument to them.

  So why was Erin still screaming?

  I rubbed my head again, willing it to stop throbbing.

  Weird. My hand in the mirror wasn’t moving.

  But…

  No.

  NOOOO!

  In the mirror, Erin’s hand was.

  And now Erin was saying, ‘Erin?! What is happening?!’

  Which were the exact words I thought were coming out of my mouth.

  I did the only thing I could do.

  Scream.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ‘Unless John Legend himself has decided to have a singalong in our bathroom at 6.53 a.m., I’m expecting a very good reason for all this racket.’

  Dad had stormed into the bathroom in his Yoda dressing gown, green hood and ears pulled up. But this was not the most traumatic sight here by a loooong way.

  Because I WAS STARING AT THE MIRROR AND MY SISTER’S FACE WAS STARING BACK AT ME.

  This could not be possible.

  I prodded my face. Erin’s reflection did the same.

  What was going on?!

  I looked at the person standing next to me. It should be my sister – neat red bob, slightly smug face. But no. It was brown-haired, shocked-looking and most utterly and definitely… me. Its face looked as freaked out as I was feeling.

  Had the mirror got confused?!

  Was that a thing?

  I raised a hand. And dropped it when I saw Erin’s reflection do the same.

  ‘Erin?’ Dad asked, alarmed.

  Was… I… In… Erin’s… Body?!

  This couldn’t be right.

  ‘Lily?’ Dad followed up.

  I opened my mouth. Then shut it. Then made a noise that sounded like a balloon deflating.

  I had no idea what was going on. And no idea how big my nostrils got when I looked shocked. No wonder Erin used to call me Lilydactyl.

  Breathe, Lily. Don’t panic. Not yet.

  I must be hallucinating.

  I mean, I had eaten a lot of broccoli last night. Was a side effect accidentally swapping souls with your sibling?! I didn’t see anything on the label, but who knows!

  Or were my eyes playing up from lack of sleep?

  Mum appeared behind Dad, rubbing her eyes. ‘Erin. C’mon, we agreed Lily could go first.’

  I knew it! I smiled, happy that even in the middle of this disaster, I was right. But Mum was giving me evils.

  ‘C’mon then…’ she snapped, pushing the door open. ‘It’s not like you to be okay with running late for school.’

  What? It was my dream to run late for school! Run so late that I ran right past it and straight to dinner time.

  Dad tapped his watch, ‘Come on, Erin.’

  Oh, riiiiight! They thought I was Erin! They were seeing this weirdness too!

  So even though I was the one in the right for a change, I was still the one in trouble.

  Oh, how stupendously brilliawful.

  I looked at my sister – who worryingly still looked very much like me. A very alarmed me.

  C’mon, Lily… think.

  There had to be an explanation.

  Am I just dreaming? I pinched myself hard. Ouch. So it wasn’t that. Next option…

  ‘Quick question.’ Argh?! I even sounded like Erin. ‘Family quiz… is eating too much broccoli…’ There was no other way of saying it. ‘Dangerous?’

  From the looks on Mum and Dad’s faces, the answer was ‘No’. And also ‘Please never ask us something that weird before seven a.m. again’.

  Okay. Maybe we just bumped our heads too hard? Making this all a freaky concussion dream, just like when Dad stood up into a shelf and spent ten minutes having an in-depth conversation with a cushion.

  Yes. That must be it. So this was fine. Allll fine. And even better, I could prove it. I just needed to hit my head again and everything would snap back to norma
l.

  I smiled calmly at my family and pulled my shoulders back.

  ‘Sister. Parents. Prepare for things to get normal.’

  I took a deep breath and… ran. Full-on pelted as fast as I could. Right into the door frame.

  I felt majestic!

  Right until I bounced straight off it and back on to the floor.

  Ow. Ow. Oooooow.

  I opened my eyes, excited to see the world back to normal.

  But the person staring down at me was… me.

  NO, EYES, THIS IS NOT OKAY!!

  I snapped them shut. They didn’t deserve to be open if they weren’t going to show me better things.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Mum sounded seriously worried. I prized one eye back open – she was crouched over me, Yoda next to her (but I thought/hoped that was just because Dad’s hood had fallen too far forward). ‘I’m starting to really worry, Erin…’ Mum rubbed at the bump on my head – if she was worried about that, imagine if I told her my entire soul and being had somehow swapped into the body of my sister.

  ‘I’m fine…’ I started to say. Nope, hearing Erin’s voice was still too weird. ‘Sorry.’ I stopped again. ‘This is too major weirdio.’

  My sister glared at me, but it was too late. Our parents had already twigged that Erin had never said ‘major weirdio’ in her life. ‘To, y’know –’ I tried to laugh, which was hard when you were lying down, and your head felt as if it’d been bashed into a door frame, because it had – ‘quote Lily.’

  ‘Darling.’ Dad crouched down. ‘Is everything… okay?’

  ‘If everything was okay, would she have run into a door?’ my sister said, which in fairness was a pretty accurate assessment.

  ‘Is my voice really that high?’ I sat up, only to get an extra clear view of Erin shaking her (my) head in despair.

  Dad clutched Mum’s arm. ‘The doctor doesn’t take appointments for an hour!’

  ‘She’s fine,’ Erin said sternly. ‘Aren’t you, Lil… er… Erin?’

  I got what she was trying to do – get our parents out of the way so we could figure this out. And for once, I agreed with her. I wasn’t sure she needed to add the kick to my bum though. Mumbling something vague about being too focused on today’s rehearsal, I clambered up and staggered to my room.