Sister Switch

by Beth Garrod

  ‘No,’ I butted in, boosted by the fact Nic seemed genuinely disappointed I’d messed up. ‘She was so happy you did. She loved that you trusted her with it – and if this had come at any other time you would have seen a really different Lily in action.’

  Nic nodded slowly.

  ‘Yeah, you’re probably right. She’s definitely unique!’ She dried her hands on her jeans. ‘I love the angles she takes on her blog. The funny stuff is great, but the personal stuff really hits different.’

  And despite knowing it hadn’t worked out, a smile was creeping on to my face. Nic thinking my writing was worth reading was the best compliment I could ask for. Although, if Nic was hoping to bump into my sister, did that mean Erin hadn’t managed to do what Frankie suggested and see Nic in the props van earlier?

  ‘So did you not see Lily before the play then?’

  Nic shook her head as if she didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.

  ‘Nope, not me. I was at LOLCon right up to the start.’ She winced. ‘In fact, just after. Mrs Saddler did naaaat look happy about me sneaking in.’

  So Nic wasn’t with Frankie before the play?

  Things were getting more alarming than Dad’s latest ribbon gymnastics routine.

  I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I had a bad feeling that if I didn’t figure it out before the end of the interval, things might be about to get even worse.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I pushed through the people chatting in the packed corridors as if my life depended on it. Because it did. Agatha’s clue had said this was our final chance, and it really felt like the last shot to stop everything going wrong.

  I just had to hope Erin had the same idea and was heading to the same place.

  Yes, I kept tripping over my dress (how fairy queens ever did anything in a hurry I did not know), and yes, I did stop and do a double take at my parents laughing with Mr Sharma as if it were fine to hang out with teachers, but I still got there in record time.

  HG PRODUCTIONS

  At least the sign hadn’t gone.

  Agatha was still here. Somewhere.

  As one hand knocked the door, and the other rang my sister, I stared out of the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that stretched the whole length of this side of the building. The car park below was quiet with everyone still inside LOLCon. Up here I had a perfect view of the secret entrance just for the influencers. A big black coach had pulled up by the door, its hazard lights flashing, with the driver stretching his legs outside.

  Ring, ring.

  Why wasn’t my sister picking up?!

  Ring, ring.

  ‘You called?’ And there she was. Wrong body, but same unflappable sister. She clicked REJECT. ‘Figured we could speak in person.’

  What should I start with? Where had she been? What really happened at LOLCon? Had she got news from Micha? Did she see Chase? How much would she murder me if Ben broke up with her? Would she forgive me for how badly I’d done in front of Chinyere Okafor?

  But all of the questions bundled together into one thing. A point at the door.

  ‘Good work. Guess you’ve tried this.’ As Erin rattled the handle, I noticed she had a plaster on her finger.

  ‘You okay?’ I gestured at it.

  ‘I would be if this door would open!’ She rattled the handle again, but the door was firmly locked.

  I paced over to the window. ‘Agatha was in the audience. Did you see her?’

  Erin shook her head. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were untucked and she had a mysterious stain on her top. I’d never been more proud. ‘I did see you though.’ Uh-oh. But instead of pointing out I was doing worse than any Titania in the history of Titanias, Erin put her arm round me. ‘I think you’re doing an awesome job. Thank you.’

  I squeezed her right back. ‘You did great at LOLCon too.’

  But as she smiled, behind her I saw someone coming out of the LOLCon venue.

  WAS THAT CHASE?!

  I pushed my face against the glass.

  Oh. My. Hairy. Godmothers.

  It was! And he was chatting to the driver of the coach!

  Was that his tour bus?

  ‘L…’ My voice finally gave up. ‘L… look.’

  Even though I was in the wrong body, and had shouted about bananas in front of hundreds of people, this was somehow still the weirdest thing to happen all day! If I ran down the stairs and through the fire exit I would literally be hanging out with Chase Cheney.

  A thought hit me. ‘I could speak to him?’

  Get that genuine scoop I’d dreamed of!

  ‘Get something to change Nic’s mind?’ Erin grinned. ‘You should go.’

  Wow. My sister really did care about my blog after all!

  But I had only ten minutes till I needed to be back on stage.

  And we still hadn’t found Agatha.

  ‘But what about…’ I looked at the door.

  ‘I’ll try to open it while you’re gone. Remind Chase you’re dry ice girl’s sister. And be as quick as you can. I don’t want to get swapped back into Singed Simon by accident.’

  I gathered up my dress, ready to sprint like Titania had never sprinted before.

  ‘I’ll be four minutes. Less than.’

  I was already off, as Erin shouted after me. ‘And say bye to Chinyere while you’re there!’

  What did that mean?

  But as I raced outside I understood. The only other person in this sectioned-off car park was Chinyere, coat on, bag on her shoulder, walking to her car. She’d seen enough and was going. I hadn’t even impressed her enough to make her want to stay for the second half. She’d made up her mind without ever seeing the real Erin in action.

  This sucked.

  But as the fresh air filled my lungs, for the first time since being in the wrong body, I knew exactly what to do.

  * * *

  ‘Well, that was quick.’ Erin was on her hands and knees peering through the tiny keyhole into the Hairy Godmother’s room. I couldn’t speak properly I was panting so hard.

  ‘Nooo.’ Gasp. ‘Joy?’

  ‘Nope. No answer. No key. No nothing.’

  What were we missing?

  ‘FIVE MINUTES UNTIL CURTAIN-UP FOR THE SECOND HALF.’

  The announcements weren’t exactly helping me not freak out.

  But a voice I recognized interrupted us.

  ‘Well, there you are…’ Along with Agatha’s, it was the voice I most wanted to hear. I scrambled to my feet.

  ‘Micha?!’ I hadn’t seen her look this happy in weeks. ‘How did it go?’

  She gave me the biggest grin. ‘Didn’t Lil say?’

  Erin stopped trying to use a hairgrip to open the lock and looked up. ‘I was just about to, but you do the honours.’

  Micha pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. ‘Well, thanks to the most awesome revision session earlier.’ She was bouncing from foot to foot. ‘And a brainiac friend who helped me last-minute rewrite my whoooole chemistry assignment I… well… I smashed it!’ She unfolded the paper. ‘Over ninety per cent in both!’

  Forget being in the wrong body, I couldn’t help it. I hugged Micha so hard. So so hard.

  ‘BEST NEWS EVERRRRRR!’ I hugged her again. ‘Chemistry genius and footballing goddess, huh!’ Micha blushed, embarrassed at the praise. But… what did she mean about the last-minute session? And who was this chemistry whizz friend? I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. ‘Pretty cool of your friend. Whoever that was.’

  Micha tapped my sister’s foot with her shoe.

  ‘I know we agreed not to tell but I think we can trust Erin?’

  Wait. Did my sister just give me a tiny grin?!

  Micha was too pumped to wait for her to answer. ‘Please don’t be mad and don’t tell anyone, not even Ben, buuuuut –’ she tugged at her twist pigtails in excitement – ‘as a surprise Lily ran straight from LOLCon to meet me at school. Apparently Mrs Saddler was raging!’ Mich tried to grimace but w
as smiling too hard to pull it off. ‘Your sister risked life and limb to help me out! If I play for England one day, it’ll alllll be because of her.’

  So Erin had jeopardized the play, the thing she cared most about, to help my best friend. To help me.

  Erin was a legend!

  It was too much. I dropped to the floor and gave my sister the biggest hug.

  ‘Promise I’m not mad.’ I squeezed her so tight. ‘I’m the opposite. Best. Sister. Ever.’

  My words came out like a human accordion as Micha piled on top.

  We carried on hugging and cheering in one big happy heap. It was so nice to be celebrating my best friend’s good news with her. Although… I suddenly thought of an even better way for Micha to celebrate.

  ‘Okay, don’t freak out but…’ I stood up. ‘I think there’s someone else who would love to celebrate your amazingness.’ I pointed down to the car park. ‘And… he’s right there.’

  Micha opened her mouth. And shut it. And pressed her face against the glass which steamed up immediately as she let out the longest, ‘Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?’

  My sister put her hand on Micha’s arm. ‘I know, right.’ Erin glanced at me. ‘St and unning!’ Micha was too shocked to reply. ‘We have to get back to the play but you should definitely go. For the both of us!’

  And after waiting to get her speech back, then double-checking we wouldn’t mind – then triple-checking she wasn’t hallucinating – Micha ran off to speak to Chase. Well, it was more a stumble, and she definitely bounced off at least one wall, but it was the general right direction.

  Leaving Erin and me.

  And the Hairy Godmother’s door, which still wasn’t budging.

  My sister rested her forehead against it.

  ‘Guess whatever we were supposed to do, we failed.’

  ‘Guess we did.’ I linked my arm through hers. Seeing Micha happy again had almost made me forget how bad things were. But standing in the now empty corridor with my sister there was no escaping them. ‘I’m really sorry, sis. I promised I tried.’

  ‘You did great.’ She dropped her head on to my shoulder. ‘Especially with all the problems.’

  So my sister had noticed the missing prompts and been weirded out by the banana swap too?

  ‘Look –’ I wonder if she had the same theory as me – ‘I know you’ll say I’m wrong, but I’ve got a theory. I think it might have something to do with… Frankie?’

  Erin’s mouth scrunched. ‘Lil, I know exactly who it was…’ Of course Erin would be one step ahead. She pulled out a car key from her pocket and dangled it in front of me. ‘And why.’ She winked. ‘But don’t worry, I’ve got the second half back under control.’

  ‘PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEATS. THE SECOND HALF IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE.’

  Erin’s explanation would have to wait.

  It was time for me to say the thing that neither of us wanted to admit.

  ‘It’s time to head back, isn’t it?’

  The dream was over. We’d had our last chance… and we’d blown it.

  Still, at least we had the sight of Micha outside getting the biggest hug from Chase. Was she laughing? Or crying? Or… fainting? It looked like all three.

  My sister laughed softly. ‘Well, at least it worked out for someone. How did it go by the way? With Chase?’

  Oh yeah. That. I hadn’t even told her. I gave the HG PRODUCTION sign one last look before I turned to walk down the corridor.

  ‘I didn’t see him.’

  She looked confused.

  ‘But you ran off?’

  ‘Uh-huh. But when I got down there I went to speak to Chinyere instead. I told her part of Mrs Saddler’s acting development was to handle unexpected surprises. And the banana had been mine. And… well… she agreed to stay for the second half.’

  Erin’s eyes lit up. ‘You did that for me?’

  ‘You would have done the same for me, sis.’

  And as I said it, something happened that neither of us expected.

  There was a click of a lock opening behind us.

  And when we turned round there was a lady standing in the corridor, a smile on her face, arms out wide.

  Agatha.

  ‘Erin. Lily. I’ve been expecting you.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  TINKLE DING!

  Despite making no noise before, the door made the same tinkling chime as the salon we’d walked into almost three weeks ago.

  Stepping into Agatha’s room was like stepping into another world. I swear it had doubled in size from earlier, and the photos on the walls were now all shots of the first half of the play.

  Still, I wasn’t surprised.

  When we’d first met I thought Agatha had felt magical.

  Now I knew she was.

  The big clock on her wall showed 5.13 p.m. Less than two minutes before the play started again. So why did her room feel like an oasis of calm?

  Unlike us, Agatha looked her normal cool, relaxed self. ‘Tea?’ was all she said. Not, ‘Sorry about transforming your entire bodies, lives and souls,’ or even, ‘How are you?’ Just did we want a hot drink.

  We both said yes though.

  Agatha sat down on the sofa and gestured for me and Erin to sit down opposite. There were already three steaming, fresh mugs of her delicious tea waiting for us.

  ‘Have we been dying to see you!’ I picked one up as Agatha held out a plate of cookies. They were freshly baked. Did her room come with an oven?! ‘A lot has happened since we last saw you.’

  Agatha raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’ She sounded surprised. Did she not know that swapping people’s lives and leaving them a trail of magical clues could lead to major drama?

  I sipped my drink, thanked her for helping me with my line earlier and began to tell her everything about the manic blur of the last few weeks – but by the time I’d swallowed the tea I seemed to have come to the end of my story.

  Panicked, I looked up at the clock – it was ticking away yet still said 5.13 p.m.

  Although… Why was I trying to make sense of anything? I should have learnt by now that when the Hairy Godmother was involved, nothing made sense.

  I took a stress bite of one of the cookies. Delicious.

  Luckily, Erin wasn’t as easily distracted by biscuits as me. ‘Agatha, please don’t disappear on us this time.’ Her nostrils flared. ‘Not after what happened backstage with Chase.’

  But Agatha smiled, her perfect red lipstick looking as if it had just been slicked on.

  ‘I remember that day.’ Of course she did. It was only a week ago! ‘I had plans, but when I saw you arguing I knew it wasn’t the right time.’ Wasn’t the right time? Please tell me it is now! ‘But you found my message? And followed my paper trail to find me here?’

  Followed the newspaper trail, yes.

  Erin nodded. ‘Well, Lil did. She’s been the one who’s figured out most things to be honest.’

  I swear one of Agatha’s eyes twinkled. ‘Interesting… So you have been having fun?’

  Fun?! Fun?! I’d never been so stressed in my life!

  ‘You mean besides being stuck as my sister who fits a billion things into a day and impresses everyone, all the time, oh, as I simultaneously watched my own life crumble, my best friend start to hate me, all while panicking I’d never get back into my own body?’ I paused for breath. ‘Yeah. It’s been a breeze really.’

  After weeks of bottling it up, it was nice to be able to say it all out loud.

  But my sister was chuckling. ‘Uh-huh, a total walk in the park. Nothing like failing as a friend and being a meme… twice.’ Twice? What had happened at LOLCon?! I was never looking at the internet again.

  ‘So this fortnight was… a success?’ Agatha sipped her tea.

  My normally composed sister spluttered.

  ‘Noooo! Not at all! I don’t know if you know…’ She trailed off. ‘I mean I feel as if you know everything, but just in case, I’ll fill you in. I messed up Lily’s chance
s to work on TheNicReport, her favourite site.’ Erin looked at me. ‘Even though I swear it was an accident.’

  ‘I see,’ Agatha said.

  ‘The worst thing is if she’d been in the right body today, she would have done an amazing job and definitely got offered a place.’

  I wasn’t sure I agreed, but I was flattered Erin thought it.

  ‘Thanks, sis. Although please don’t blame yourself – you hated it and still really tried.’

  Agatha lifted her hand up, her bracelets jingling.

  ‘Lily makes a point.’ It was so nice being called the right name for the first time in ages. ‘Facing up to the darkest moments is how we truly shine.’

  I nodded but I wasn’t sure why. I always had the same feeling whenever the Hairy Godmother was around. I felt both incredibly wise – and also as if I didn’t have the foggiest what was going on.

  ‘I see.’ Erin clearly didn’t have a clue either. ‘I’m not sure I’d call saying, “Toodleloo kangaroo,” to one of the world’s biggest influencers “shining” though. Lils, I don’t know how you do it!’

  ‘Well, same.’ I guess I’d never really understood before how hard Erin had it – it wasn’t that she breezed through everything, it was that she never stopped putting effort in. ‘Your life is so full on! All those teachers breathing down your neck.’ I thought back to the whirlwind of the last two weeks. ‘The quiz team. The play. The A grades. Hanging up your clothes. Even having a boyfriend.’ I winced. When should I tell her about whole ‘taking a break’ thing? ‘I don’t know where you find the time!’

  Erin squeezed my knee. She hadn’t done that in years. Maybe meeting the Hairy Godmother hadn’t been all bad after all? And when I looked up, Agatha was smiling. And our teas had somehow been drunk, and all that was left on the cookie plate was crumbs. How long had we been in here?

  I looked at the clock: 5.13 p.m. Still.

  ‘Well.’ Agatha leant forward and clasped her hands. ‘I must say I’ve been enjoying the play very much. Lily, you really shone as Erin.’ Did she mean Titania? ‘And, Erin, you excelled in a test even you couldn’t prepare for.’ Did she mean helping Micha, or being me? ‘I think it’s clear you both finally understand what it’s like to truly be one another.’