by Beth Garrod
Micha had immediately asked me to be her plus one – although with a warning that she wanted to approve my T-shirt choice, and I wasn’t allowed to mention dry ice. More than fine with me.
Micha slurped her milkshake. ‘I cannot tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to today.’ She pushed the glass to one side – she had cream all over her nose. ‘Just sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.’
‘That’s okay.’ I stuffed a chip in my mouth. ‘You had your first youth squad practice to be amazing at.’ After her chemistry turnaround, Micha’s parents had bought her a new football kit to celebrate her getting a place on the team. ‘I’m sorry but…’ I looked around the café. It was only us and one woman (who looked worryingly like the one I’d thrown a pizza cutter at on my birthday). I checked my cutlery was safely on the table before I threw my hand up to point at Mich. ‘Top goalscorer right here, everyone!’
I couldn’t be prouder of my best mate. And I was making sure we were celebrating her achievements in style. After this we were trying on some prom outfits, then stocking up on snacks, then swinging by the skatepark before heading to mine for a sleepover. Micha was choosing the film and Mum and Dad had promised extra-large pepperoni pizzas as a treat for doing so well in the play – and for doing all my chores the last few weeks without grumbling. When they’d said that, Erin had just smiled. A really big one.
‘Lil!’ a voice called. I turned round. It was Nic. And Frankie. I hadn’t seen Nic since the opening night.
‘Hope we’re not interrupting.’ Nic swung herself on to the seat next to me. Frankie stayed standing. The Chase tickets had definitely cleared the air, but I don’t think either of us were in any hurry to upgrade to best-mate status. ‘I’ve been meaning to talk to you.’
I put my head in my hands. ‘If this is about LOLCon, can I just say, it was a bad day. A very bad day.’ I’d deleted all the footage I could.
‘Don’t worry I’ll never mention toodleoo kangaroo again.’ Nic laughed. I couldn’t – not yet. Maybe in twenty years. ‘But nah, it’s not about that. We’re looking for a feature writer for TheNicReport to cover lifestyle – y’know, school, friendship, all the good stuff.’ I braced myself for the next question. Could I recommend anyone? ‘And the team took a vote. How would you feel about it being… you?’
Ping.
The chip I was about to put in my mouth dropped back on to the plate.
‘Me?’
I looked at Micha, who was boogieing in her seat.
And I looked at Frankie, who was… checking her social media on her phone.
Was this for real?!
‘Uh-huh, you. Your sister sent me that piece you wrote. “Weird Things You Might Never Know Unless You Swapped Lives” or something like that.’ Erin did what? She must have found my printout! But there it was on Nic’s phone – all typed out, mistakes fixed, formatted properly with names removed. Wow. Erin had done that for me? ‘I loved it. We all did. Sooo high concept.’ I tried to keep a straight face. If only she knew. ‘A really unusual take. In fact, we wondered if you might be up for breaking it into a column.’ I could have a column?!
Micha was waving her arms, singing, ‘Go, Lily, go, Lily.’
‘Oh wait…’ Nic winced. ‘Erin said I wasn’t meant to tell you that. Something about you leaving it in her room?’
If my sister were here I’d give her a massive hug – which she’d hate. I couldn’t believe she’d done this for me.
‘Nic. It’s a yes! A massive yes.’ I wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip through my fingers! ‘And an even more massive-er-er…’ Why couldn’t I remember words? She might retract the offer! ‘Thank you.’ I lowered my voice. ‘And for the record, can I say, just as a side note unrelated to anything, I think looking like a cockapoo is nothing but a compliment.’
Nic grinned. ‘You can, but I don’t think Franks will be getting over that one anytime soon.’
But Frankie was… smiling? ‘Yup, I’m gonna need a while longer for that one.’
Erin, Ben, Harley and Lou bundled over, and due to the fact I had zero chill, I immediately blurted out my news about TheNicReport. Erin didn’t make eye contact, but grinned the whole time, before swiftly moving the conversation on by showing us all the stuff they’d bought for prom. Erin and Ben had decided to go for the first time ever. And, laughing, chatting and messing about, the whole gang of us headed out – Micha and me to shop, Nic and Frankie to check out some camera equipment and Erin, Lou, Harley and Ben to ‘unleash total Castles! Chaos! Cows! mayhem with her friends’. My sister’s words.
But as we walked down the high street Frankie stopped.
‘What’s that?’ She pointed across the street, to a new shop on the corner of the alley. ‘Was that there when we walked past earlier?’
I couldn’t remember it, but I hadn’t been paying much attention. I read the sign out.
‘The Crystal Mall…? Haven’t seen it before.’
Frankie was already crossing the road. ‘C’mon, Nic. Let’s pop in.’
But Nic didn’t move. Frankie stood outside the door, put her hands on her hips and huffed. ‘Don’t be like that, Nic. I’ll just be a minute.’ Frankie rolled her eyes. ‘There might even be something in here you like.’
‘And there might not, so can we stick to the plan?’ Nic pointed down the street. ‘Camera shop first.’
But Frankie wasn’t giving up. ‘Come on. Just one minute or I’m telling Mum and Dad you want your tongue pierced.’
‘Fine!’ Nic turned back to us and smiled. ‘Guess I’ll see you guys around. And, Lil, message me later, yes?’
I gave her a big happy nod. ‘Absolutely.’
But as Ben, Harley and Lou ambled down the street, chatting away, something made Erin and me stop.
Was it the sound of Nic and Frankie bickering?
Or did we recognize that tinkle ding?
Simultaneously my sister and I turned and looked at the shop Nic and Frankie had disappeared into.
And as Erin put her arm through mine we both laughed. Really laughed.
Because inside the window, the lady who ran it was giving us a wink and waving goodbye to us.
Agatha.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you so much for reading Sister Switch – and for reading the bit after it’s finished. Erin would approve! I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope you also enjoy reading big thank yous to the people who helped make it happen, because that’s what’s coming up.
First up to the amazing editorial team of Amina and Lucy – even in the weirdest of times, you made writing this really fun. Thank you SO much. And Lucy, an extra thanks for absolutely everything from day one (and for taking out the furry youknowwhats).
A massive thank you to the brilliant people behind the gorgeous cover – Thy, Jesse and David. It’s a beaut! Lucky me. Catherine, thank you for the copyedit and emoji patience (‘This one isn’t showing’… Oh, it’s just another hedgehog). And a huge thanks to the lovely people at Simon & Schuster, who have all been super supportive, even from afar, so thank you Rachel, Ali, Laura, Dani, Olivia, Fahima and the whole team.
As always, a huge, big, hopefully-one-day-not-virtual-hug to the best (and most patient) (and probably/definitely most fun) agent there is: Gemma Cooper.
And thank you to all the people who always cheer me on, especially this last year. Chris, who made being stuck in a house fun, Becca, the best big sister in the world (ja, ich habe eine Schwester), my parents, who I love so much I would (and did) camp out in the rain to see them, Rose, the coolest (and greatest book-writing) niece there is, and to Pam (the OG Oberon), James, Tina (hello Ellie!), Jess, Parisian sandwich guru Yasmine, Ida (skate consultant), Dan, Scall, Team Cooper, Simon, Ian, Julie, Val, Babs, Kev and Teddy, the N-Unit, my pain pals, my MTV buds, Switch team, Holly, Robyn, Ro, Becky, Sarah and all my friends who swapped wild times for walks. You really are the best.
And lastly, thank you to you for reading. I hope your next trip to the hair
dresser’s is super hairy… I mean cool.
Tinkle ding!
ALSO BY BETH GARROD (for older readers)
Awkward series
Super Awkward
Truly Madly Awkward
Access All Awkward
Take A Chance On Me
All I Want for Christmas
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
Copyright © 2021 Beth Garrod
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
All rights reserved.
The right of Beth Garrod to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
PB ISBN 978-1-3985-0024-2
eBook ISBN 978-1-3985-0025-9
eAudio ISBN 978-1-3985-0067-9
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
