The Swap

Prologue

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I thought it was just a normal Thursday afternoon. I walked down the sidewalk, slightly irritated from my lack of sleep and limited source of caffeine. The energy drink in my hand was almost powerless against the three hours of sleep I'd gotten the night before. Then again, I had no one to blame but myself since I'd stayed up for a scary movie marathon.

I was relatively calm, just trying to make it home after an exam for my independent studies courses, and ready to take the rest of the day to catch up on sleep. I tried not to hate myself too much for staying up so late in the first place. These sorts of bad decisions were not stranger when it came to my chaotic life.

As true as that minor detail was, it didn't change the fact that I was on the verge of a mental break. My head pounded from The dehydration that was undoubtably increased by my energy drink and the weather. The sun was also so hot, I was pretty sure the bottoms of my shoes were melting against the pavement.

My mood was going from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. It was just icing on the cake when something suddenly rammed into my side, nearly sending me sprawled across the sidewalk.

Or someone.

I closed my eyes in annoyance when the can fell from my grasp and landed onto the sidewalk. The drink fizzed up, spilling over the concrete at my feet and all I could do was watch. I was fully prepared to completely have it out of with this person and tell them what an absolute idiot they had been For bumping me. With a surge of anger, I turned to them with my insults ready to go.

I set my glare on the figure in front of me, but retreated when I saw her brown eyes filled with apology. Looking closer, I realized how familiar her eyes looked- her whole face actually. I stared, trying to figure out where I had seen her before when I froze.

She looked.... like me?

The stood in front of me with the same expression on her face, and I mean the exact same expression. From our thick, brown hair, to our slightly tanned skin, we were identical. Her eyes were wide with shock and she stared at me, frozen in her stance. I tried to form some sort of sentence, but the words never came.

I realized that this girl must be my twin. I knew I was adopted, but my parents never told me that I'd had siblings. I couldn't help but wonder why they'd never mentioned it.

My mind instantly filled with questions. Did she live in this town, just 40 minutes from my house, her whole life? How could we not have known about each other sooner?

"No way." I whispered. I couldn't help myself, so I reached up and touched her face, pressing my finger into her cheek. That seemed to snap her out of her shock because she smacked my hand away.

"Hey!" She moved away. I moved on to her hair instead, trying to see if it felt the same as mine. It did. "Stop touching me!"

"This is insane!" I said finally. "I can't believe my parents never told me that I was a twin. Did you know?"

"Twins?" She pulled her hair from my hold and stepped away. "What are you talking about?"

I blinked in surprise. "Do you not see it? We look exactly the same."

She pressed her lips together and studied me. It took a moment for me to realize that she wasn't looking for similarities, but differences. She was in denial.

Slowly she shook her head. "This is not happening. I need to go." Then she was turning away from me.

"Wait a second," I grabbed her arm and she jumped away from me.