A/N-So here's another AP Comp paper revised for ffn. I don't know how I did on this yet because I haven't gotten the grade back. Hopefully you'll like this and it'll shed some light on the characters whose story I should be writing right now…Maggie's POV
Change
It's not easy, being a twin. I know that for a fact. I have lived with my twin sister for seventeen years but we could not be more different. We used to be two peas in a pod but growing up changed a lot about us. Nowadays, it seemed as if we lived separate lives as strangers; not as sisters.
For our entire elementary school life together, Madeline and I were inseparable. We shared a room, we shared a wardrobe and we shared a life. We were always paired together—it was always Maddie and Maggie. My sister and I were incredibly close as children. Rarely was one without the other. We legitimately loved being with each other. I always had a friend to be with. At the holidays there was always someone to get a gift for. I always had someone. It was a good feeling to be able to depend and be depended on. As we grew older and started school we started to grow apart. Fourth grade jumpstarted our separate lives. This was the first time my sister and I had not been in the same class together. I fully expected I would hate being without my sister for the day—but instead I found that I loved it. She felt the same. The same year also brought along the first taste of band. I would be the rebel and fall in love with the drums; she would be the girly girl and daintily pick up a flute. Our early musical clashing was nothing compared to middle school.
I hated middle school. It was awkward and tough. I was the only female drummer in the band and the boys thoroughly enjoyed making my life miserable. I took their taunts and used them to make myself a far better drummer than they could ever wish to be. Maddie now called Madeline, loved middle school. She had always been a bit of a drama queen and the drama middle school had to offer was practically like Christmas everyday for her. The flute section, a mostly female section, was known throughout the band for its love of gossip. My sister fit in well there and continued friendships with many flute players even when she switched to oboe. The years that we were in middle school saw our split from each other—in seventh grade I formally requested to our parents that I move into the guest room instead of sharing with my sister like I had since I was born.
When we were freshmen we were introduced to the world of marching band. I was immediately drawn to the drumline. They were kind, funny and accepting. I thirsted for friendship. The drumline was what I needed to come out of my shell. Madeline did not join the flute section, which was where most oboists went. She chose the color guard. The drumline and the color guard never really got along. The mostly gender separated sections often found themselves amid conflict—when a drumline boy dated a color guard girl, bad times were certain to follow. The drama in the guard was worse than the drama I saw in middle school. It was now that I did not recognize my sister. She had changed. She had grown up. Madeline changed her look completely, opting to grow out her red hair and began wearing make-up. I too changed. I cut my hair short and began working out. My sister stayed willowy and thin while I became muscular and tough. People could tell us apart by our appearance now. It was strange. I had become accustomed to my friends and family addressing me by my sister's name. Now everyone knew that I was Maggie and she was Madeline. It was…different. It was like I was my own person now. I was not part of a pairing anymore. I could be myself and not have to worry about what people would say about how my sister did things.
High school changed me. I was no longer the pushover I was in middle school. The boys had toughened me up into a lean, mean drumming machine. I refused to let anyone bring me down. Madeline could not understand my tomboy ways.
"Why can't you act like a normal person?!" She yelled at me one day during our sophomore year. The year was marred by our constant fighting. We were like cats and dogs and we were at each other's throats constantly.
"Maybe I don't want to be normal!" I snapped back. Our petty exchanges continued long into the year. Madeline and I were did not have a thing in common anymore. We were never in any of the same classes. We did not have any common interests.
Our personalities collided. When it came to being sisters, Madeline was considered the pretty one and I was considered the smart one. We were rarely referred to as twins; probably because it was difficult to see that we were related.
In our junior year we spoke to each other out of necessity. I did not see my sister much outside of school and band. She liked to flaunt her social status at me. My sister was popular at our school. All the boys wanted to date her and all the girls wanted to be her. I was happy being myself. I had my small group of close friends; mainly made up of band members.
In joining the band I had not only found myself but I had found a family. I often think about how things could be different between my sister and I. She spins and I play. We have a lot of external differences but after all we came from the same place. I have lived with her since before we were even born. My sister used to be my best friend. Growing up made us change. Life could not stay the way it was. Our life was perfect, but it was time to move on. My sister and I may be incredibly different people with different lives but when it comes down to it we are still sisters. We were always sisters and we will always be sisters I believed. Nothing can change that.
A/N-Like it? Hate it? Let me know!