A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back from the holidays. Hope everyone had a great Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, whatever you celebrate, and has a happy New Year. Finally getting some Twin Magic in this chapter and some sisterly love as well. Enjoy :3.
Despite Nikki being all but dead weight, Brie was able to easily get her upstairs into her room. Whatever had happened between her and John had severely sapped the poor girl's energy. After getting Nikki on her bed, Brie went to get everything that Nikki would need after the crying fit that had happened downstairs, painkillers, water, and chocolate made the top of the list. Nikki was never one to indulge her sweet tooth, but tended to make an exception after she cried. After grabbing the supplies, Brie headed back upstairs where Nikki was beginning to stir from sleep.
"Hey Nikki, I have some tylenol for you," Brie said opening up the bottle. Still groggy and head hurting, Nikki didn't offer a vocal reply, but rather held out her hand and made 'gimme' motions. Giggling a little, Brie tipped two pills into Nikki's waiting hand and then held out the bottle of water. "Want to talk about what happened?"
Nikki had a sheepish look on her face, she knew she should probably talk about it and get the feelings out, but the wound was still fresh. Brie hopped up on the bed and wrapped her arm around Nikki' shoulder, "I'm here for you sissy, remember you can tell me anything." Leaning into Brie's shoulder, Nikki nodded and let some tears fall. Nikki's breaths wavered as she sat up and wiped her eyes. She could do this, she was strong and could move past this.
"Uh, John and I broke up." Nikki told Brie squaring her shoulders, she would not cry. It hadn't been long since they had broken up, a few hours at most, but Nikki knew that she could live without John, she'd done it during most of her time in high school. She refused to rely on him and fall apart when he wasn't in her life. Sensing her inner pep talk, Brie let Nikki have as much time as she needed to explain further, but that didn't mean she wasn't curious about what had happened.
"Why? I thought things were going so well for you guys." She said giving Nikki a sympathetic look. John and Nikki seemed perfect for each other, they had great chemistry and complimented each other. John kept Nikki grounded, and Nikki helped John cut loose and have fun.
"Apparently we were spending too much time together," Nikki answered with a scoff, "is it so bad that I wanted to spend time with him?"
"Oh no it's not, you guys had been dating for a while," Brie assured, "of course you would want to spend a lot of your time together. I mean it's not like you guys were together or talked twenty four seven."
Nikki shrugged, rolling her eyes with a scowl on her face. She couldn't understand what the fuck John's problem was. Their saw each other 3, four times max, during school and only a couple days a week outside of school, like Brie said it wasn't like they spend all their time together. Sure she was pissed and showing that clear as day, but she was still broken apart, this had blindsided her and it was as if John hadn't cared. Nikki refused to show how broken she was, even to Brie, her closest friend.
"I'll be ok," Nikki declared with a fire in her eyes, "and think of it this way you won't have to worry about dealing with John while we switch places."
Brie nodded, thank goodness for small miracles at a time like this. She still felt apprehensive about switching places with Nikki, but she refused to back out, not after what happened between Nikki and John and the possibility of Daniel's friendship or more. "Yeah it'll save the hassle at school for sure."
"And don't worry about Alicia, Nattie, and Mella, I'll give you a crash course on how to act like me this weekend," Nikki said looking Brie up and down, "cause let's face it they'd probably have a hard time believing you were me otherwise." Brie stamped down the feeling of anger, in a lot of ways she was ok with it being difficult for people to get them confused. It made it easier for them to be their own people, but that also made doing their "twin magic" harder as they got older and developed unique personalities.
"Thank goodness for that," Brie said with a teasing smile, "imagine being mistaken for you constantly, it's enough to give a girl identity issues." Nikki giggled and gave Brie a light shove in mock anger. The shove was enough to force Brie off the bed, but not enough to do any actual damage. After giving Nikki a light shove back, Brie waved and left Nikki's room, calling for Josie to follow.
Brie collapsed on her bed, exhausted from the day's work. Josie was quick to follow her onto the bed, and snuggled up against Brie's side, resting her head on her stomach. Letting out a sign, Brie pet Josie on her head, and went over the possibilities tomorrow held. Things could go great and no one would be any the wiser about her and Nikki's bet, or it could end in flames, resulting in both twins failing their classes and possibly being expelled. The simple thought of being expelled was enough to send Brie into hyperventilation and ready to bolt to Nikki's room to call off the stupid bet. The only things holding her back? Daniel and the fact that her and Nikki were identical twins, despite their different personalities it was very hard to tell them apart just by looking at them. Brie repeated these things over and over in her head like a mantra, we're twins, think of Daniel, we're twins, think of Daniel, we're twins, think of Daniel. After a couple minutes of repeating the mantra and Josie's affectionate cuddling, Brie's breathing was under control and her anxiety had lessened enough for her to be able to change into her pajamas and get some sleep.
Meanwhile, Nikki was having an emotional break down. Sure in Brie's presence she had acted strong and pissed off, but underneath that she was an emotional wreck. She didn't want to cry, but there was little she could do to stop the tears. Her heart was hurting, she believed that she really loved John and that he had loved her, but he had given up on their relationship so easily. She didn't want to give up on their relationship, but school was slowly taking over her life, and her bet with Brie required that she focus on Brie and Daniel's potential relationship. Tears continued to fall, and unlike Brie who had Josie as a source of comfort, Nikki had no one. Usually she would have turned to John for support, but in this instance he was the source of her break down. Gathering enough energy and motivation, Nikki changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed, willing this day to just be a horrible dream. Sleep did not come easily to Nikki that night and the tears silently wet her pillow.
When Nikki woke up the next morning, her throat was scratchy, her eyes were sore, and her cheeks felt tight with dried tears, all in all she felt like crap. Rolling out of bed, she grabbed the first thing she could find to wear, a pair of yoga pants and a large sweater. Somehow, even feeling like death warmed over, Nikki still managed to look like one of the most beautiful girls in the school. After dressing, she made her way downstairs, surprisingly before Brie. Not feeling up to making a breakfast, Nikki grabbed a bowl of cereal and left the box out for Brie.
Brie woke up in the morning feeling considerably more human than Nikki had. Getting ready had proved difficult for Brie, because she had to channel Nikki's inner diva. In a last ditch effort, Brie raided Nikki's closet, picking out a knee-length warm dress, heeled boots, and matching accessories, something she had seen Nikki wear before. Josie tilted her head to the side, confused as to why Brie was wearing Nikki's clothes, "Don't worry Josie, I won't be wearing these kinds of clothes for long."
Breakfast was a quiet affair when Brie finally sat down to eat. Nikki still felt horrible and Brie was jittery about the upcoming school day. However, despite feeling like crap, Nikki made sure to fill Brie in on how her day usually goes, and Brie did the same in return. For the first few days, they agreed on a plan, lay low and keep their heads down until they got into the swing of things.
By the time the twins got to school, they were running a little later than normal. English class went by faster than normal, much to Brie's delight. She was not looking forward to taking Nikki's gym class, however. Brie was in good shape and could keep up, but she preferred to focus on her academics rather than on athletics. Nikki was no less enthused to go to Brie's biology class, at least it would give her a chance to talk to Daniel.
Despite agreeing to lay low for the first couple days, Nikki went into Brie's biology class head held high and went straight for a seat closer to Daniel rather than Brie's usual seat. This by itself would be enough for the other students to give her weird looks, but when Nikki turned around and gave Daniel a shy smile, the looks increased.
Trying to channel Brie, Nikki whispered "Hi." For extra measure Nikki looked down and pushed her hair behind her ear, acting nervous like Brie would.
"Hey," Daniel replied a large smile on his face, glad that "Brie" was talking to him. Sure something seemed different about her, but maybe it was the fact that she was actually talking to him.
"Umm I was wondering if you could help me study sometime?" Nikki asked, knowing that Brie would appreciate the fact that she was keeping it academic.
"Sure, I wouldn't have figured that you would need help in this class, you always seem to have the answers, definitely beauty and brains" he explained giving her a soft smile. Nikki felt her heart flutter lightly as her cheeks lit up, was John ever this when they were dating? Why could Brie see what a sweet guy Daniel was and just approach him, it's not like he was going to bite her. Well, not unless she asked for it.
"Thanks, but it's not like I know all the answers instinctively, I do need to study," Nikki brushed off the compliment in a very Brie-like manner. She couldn't keep the color off of her cheeks, despite the fact that he was really complimenting Brie and not her. John hadn't shown her that kind of attention in so long, it was nice to get it in any sort of way, heck she was only human.
Nikki and Daniel spent the rest of the class conversing quietly. Daniel was easy to hold a conversation with; it was just like talking to Brie. Mr. Piper didn't pay them much attention. He spent the entire class period lecturing about some sort of hormone, nothing Nikki understood. Not like it really mattered, she was upholding her end of the bet and getting to talk to this super sweet guy, yeah he looked a little scruff but a trim here and there and he'd be less of a mountain man. Brie would thank her later.
After gym, biology, and lunch, it was finally time for Brie to start upholding her end of the bet. She had her first civics class as Nikki before the weekend. Unfortunately, Nikki forgot to warn her that Mella was in civics with her. The more Brie thought about it, the more she thought that may have been the reason Nikki was having so much trouble in the class. Nikki's friends were nice as far as she was concerned, but they tended to be just as bad if not worse than Nikki when it came to class and school work.
"Hey girl, how you doin'?" Mella said as Brie sat down in what she assumed was Nikki's usual seat.
"I'm good, girl, stressing about this stupid class." Brie said attempting to copy Nikki's casual speech. It was a little shaky, Nikki rarely talked that way in the house, preferring to use it I the company of her friends only. If Mella noticed anything different, she didn't mention it. Holding in a sigh of relief, Brie pulled out Nikki's notebook and began taking note and doodling, only to keep up appearances, as Mrs. Young began lecturing on the judicial branch.
Mella had a bored expression on her face and her other best friends, Enzo and Cass, sat behind her making hornets and being generally irritating. Brie tried to keep herself under control, she couldn't just go off on Enzo and Cass, she's supposed to be Nikki, and Nikki would have found that hilarious. Forcing a chuckle, Brie fixed a smile on her face as Enzo lined up a shot and let it fly. It hit her kind of friend Bayley. Sure they weren't as close as Nikki and her friends, but she gave Brie someone to study with. Deep breaths, don't fuck this up, Brie thought to herself in an attempt to keep her temper in check. Bayley shot Enzo a glare which he waved off with a loud laugh.
Brie couldn't have been more glad when the bell rang for the next class. Brie went to Nikki's geometry class and Nikki went to AP Gov. Luckily both classes passed quickly and the girls were able to head home for the weekend. The twins had a lot to share and discuss. Communication was always key when they performed "twin magic" and this time it was more important than ever, especially if they wanted to graduate high school and keep Daniel's attention on Brie.