Author's Note; Thanx for the replies you guys! And from now on I'll be writing in a kind of "Nicky POV" (POV point of view) and "Alex POV" style for awhile because they won't really see each other at school and I want you to get the full experience about what happens with them. K?

Chapter 3: Cheating

Nicky POV

Nicky strolled into his High School, Alex's black DC's on his feet along with a black vintage tee, black baggy pants, and a chain around his neck. He noticed a group of cheerleaders by their lockers and smiled at them.

"Ladies."

The cheerleaders all shot him dirty looks and wrinkled their noses before rolling their eyes and walking off. Nicky shrugged as he walked up to Alex's locker, spun the combination and opened it. The inside of Alex's locker was lined with rock posters and more pictures of the band along with a small shelf. The text books were all thrown carelessly into the locker along with a blank notebook. Nicky sighed as he looked around the locker. Alex had such bad taste.

"Alex! Hey Alex! Hello?"

Gemma waved a black/blue nail-polished hand in front of Nicky's face. Nicky jumped and turned to look at his brother's best friend.

"What do you want?" He snapped, shutting the locker with a firm snap!

Gemma looked startled and hurt as she furrowed her eyebrows at him, "Are you okay Alex?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

Nicky started walking off to his brother's homeroom class, leaving Gemma behind. But she quickly caught up with him.

"You just seem different is all. Anyways, James said his dad would let us use the garage for practice tonight. We could head over there after school."

"I don't think so." Nicky said flatly as he walked into the homeroom and sat down by himself near the front of the room.

Gemma looked at Nicky for a few moments, stunned, before shaking her head and taking her seat by James in the back of the room.

"So, why's he sitting up there near the jocks?" James whispered as he rose a questioning eyebrow at Nicky.

"I have no idea." Gemma answered.

She and Alex had been best friends for years. Ever since he punched out a guy for stealing her snack in kindergarten. So him just blowing her off like that hurt. A lot. Something was definately wrong with him. But what?

Alex POV

Alex walked into school, pulling awkwardly at his brother's sports jacket. He felt so out of place. People kept coming up to him and saying "Hi" and all he could do was smile awkwardly and mumble a small greeting back. He walked up to Nicky's locker and out of the corner of his eye saw Nicky snapping at Gemma and then just walking past her like she didn't even exist. The look on her face made Alex's heart drop. He wanted to walk up to her and tell her that he was Alex, not Nicky. But he then he'd have to serve his brother for a week and that wasn't something he wanted to do.

"Hey Nicky."

A small, blonde-haired cheerleader appeared at Alex's elbow with her friends crowding around him.

"Uh...hey." Alex said uneasily as he opened Nicky's locker.

"So, are we still on for tonight?" the girl asked seductively as she ran her hands along Alex's arm.

Alex pulled away, "I-I don't think so."

The thought of going out with a girl he didn't even know made him sick. Gemma was the only one he wanted and even if that meant having the whole cheerleading squad hate him...or his brother. Alex smirked inwardly as he closed the locker and walked away. If Nicky was going to screw things up with him and Gemma then the least Alex could do was screw up his dating life.

At Lunch

Nicky POV

Gemma and James slid into the empty seats on either side of Nicky.

"So, Al, Gemma said you're not up for the practice tonight. What's up with that?" James asked, taking a bite of his cheeseburger, drenched in ketchup and mustard.

"I just think that maybe us having a band is kind of lame." Nicky said without emotion as sipped at his root beer.

James coughed, dropping his cheeseburger as soda flew from Gemma's mouth, her eyes as wide as plates.

"W-What are you talking about?" Gemma stuttered, "If this is a joke, Alex, it's so not funny."

"It's not a joke. Music just isn't my thing anymore."

And with that, Nicky stood up from the table, picked up his lunch tray, and walked over to the jock table, taking a seat by his brother and Royce. All the talking stopped as he sat down and all eyes landed on him.

"Hey." Nicky said calmly with a smile before going back to his tray of food.

There was a few minutes pause before the jocks went back to their conversations, ignoring Nicky completely. Alex glared at his brother.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex hissed out the side of his mouth.

"Eating. What does it look like I'm doing?" Nicky hissed back with a smirk.

Alex POV

When Nicky said that, Alex nearly lost his mind. It had barely been a whole morning and already Nicky had ruined his life. He glanced over at Gemma and James, who were eating quietly, leaving the seat between them empty and the looks on their faces as bad as if they had lost someone of major importance. And who could blame them? They thought the real Alex had just left them completely. Alex had to do something, and fast before he lost his best friends forever.

"Uh, come here loser." Alex sneered, trying to imitate his brother, as he took Nicky by his collar and jerked him out of his seat.

He dragged Nicky out of the cafeteria and out onto the school lawn, where he finally released him.

"Nicky! We're supposed to switch lives. Not pose as each other and associate with our same group of friends. You're cheating."

"So what? I'm doing you a favor little bro."

"I don't care what you think you're doing for me. Just hang out with Gemma and James and I don't care what you think of them. Quit cheating and do this right."

"Fine. Fine. Quit whining. I'll just tell them I decided to come back to the band."

"YOU QUIT THE BAND!" Alex took hold of Nicky's shoulders and shook him violently.

"Chill." Nicky shoved Alex off of him, "I'll fix it."

"You'd better." Alex hissed as he brushed past Nicky on his way back into the cafeteria.

As Alex sat back down at the jock table, Royce slapped him on his back.

"Way to take care of the loser Nicky. He was really starting to stink up the air." Royce said with a laugh that was joined in by the rest of the table.

Alex faked a laugh as well, trying to fit in, "Yeah. I really took care of him."

"Anyways," began Tyler, who was sitting across from Alex, "The guys and I thought we could head on out to Club Zero tonight. Meet some new girls. So you in?"

Alex looked uncertainly over at his friends and then back at the jocks surrounding him. His thoughts went back to what he had just said to Nicky. 'We're supposed to switch lives.'

"Yeah, I guess I'm in." Alex said finally.

The football players cheered and high-fived Alex while others slapped him on the back.

Nicky POV

Nicky sat back down between Gemma and James. Gemma looked up at him.

"Aren't you going to sit with those no-nothing jocks?" She asked bitterly.

Nicky swallowed the nasty comeback that was on the tip of his tongue, "No, I was just playing with you guys is all. And I don't really feel like practice tonight. Instead, how about we head on out to Club Zero?"

"Don't you need to be 18 to get in?" James asked as he and Gemma exchanged uneasy looks.

"Don't worry about that. I have few fake IDs. We'll get in no problem." Nicky smirked.

"Uhh...I don't know. What do you think James?" Gemma looked at James again, for some reason he seemed like the only one she could trust today.

"Maybe we should give it a try, Gem." James answered, "It probably won't be too bad."

"Great. I'll meet you guys there." Nicky smiled before finishing off his food.

End of Chapter