Becoming Harper Page 5

  The woman sighed. “Impossible.”

  I would have to enter the room and act normal. This was my family after all. I had to act like everything was just the way to always was.

  When I stepped into the massive dining room, the talking stopped, and an impeccably dressed man and woman stared at me. They were both seated at the far end of the dark, oak table, the woman at the head seat and the man beside her. The woman had dark blond hair pulled back at the nape of her neck into a sleek ponytail. Every hair was perfectly in place. Her eyes were a deep brown and she had the most perfect red lips I had ever seen on a person in real life. She wore a red and black striped top with puffy sleeves. There was not one bit of expression on her face as she stared at me.

  The man was where Harper had gotten her dark hair and green eyes. He was incredibly handsome, dressed in an expensive-looking gray suit. His chiseled features couldn’t have been any more perfect. I wondered how two people so undeniably gorgeous had found each other. Mr. Granger grinned. “Good morning, Sunshine.”

  I cleared my throat, afraid to speak because I didn’t know what my voice would sound like. Would it be Abby’s voice or Harper’s? “Good morning, Dad.”

  They both narrowed their eyes at me. “Excuse me?” said Mrs. Granger. “I mean, good morning, Father.” Yes. This family seemed so stuffy, they seemed the type that would say Father instead of Dad.

  Mrs. Granger set her coffee cup on a saucer. “Dear, why are you coming down to breakfast in your pajamas? You know that is improper.”

  It was? I ate breakfast in my pajamas all the time. Hell, if I wanted to stay in my pajamas all day I could.

  “Sorry, I’ll go change.” They were totally going to know I wasn’t the real Harper.

  She flicked her hand in my direction. “No, no. The food would be stone cold by then. Sit, but don’t come down for breakfast that way again.”

  “Yes,” I mumbled, taking a seat across from the man and to her left. The breakfast I had envisioned Harper eating wasn’t far from the real thing—pancakes with sausage and a bowl of strawberries blueberries topped with whipped cream.

  I was starving so I took my seat and dug in. After a few seconds, I noticed the woman studying me intently. “Darling, what is with you today? Sit up and eat like a lady.” Of course. Harper was so dainty and graceful. I tried to be that way the best I could. Focusing on my posture, I cut my food into teeny pieces and took small bites. I watched Harper’s parents from the corner of my eye. They moved almost like robots and they speak to each other. I tried to eat as quickly as I could while being ladylike, but I wanted to get away from that table and away from Mrs. Granger’s prying eyes. It was like she knew I wasn’t really her daughter.

  Once I was full I turned to her. She seemed to be the one in charge. “May I be excused?”

  “Of course, dear. You’d better hurry. Don’t want to be late for school.”

  I hurried back upstairs and stepped into Harper’s huge closet. She had so many options, I could spend all day choosing something to wear. Her closet was almost the size of my entire bedroom and looked like one of those small, expensive boutiques. Harper had everything organized by type and color. Jeans were in one section. Dresses in another. Shirts and blouses in another. There was even a separate section for shoes and bags. I couldn’t believe these were actually my things. I had always admired the designer labels Harper wore and the high-end purses she carried that costed more than my family’s rent for three months. Then I reminded myself that this was only temporary. Once Harper discovered what had happened, she would want her beautiful life back. There was no way she would want mine when she had a golden life people would kill for and I would have no choice but to give it back to her. I had no idea that this would work. The fortune teller would somehow have to reverse her curse. Magic was reversible, right?

  Harper had so many clothes she never had to repeat an outfit if she didn’t want to. I chose a pink turtleneck sweater, a black leather skirt and a pair of black knee boots. The look was hot and like nothing I owned.

  I stood in one of Harper’s many full-length mirrors and disrobed. I gasped as my pajamas hit the floor. I was used to a pale, thin body with small boobs and an almost non-existent ass. Now I was staring at full, round breast, hips and thighs that belonged on the body of a swimsuit model and flawless tan skin. Harper had the body of a woman, not a little girl.

  Even her underwear was way more sophisticated than mine. Matching bra and panty sets. Things that belonged on a Victoria’s Secret runway. I chose a fancy black lace number. I felt sexy just putting it on. I couldn’t stop staring at how amazing Harper’s body was, but I had to snap out of it or I was going to be late for school. After I put on Harper’s outfit, I had never felt so hot in my life. I ran a brush through her long, luxurious hair, grabbed her black Burberry purse and leather backpack and headed downstairs.

  Harper drove a cherry red Mercedes that was every teenaged girl’s dream car. I dug through her purse and retrieved a set of keys. I wondered where the car was, outside or in the garage. I looked around downstairs, but the dining room was now clear and there was no sign of Harper’s parents. I wondered where they had gone and what they did all day. I stepped outside and spotted the Mercedes parked in the circular driveway. I unlocked the door and slid into the driver’s seat, running my hands over her leather seats. It was only appropriate that her car smelled like sweet cherries.

  Starting the car, I said a silent prayer. I wasn’t the best driver, but I’d gotten my license the year before. I was sure I could get from point A to point B without killing myself or anyone else.

  On the way to school, I thought about Harper’s behaviors, because I was going to have to do my best to imitate them. I had to walk like her, talk like her, execute her mannerisms. God knew I watched her enough to be able to do that.

  I pulled into the school’s parking lot. There was no assigned parking, but Harper always parked in front of the school beside the handicapped spaced. I squeezed the steering wheel, wondering how I was going to pull this off. How was I going to explain this to my friends, but most importantly, how was I supposed to explain this to Harper?

  By the time I’d taken ten steps from Harper’s car, I was flocked by a group of girls all talking at once. They pulled me toward the school.

  “Hey, where’s Aria?” Dina Kerry asked.

  How was I supposed to know? Harper’s phone chirped from inside of her purse. It was a text from Aria:

  Where the hell are you? I’m going to be late.

  I realized then the reason for Dina’s question. Harper must have picked Aria up for school every morning. I texted back:

  Sorry! Forgot! I’ll come now!

  You forgot???!!! The hell!! Never mind. I’m already on the way with my dad.

  How was I supposed to explain this? If Aria rode to school with Harper every morning, how could she forget? I tried not to think about it as my biggest obstacle was standing on the front steps of the school with a wide grin plastered across his face. Tucker. In all the excitement of the morning, I’d forgotten all about Tucker.

  He bounded down the steps and pressed his lips against mine before I could even say Good Morning. The kiss was nice. His lips were soft and warmed me up on the chilly morning. His mouth tasted like peppermint. He took my hand, intertwining our fingers, and we headed into the building. As soon as we stepped through the doors, people were shouting things at me.

  “Hey, Harper.”

  “Looking good, Harp.”

  “Harper, what’s up?”

  “Can’t wait for your party Harper?”

  “Those boots are hot, girl!”

  This was what it was like to be the most popular girl in school. So many people were talking to me I couldn’t answer them all. When I entered the school as Abby, nobody cared except for Gunner, Quinn and a few other people. It was nothing like this. Even the kids who didn’t speak, looked in my direction. Harper was a head turner.

  I realized the
n, aside from the two classes I had with Harper, I had no idea what her schedule was. Dina took my arm. “Come on. We don’t want to be late for first period.” My worries subsided. All I had to do was follow Dina.

  Tucker gave me a kiss on the cheek. “See you in second period.” My face warmed and I nodded, not quite sure what Harper would say. I knew the two of them had English next because I was in that class too.

  As Dina and I rounded the corner, heading to whatever class she was taking me to, Gunner and Quinn were heading in my direction. They had probably been looking for me, even texting me. I wanted to tell them so badly what had happened but there was no way I could, at least not before I spoke to Harper. I didn’t see Harper anywhere. She’d probably thrown herself over our apartment balcony once she realized she’d woken up as me. I couldn’t blame her, but I wondered what Mom and Brooke were thinking.

  Dina and I had world economics first period which was incredibly boring and uneventful. Mrs. Winston kept calling on me but I had no idea how to answer her questions—stuff about appropriation and comparative-advantages. She might as well have been speaking a foreign language to me. Harper was a straight-A student and far from dumb. I was a good student too, but I didn’t know anything about economics.

  Second period was chemistry. I sat at a lab table wedged between Aria and Tucker. Thankfully Aria hadn’t said anything about me forgetting to pick her up. She was going on and on about what some girl had said about her over social media that weekend. The whole thing sounded silly to me, but I tried to appear sympathetic since she was my best friend. Hunter was visibly annoyed. I never got the feeling that he liked Aria.

  The weirdest part was seeing Harper walk in trapped in my body. She wore my favorite jeans with a yellow hoodie. Unfortunately, she didn’t have much to work with as far as my wardrobe went. Her expression was blank so I couldn’t read it. She had to be freaking out on the inside. I would get her alone as soon as I could and explain everything to her. I’d also tell her I was going to fix it.

  As soon as the bell rang, I hurried away before Tucker or anyone could get a hold of me. It was no easy feat. People kept calling her name and I hated ignoring them, but I had to get Harper alone. I found her coming out of the bathroom, I pushed her back inside as the bell rang and locked the door behind me.

  “Abby . . .” She stared at me wide-eyed, my blue eyes traveling up and down my body. “What the hell is happening? Why the hell am I in your body and why are you in mine. Is this some kind of dream?”

  Sure, but my dream was her nightmare. I held my hands up. “Harper, I can explain everything. See, at the carnival I went to one of the fortune tellers. But this one, she wasn’t a phony like the others. She was a real witch. She gave me this little box and said I could switch places with anyone I knew, as long as I put their picture in the box. I chose you because, you’re pretty and popular and perfect, but I swear I didn’t think it was really going to happen. I am so sorry. So, so sorry. I promise, I’ll do everything to track her down and get her to switch us back. I’ll get this all sorted out as soon as I can.”

  I finally stopped talking and prepared for Harper to lose it on me. I waited for her to scream and stomp her feet. I waited for her to slug me across the face and call the police or her parents or the principal or something.

  But Harper didn’t do any of those things.

  She threw her head back and laughed as if she’d heard the funniest thing she’d ever heard in her life. I guessed it was pretty silly and hard to believe but it was no laughing matter. Harper doubled over, clutching her belly. Finally she composed herself and placed her hands on my shoulders. “I don’t believe it. Abby, you have no idea what you’ve done.”

  6

  Huh?

  “Wait, Harper. What do you mean?” Was she really not understanding what was going on?

  She sighed. “It’s not Harper, It’s Abby and don’t worry about the fortune teller. Girl, if you want my life, you can have it.” She unlocked the bathroom door and slipped out, leaving me to pick my jaw up off the floor. Harper must have been in shock. I was sure by the end of the school day she’d be singing a different tune.

  In fourth period, I thought about our conversation in the bathroom. Maybe she was only acting this way because it was new to her. I figured everybody wanted a break from being them, even when you were Harper Granger. After a few days of living my life and seeing how basic it was compared to hers, she would surely be begging me to hunt down that fortune teller.

  Lunchtime was like a whole different world when I was in Harper’s body. Usually it was Quinn, Gunner, and I sitting at a picnic table underneath our favorite oak tree. That day I followed Aria to “our” table in the cafeteria. That’s where Harper sat with Tucker, Aria, Dina and anybody the mean girl clique considered worthy. I didn’t have to go through the line and get my free school lunch like I usually did. Tucker pulled a lunch bag from his back pack. He’d made us a lunch to share. I had no idea he was so sweet. Harper was a lucky girl.

  He handed me half a roast beef and tomato sandwich and he took the other. I wanted to talk to him, but Dina and Aria were going on and on talking about this person and that person. It was all so petty. I half-pretended to listen but ever so often they’d go, “Harper? What do you think?”

  The last time they asked I had completely zoned out and could only shrug. Dina frowned as she peeled her banana. “What’s up with you today? First you forget to pick Aria up and now you’re being a total space cadet?”

  “Uh, I don’t know. I have a lot on my mind with this party. I just want everything to be perfect.”

  They took that sudden change of subject and took off with it. I went back to ignoring them and leaned my head on Tucker’s shoulder. I had to enjoy every second I could with him before I had to give him back.

  When I passed Harper in the hallway between classes, I told her to meet me by the Mercedes. It had been quite a task getting rid of Dina, Aria and the others. Harper must have been exhausted having to do that every day.

  I leaned against the car waiting for her. It was so weird to see myself walking toward me. Somehow, Harper being inside my body, made me look better. She shoved her hands in the pockets of my hoodie. It was totally something she would never wear.

  “Hey, can we go somewhere and talk?” she asked. “I figure since we’re trapped in each other’s bodies, we should give each other a run-down on our daily lives so we more or less know what to do and what’s going on?”

  Jumping into someone’s life was a lot my complicated than it sounded.

  “That’s exactly why I wanted to meet. How about Coffee and Blooms?”

  “Sounds great,” Harper said, heading for the passenger side of her car. The ride was bumpier this time because Harper was making me nervous, but we made it to the coffee shop in one piece.

  “There’s a card in my wallet,” Harper told me. “It has no limit so drinks are on you.”

  It had to be. Thanks to the carnival, Abby didn’t have a dime to her name. It must have been a crushing reality for Harper to go from having unlimited cash to not even being about to buy a pack of gum.

  Harper grabbed us a table and I placed our orders—two small mocha fraps with whipped cream, a blueberry muffin for me, and a fruit cup for her. When I settled down at the table, Harper was flipping through my phone, or trying to. “What’s your code? I haven’t been able to use this thing all day.”

  “Sorry.” I told her what it was, the month and day of Brooke’s birthday. “So, what was it like when you woke up this morning?” I really wanted to ask her what it felt like to have a life downgrade, but I didn’t.

  She stared out of the window. “Well, I laid there for like an hour thinking I was dreaming. I mean who wakes up in a place they don’t recognize in another person’s body? I kept waiting to fall back asleep and wake up again but it never happened. Then I took a look in the mirror and saw that I was you, so it didn’t take a genius to figure out that if I was in your body, y
ou were probably in mine. I got up and dug through your closet for this.” My cheeks burned at the way she looked at my jeans and hoodie. She must have sensed my embarrassment because she added, “Oh, but it’s so comfy and this yellow is so cheerful and bright.”

  “I’m sorry. I know it’s a far cry from your closet.”

  She shrugged. “It’s cool. It was so fast and easy getting ready. Sometimes I don’t want to wake up an hour and a half earlier than I need to, but I have an image to uphold, you know? These people expect a fashion show every day.

  “Anyway, breakfast is a big to-do at my house. You have to be dressed and on time.”

  Yeah, tell me about it.

  “But I just went into the kitchen and made myself some toast. Your mom was hurrying around getting ready for work. She kissed me on my forehead and everything. That was kind of awkward. She seems nice.”

  “She is nice.”

  A server brought our order over. I made circles in the whipped cream with my straw. “What about my sister?” I was worried about how she was going to take this. Brooke was smart, and she would realize that something was amiss sooner or later.

  Harper took a sip of her drink. It was weird for me to watch myself be so dainty. Brooke and Mom would definitely know something was up. “Brooke was still asleep. Your mom told me to wake her up before I left for school. I did but it wasn’t easy.”

  Believable. Brooke was not a morning person.

  I pulled a spiral notebook from Harper’s bag. “So, tell me everything I need to know. I’ll take notes.”

  Harper sighed as if her telling me about her complicated life was going to be a huge feat. “First, you should know that I have plans to meet Tucker this evening at his house after practice. His parents won’t be home.”

  I swallowed hard wondering what being alone with Tucker would entail.

  “You know where he lives, right?”

  “Yeah.” Then I realized that sounded kind of weird. “I’ve known Tucker since middle school.”