Twin Swap

Part 1 - LEAH
Long, curly black hair. Almond-shaped green eyes. Raspy voice. Statuesque height. It was always surreal looking at Jade. It was as close to seeing what I really look like outside of myself. A human mirror. “Identical, Paul” Jade confirmed as she struggled with her luggage to the doorman who, like most people when they saw us, did a double-take. I snapped out of it and rushed to her side, taking a bag and throwing it over my shoulder. “You knew that!” I exclaimed and rolled my eyes, leading us into the apartment complex. Paul grabbed the golden handle and propped the door open for us. “I thought it was a myth!” he jokingly shouted as we walked into the lobby. Jade’s eyes widened, “ Do you really not tell people about me?” My stomach sank. It wasn’t like I tried to hide her. It just...never came up in conversation. No one really ever asks about your family in the NYC circles I ran in. It was all about clothes, money, parties, and who you knew. But I’ll get into that later. It was silent as we crossed the marble floor over to the elevator. “Well?” Jade demanded. I pressed the “up” button and bit my lip. “Of course I talk about you... I lied. The reality was, only a handful of people knew she existed. And have yet to see her in the flesh despite her many visits. She looked doubtful and stared at the ground. I felt guilty. We stepped onto the elevator and I talked to our reflections in the mirrored walls, “but don’t worry. you’re meeting everyone tonight.”

Part 2 - JADE
Did I want to spent my first night back in the city mingling with a bunch of NYC socialites? No. Is that what I was doing? Yes. Well, according to Leah, anyway. I was sprawled out on her king sized bed. The mattress felt like a permanent massage and her fluffy, thick comforter felt like a dream. An expensive, indulgent dream. Leah paced the room, clothes covering 75% of the dark, hardwood floor. Her room was huge and made me feel like I was on an episode of MTV Cribs. No matter how many times I visited from Maine, I would never get used to it. The furniture was all antiqued and her window gave her the ultimate view of the skyline. It made me wonder what her….er, our, dad did for a living. A tight, black top flew at me, interrupting my thoughts, I threw it down. “Wear it,” Leah ordered, stepping into black heels. I rolled over from my stomach to my back and groaned at the time. “Isn’t it kinda late?” I asked, knowing full well that 11:00 PM was nothing but early. “Aw, come on. Let’s turn some heads,” Leah grinned. I laughed, but dread still filled my chest. I picked up the black shirt and while I could appreciate the cutouts and silky material, I could never wear it. I watched Leah apply mascara at her vanity and took in her outfit. She was wearing a lacy black bodycon dress that showed the right amount of leg while still looking classy. It was expensive, and she fit the look. Despite physically being the same, I knew that I would never actually look like Leah. “Stare much?” She asked me, mascara face still going strong. I sighed and headed to the bathroom to change, “Alright, let’s go out.”