Heather always had a hunch for whatever was going to happen in her life. She somehow knew what would make people happy, how she could succeed and what to avoid. Heather woke up one morning feeling fabulous like always but with a slight back pain. She quickly ignored it figuring it was from cheerleading practice the previous day. A text messaged beeped and it was from her boyfriend Brad of two years, wishing her a good day and how he cannot wait to see her at school. After getting ready for school, Heather walked downstairs and was greeted with breakfast on the table and a hug and kiss from her parents.

“How did you sleep, sweetheart?” her father asked.

“Great, beside the pain I have in my back… I think I’ll get a massage after school today with Clara.”

“Anything to get you ready for the season,” Heather’s mom said.

“Thanks! Well, I’m off to another beautiful day hopefully starting out with an A on that physics test.”

“Good luck, we’ll see you home for dinner and invite Brad!”

“Will do, love you both.” Heather got into her beamer and cruised away.
The bell rang and kids slowly poured into the class room. Late, an unfamiliar girl walked into the room with an unwelcoming laughter from her peers. This girl was not typical looking. Her hair was dyed black and she was wearing a catholic school girl outfit gone wrong. She was uniquely pretty but it was hidden with an orangey complexion foundation and bunched mascara. Heather, being senior class president, greeted this new girl with her infamous smile.

“Hi, I’m Heather Jameson. What’s your name?”

“Yaaa… Hi, I’m Cynthia Tepper. I’m new and not adjusting so well as you can probably tell.”

“Oh don’t worry about those kids. Majority of them just starting make eye contact with the opposite sex.” Cynthia chuckled and Heather felt compelled to make her feel welcomed at school.

“What are you doing tomorrow after school? I think you should come over and we can talk about how to adjust to here. And you can meet my best friend Clara!”

“Sure, that sounds good. I’ll see you then… Th-thanks.” Heather ran up to Clara and Brad at lunch and told them the good news about taking a new girl under her wings. Clara was skeptical but figured she would give Cynthia a chance because she was sick of being bossed around by Heather and now Heather’s mind was on other things. Thinking about it the rest of the day and night, Heather fell asleep, feeling good about the days to come with her new project.

The next morning, Heather woke up earlier than usual completely uncomfortable. She figured that it was just because she didn’t get a massage the day before. She ignored it for a second time and went to school. She spent the day with her new friend Cynthia and learned everything about her. She became more and more intrigued with the idea of making her popular. Heather knew the transformation had to go through so that Cynthia could try out for cheerleading. Cynthia figured she had nothing to lose, so she went along with it.

“So this afternoon we will take you to Gina’s Salon and they will work their magic.”

Cynthia nervously muttered, “Whatever fine with me.” Heather still hadn’t seen much of Cynthia’s personality in front of people so she decided they would go to a party later that night. Heather’s jaw was sore by the end of the makeover from smiling so much. Cynthia looked phenomenal, a completely different person. The night quickly rolled around and the second Heather, Cynthia, and Clara walked into the party, people stopped and stared.

The rest of the night consisted of nonstop talk about Cynthia. Heather’s back was still bothering her and she was overpowered by another feeling that she had never felt before. After several hours or drinking, dancing, and laughing the night ended with Heather back in her bed passed out cold of exhaustion. She was so pleased that she had impacted someone’s life.

The next day was cheerleading try outs and Cynthia felt well prepared. After 2 hours of double back hand springs and blisters, the cuts were made. Heather was surprised to see that Cynthia made it.

“Thank you so much, Heather! I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I feel like a completely different person. We are going to have so much in common.”

“Yeah… congratulations. I’m surprised! Those try outs are tough. I didn’t even make it my first year…” Heather embarrassingly admitted. All that day, Heather’s friends surrounded Cynthia and could not keep the conversation off of her. Even Brad was somewhat ignoring Heather. She then realized what the weird feeling she felt the night before at the party was; jealously. It was such a unique feeling that it overwhelmed her. She always had the attention on her and now there was someone else who could possibly become more popular than her. Heather couldn’t believe what she got herself into. She went home that day feeling sick and stayed home from school the next day. Her back pain grew worse and worse and she figured it was just because the stress that she had been going through. She ignored it once again and relaxed the rest of the day.

Heather, along with the rest of the school, was relieved that it was Friday. It meant that they had two weeks for Christmas break. When Heather arrived at school from being sick, things were different. She could not pin point it most of the day until her boyfriend walked towards her. She was so happy to see him even though she never got a text from him saying good morning. Cynthia then appeared and they were both walking side by side in a daze with each other and passed Heather, skimming her right shoulder.

She couldn’t believe what was happening. Heather’s friends were fascinated with Cynthia, the cheerleading team admired her, and her boyfriend was starting to fall for her. Heather wondered how the new girl that she took in as a favor could completely steal her identity. It was as if everyone forgot about Heather. She went home from school that day in another panic. Absolutely hysterical, she looked in the mirror and screamed at herself. After staring in the mirror for over an hour with, her mascara was stained on her face. She couldn’t look at herself anymore and slowly turned around to fall asleep with depression. In the corner of her eye, she noticed something. There was a knife sticking out of her back. Heather always had a hunch for what was going to happen in her life. The back pains were just getting worse and worse. She finally understood why.