'Sister, Sister' is a recurring column about the adventures of real-life sisters Allison (17) and Natalie (15) from Kansas City, Missouri. You can also find them on DartNewsOnline.com, their official high school newspaper.
Over the course of our academic career, the two of us have gone to the same school for nine years. First, we spent seven years together at good old St. Charles grade school, and now we are in our second year together at STA. Attending the same school as your sister allows for a unique camaraderie that is best explained through funny anecdotes, so here goes.
Allison: I think the first thing people assume when they think about sisters going to school together is that teachers get us confused. That assumption is absolutely correct. It was worse in grade school when every student had the same teacher for "specials" (art, music, P.E., computer, library). When I got called "Natalie," I was a little offended because the teachers had had me longer than you, and therefore, I should have held a more special place in their hearts.
Natalie: All teachers always called me "Allison," and after while, I just came to accept it. Unless a teacher didn't like her. In that case, I made sure he/she knew I was a different person. However, I never quite understood why they got us confused. By the time I got to them, they hadn't had Allison in class for two years so they should have forgotten about her by then.
One thing people might not realize is that we rarely ever see each other at school. This was especially true in grade school. We had different lunch and recess periods, and our classrooms were often in different hallways. When I did see my big sis, she tried to ignore me despite the fact that all her friends loved me. Her loss.
Allison: I don't even remember seeing you enough at St. Charles to have the opportunity to ignore you. Regardless, I feel like now that we are in high school our relationship at school has evolved. Interactions between grades are more common at STA than in grade school, so I definitely see you more. My favorite thing about seeing you more at school is getting to know your friends. They are so great and I love 'em, but it's probably awkward for you now that some of them are better friends with me than they are you...
Natalie: Sara-Jessica Dilks has openly admitted that she likes you better than me. But I don't listen to her anyway, so I'm not offended. Besides, your friends always ask about me when they come over. "Where's Natty?" "Where's my favorite person in the entire world?" "Where's my favorite Fitts child?" I've heard them all. By now I've learned that your friends pretend to come over to our house for you, but they secretly just want to see me.
Allison: Except for "Where's Natty?", all of those inquiries were made up. Back to the task at hand though. This year has been interesting because it has been the first time we have had an actual class together. Being in the same newspaper class has been good over all, except for the first quiz we took this year.
For those of you who don't study the job descriptions of every Dart staffer, it is my duty (as print copy editor) to know all of our publication style rules and proofread the paper for errors. When the staff took their annual "style" quiz, I should have done better than anyone because it was over everything my job was about. This was not the case. Not only did I not do the best in the class (no big deal), but I did worse than Natalie (BIG DEAL). She did a whopping 10 percent better than myself. I was the laughingstock of my entire family for days.
Natalie: I don't think any of us ever actually laughed at you, but now we probably will. Anyway, class together is pretty good. However, I also think this has showed a different side of me to my fellow Dartians. The only person I ever get really mad at is Allison. Sometimes this occurs during class and our dirty laundry is aired for all to see and hear. Also, whenever I'm "sassy" to Kate Rohr, she tells my sister on me. But Kate complains about everyone.
Natalie: Hey. I like Kate Rohr and that's offensive.
Going to school together is a lot like staying at home together. Except we're nicer to each other and less strange because other people are around us. However, it doesn't really change our relationship. It just enhances our relationships with each other's friends. Tell us in the comments below about your relationship with your sister at school. Until next time... See ya, sistas!