On September 18, 2018, I asked a question on my Instagram, “Apex students, who is our biggest school rival?” With forty replies, I was surprised by the response.

I did not know what to expect. During the next twenty-four hours, the only responses I received were for Apex Friendship High School and Cary High School. Even though Cary was our first big rival, I knew Friendship may trump the vote, which it did. Friendship reigned over Cary by sixteen votes. Why is Friendship our biggest rival now when it has been Cary for so long? I went around Apex and asked the students for their opinions.

Junior Claire Page says, “Friendship went to war with us, and Cary started becoming rivals with Athens, so we started leaning towards Friendship more. We also know so many people at Friendship, and we argue with them about who is better.”

Senior Erin Hobbs adds, “They’re our new rival because they took our name and try to say that we’re not the real Apex, and that gets people heated. Cary people are chill and easier to beat at sports, so we don’t really care about them anymore.” So it seems that Apex and Friendship know they are each others rivals. Others said we hate them because “they’re new”, “they’re the fake Apex”, and “they have our name”.

All of the interviewees had similar answers, and no one was opposed to the question.

With Friendship opening in 2015 and Apex in 1970, there is a huge difference in culture and traditions. With Friendship calling us “Laura Duncan” two years ago (at the old school), it does not help that now we are at a new school, adopting the name “Green Level High School”. Just last year, they finally had all four grades in their school. This gave them an advantage; they have improved in various sports, and many students are finally able to drive themselves to school, leveling out the playing field. This definitely will affect Apex’s future in sport championships and school spirit.

As we finally get to move into the new Apex High School next year, will the traditions and culture of Apex High School remain the same? Will we still have more of a rivalry with Friendship versus Cary? Time will tell.

Are we sure Friendship will affect us though? Will the traditions and culture of Apex High School help us push through the arguments? Will Cary convince us to fight harder against them? Hopefully this school year will finally answer our questions and give us the results we want.