The Road Trip

Chapter 12
The Road Trip, Part Twelve

PART TWELVE

I was really missing the peace and quiet that I had during the first half of the road trip. Almost as much as I missed the feeling of normal underwear between my legs.

And, thanks to the new subject Kate was bringing up, I couldn’t ignore my current predicament. In fact, she was trying to make it worse. Much worse. “So here’s the deal, little sis,” she began. Leaning back in her seat with an idle smile, she attempted to explain. “If you-”

“No.” I immediately cut her off. Kate was out of her fucking mind if she thought I’d even consider something like that. I’d rather let her hold onto my phone for the whole weekend, as much as that would suck. Better than degrading myself with such an embarrassing act. “I’m not wetting-” Once again glancing towards the front, I lowered my voice just in case, “I’m not doing that.”

Kate just rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, Annie. I was kidding.” Was she? It was always difficult to tell when it came to my sister. Either way, I was glad she was moving past it. But, as always, she had something else in mind. “How about this, instead? You haven’t really been hydrating enough today.”

This time, it wasn’t difficult to connect the dots. “And . . .?”

“Drink two bottles of water, and I’ll give your phone back sooner rather than later.”

“What, so I’ll have to pee?”

“So you’ll be a little nervous,” Kate winked, “It’s only two or three more hours, right? I know you’re tiny, but your bladder isn’t that small. You’ll be fine.”

Ignoring the jab about my age, I tried to focus more on the immature suggestion. What was the angle? It’s not like I’d actually wet myself. Worst case scenario, I’d just ask our parents to pull over for a short bathroom break. While they were a little annoyed at how long Kate and I took at the rest stop, my sister and I were both adults at this point. If there was a need to stop, we’d be taken more seriously than when we were kids. 

And yet, this was Kate. I definitely didn’t trust her after the stunt she pulled with the Gatorade, not to mention the way she just ruined my hair and make-up. You’d think that I would learn to not play her games, but now she had my phone. Without that, I’d be bored out of my mind for the next few hours. 

“When will you give it back?” I finally asked. Details first.

“Drink one first,” Kate countered, “So I know you’re serious.”

“Kate-”

“Annie.”

Unbelievable. After two semesters of university, it really shouldn’t have been so easy for my younger sister to get under my skin. But she still knew all the right buttons to push. Every time, I knew that whatever she wanted was a bad idea. And, every time, there was a way where avoiding that thing just led to something more infuriating. Better to face what I knew than to deal with the unknown.

So, without saying a word, I just grabbed the small cooler from underneath my seat. 

Retrieving one of the water bottles from inside, I shot Kate another annoyed look when she said I couldn’t just drink it. I had to chug. Not only was I notoriously bad at eating or drinking anything quickly, but it would be doubly as annoying for something like water that was just sitting in ice. 

The moment I cracked the lid, replying half-assedly that I’ll do what I can, Kate pulled out her own phone. “You have two minutes, or this doesn’t count for anything.”

“Kate, I’m not-”

“Starting now!”

A smarter girl would have refused. There wasn’t that good of a reason to drink the bottle in the first place, as I was begrudgingly cooperating with her conditional task to begin with. She still hadn’t mentioned what ‘sooner’ meant in regards to my phone, and it would have made a lot more sense to negotiate before drinking anything. Or, at the moment, to at least not let her dictate an additional ‘requirement.’

Except I wasn’t the most level-headed at the moment. I was still dealing with the continued awkwardness of sitting in a soaked pull-up, not to mention the excessive padding between my thighs. Then there was the slight tightness in my hair from the pigtails, the knowledge that I was no longer wearing make-up, and the fact that my phone was sitting in Kate’s purse. Too many awful variables, and the only thing I could realistically undo at the moment was the loss of my phone. Everything else was impossible due to being stuck in the back seat of the car.

So, without giving it much thought, I pressed the water bottle to my lips and began drinking as quickly as I was able. Which, of course, was not that quick. The first few quick swallows already made me wince as the cold water rushed through my throat. Pausing to exhale for a moment, I started round two. After what felt like a painstaking amount of effort, my heart sank when I saw that only a quarter of the bottle was gone. This would be a lot more manageable if it was room temperature; even then, my drinking speed would be questionable. 

“Come on, Annie! You can do better than that,” Kate said.

Helpful. 

Shooting her an annoyed sideways glance, as she didn’t speak up until the bottle was pressed to my lips again, I took a few more half hearted swigs. I really was trying, but could only barely keep up with the timer. Kate announced the one minute mark, and there was still half the bottle to go.

Determined to make it at this point, more to avoid some bullshit penalty than to prove myself, I tried to pick up the pace. 

Apparently, that wasn’t enough for Kate. “Here, Annie. Let me help.” 

The bottle was currently tilted up. And, while I was mid-drink, she reached over and gave it a hard squeeze.

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