The Road Trip

Chapter 28
The Road Trip, Part 28

Part 28

“KATE.” Head immediately swiveling in her direction, as it was obvious that she must have found a chance to loot through my other bag, I demanded, “Give my stuff back!” Not just my wallet, as she also still had my phone from earlier. As in, the only other thing that could efficiently showcase my real age. 

“What stuff?” Kate asked, feigning innocence and a healthy dose of confusion, “Lilah and I literally just got here. Maybe Luna moved your things?”

“Just her clothes,” Luna shrugged, “Annie, please calm down. What are you missing?”

Groaning and throwing my hands up, while also resisting the urge to scream at the phrase ‘calm down’ when I had every right to be pissed off, I narrowed my eyes at my sister. “My wallet, and my phone.”

“Annie, what are you talking about?” Kate cocked her head to the left, “You don’t get a phone until you turn thirteen.”

“Kate. Enough.” Doing my best to sound serious and stern, I kept my gaze on my sister. “Tell them the truth. Right now.”

Kate just rolled her eyes again, along with a sigh. “The truth? Okay, Annie, here it is. If you want to pretend to be an older girl, you should probably aim for a more believable age. I mean, for real. Nineteen? Look at you!” Approaching me with no warning, she took my hand and gave a sharp tug. I nearly tripped from how many body was abruptly swiveled to the left, and the bulky underwear made me stumble a little thanks to the way I couldn’t fully walk properly. A moment later, I was standing beside my sister in front of the dressing mirror in the corner. “Are you really trying to tell us you’re a college girl, sis?”

I gasped at the sight before me, and the girl next to my sister in the mirror matched my expression. Holy shit. I DID look young. It’s not like I wasn’t aware of my youthful features, as I saw my freckles and not that impressive chest in the mirror every morning, but there were two new pieces here that were really hurting my normally mature image–the pigtails, and the fact that Kate was right there to contrast me in every way as my ‘older sister.’ The one saving grace I had left was my clothes, but even the skirt/tank top combo was something casual I had put on for the drive rather than one of my nicer outfits.

“Umm,” I muttered. Still staring at the girl in the mirror looking back at me, I knew right then and there that nothing I said was going to make the twins believe me. At best, I looked like a young fifteen year old, but I had already been stuck with ‘twelve.’ This was going to be SO embarrassing when they finally learned my real age; now I was caught between somehow proving that I was a college girl, or letting Kate win and playing pretend for a little while longer. 

I went with that latter. Once I was out of the pull-ups and my sister had less on me, I’d put myself back together and convince our cousins that I just wanted to see if I could fool them. Taking ownership of the lie would make it less embarrassing. Hopefully. 

Kate beat me to the punch this time, however. Giving me an almost imperceptible smirk in the mirror, she turned us back around to face the girls. “So how old did you say you were, Annie?”

Resisting the impulse to take a breath for bravery, as well as the urge to glance away and add ‘shy’ to the list of ways our cousins saw me, I went with the most straightforward option. “I’m twelve years old.” Then, rolling my eyes with a forced smile, I added, “Want me to prove it? My middle school ID is my wallet.” The wallet my brat of a sister fucking took. 

“Pretty sure they believe you this time, sis,” Kate giggled, “Now, come on. I’ll help you get sorted with one of these training bras, and then we can all go play Mini Golf.”

Mini Golf? I turned to Kate in surprise. But that would mean . . .

“It was Lilah’s idea!” she said. Barely even looking at me, or acknowledging the fact that an outing would even further delay the shower and clean underwear I so desperately needed, Kate walked over to the plastic box she and Lilah had walked into the room with a few minutes ago. Popping open the lid, it didn’t take long for her to find the small stack of training bras. “Perfect. Oh, maybe some of these clothes will fit Annie, too. Her wardrobe is so blah.”

Excuse me? I narrowed my eyes at Kate, but there were too many girls in the room for the annoyed silence I had hoped for.

“Blah, how?” Luna asked, “There were some cute clothes in her bag.”

Fucking ’thank you.’

Kate just shrugged. “I don’t know. It just always feels like she’s trying to be all grown-up. You never wear anything fun and bright, Annie!” Finally talking to me, rather than at me, she pulled out a sky blue t-shirt with a pink flower centered a few inches below the neckline. “How about this? I know you love blue.”

Yeah, like regular blue. As in, the kind that looks good with red hair. Not the kind of shirt that I literally remember old classmates of mine wearing in early middle school. “No, thanks,” I replied. It had taken enough energy to claim my ‘real age’ with a smile on my face, but I wasn’t about to pretend I liked all the things a tween girl would allegedly like. “My clothes are fine.”

“Tell you what, sis,” Kate said. Pulling a pair of jean shortalls from the box as well, she held up the shirt to make it a combo. “Why don’t you pick out one of your outfits, and we’ll do a little fashion show? Luna, Lilah? You two should choose something for Annie to try. Four choices total, and we’ll vote on the best for her to wear!”

Wait, what? I didn’t agree to that. And I had never worn shortalls before. Even when I was younger, I thought it was an immature look. But no matter what the twins pulled from their box of old clothes, Kate was basically setting up a situation where she would get to see me in a bunch of outfits they had worn when they were smaller. Plus she had already taken a picture of me when I spilled that drink all over myself. This would be yet another photo opportunity.

‘Oh NO.’ My heart began racing when I thought about a bigger problem. I was wearing two pull-ups that had a considerable sag on top of the original bulk. My current skirt was long enough to hide them, and the shortalls would probably be thick enough to mask things as well. But what if one of the twins picked out something that didn’t work with my ongoing, mortifying situation?

Suddenly, Mini Golf sounded a lot better in comparison. “But-”

“That’s a great idea!” Luna exclaimed. “It’ll be like shopping, but without those pesky price tags. Besides, Lilah and I have great taste. I’m sure you’ll like at least some of our stuff, Annie.”

Based on what Kate had found so far, I wasn’t so sure about the claim. Their current ensembles were good, to be fair, but this was older stuff. Less fashionable stuff. And the last thing I wanted to do was be their little doll while feigning that I was a tween. “No, let’s do Mini Golf,” I countered, “Before it gets dark out.”

“Oh, they have lights over there,” Lilah said, “We can go whenever.”

Crap. 

Kate brought it home. “Come on, Annie; loosen up. How about this? If you step out of your comfort zone and try on a few new things, I’ll help you with that favor you were asking for earlier. Then again, you’re a big girl. I’m sure you’ll figure it out on your own!”

I could feel my cheeks flush as she hinted at the humiliating secret I was determined to keep. While it wasn’t a threat to let the other girls know, the reminder of that possibility was enough to make me more open to the suggestion currently on the table. Plus the only ‘plan’ I had so far was to wait until everyone else was asleep, so I could shower and dispose of the used pull-ups deep in the garage trash can. However, that would not only require a bit of risk in an unfamiliar house, but also meant that I would be stuck without a change for hours. If Kate had a better idea, I was all ears. 

“What favor?” Luna asked.

That tipped me over the edge. “Fine, whatever,” I said, “I’ll try on some outfits.”

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