The Road Trip

Chapter 29
The Road Trip, Part 29

Part 29

Our cousins were more than happy to dig through the box of old clothes the moment that I agreed. 

It was pretty easy to tell that they were less excited about dressing me up and more interested in taking a trip down memory lane. They fawned over every other article of clothing pulled out of the box, and occasionally giggled and groaned over some of the not so stylish things they wore in their awkward tween years. Admittedly, I could see a small handful of potential outfits I could see my younger self wearing, but none of them really fit my college look. 

“Hey, Annie?” Kate set the outfit she had already picked out down on the end of the bed while getting my attention. “Earth to Annie. You need to pick one of your own outfits to show off! Need some help?” Not waiting for a reply, she took my hand and dragged me over to the dresser where my clothes had been organized for me. 

It wasn’t exactly the moment alone I had hoped for with my sister, as the twins were right across the room, but it was something. Starting with my distaste for the touchy-feely sister thing, I pinched the back of her hand with my nails while lowering my voice to a whisper. “Kate-”

Right away, she shushed me. 

Despite all the patronizing ways she had already treated me, on top of the lies our cousins believed at the moment, I was instantly frustrated all over again. I hated–and I mean hated–being shushed. No matter the context. It was rude, and insensitive, and never as playful or funny as some girls thought. Which made it all the more obnoxious when Kate was doing it while pretending she was my older sister. 

“No. Listen to-”

“Sssshhhhh.” Kate placed a finger to my lips. It was reminiscent of the way she tapped on the pacifier earlier, and the smirk on her face told me she knew exactly what she was doing. Even though we weren’t close as sisters, she still knew about my little idiosyncrasies. This one included. “Stop being so moody. Do you want my help or not, Annie?”

Swallowing my pride, I gave one of those meek nods from before. Partly because I did want her help, and partly because I wanted this moment to be over before our cousins noticed how I was being treated. 

“Then behave,” she said, “Smile more. Giggle. Act like the little tween you look like, and I’ll help you. Okay?”

I wanted to slap her. Except since she was saying everything in a smug murmur, and our cousins wouldn’t be able to interpret the devious look in her eyes like I could, doing something like that would only make me look like I had no control of my emotions. Instead, I was going to have to look immature in a totally different way. God, I was going to kill her for this. 

Was it too late to run downstairs and beg our aunt and uncle for help? I was too scared of Kate chasing me and yanking down my skirt. 

Pushing an exaggerated and pretty clearly forced smile on my face, I asked, “Like this?” My voice was dripping with sarcasm. 

“Something like that,” Kate replied. She took her hand away from my lips while rolling her eyes. Not satisfied, apparently, she pressed for more. “Now show me your best girly giggle.”

Give an inch, lose a mile. Just like with the pull-ups, I had put myself in a situation where it felt easier to just do what Kate wanted. Otherwise, the smile would have been for nothing. Plastering another fake smile on my face, I gave her my best impression of a ditzy girl flirt-laughing. 

Blushing immediately at the sound I normally wouldn’t be caught dead doing, my smile faded and I waited for Kate’s approval. That was more than enough, wasn’t it?

“God, you’re so CUTE.” Flicking one of my pigtails, she leaned in with that same confident smirk to speak as quietly as she did with some of her demeaning directives back in the car. “Keep it up, little sis. If you can last through the fashion show, maybe we can get you sorted before mini golf. What do you say?"

There were a lot of things that I wanted to say, but I pushed down all of them. “I am, like, SO excited to try everything on!” Disgusting. As a college girl, I had absolutely no idea how to feign being the age Kate was presenting me as. Or that I was presenting myself as, though I wasn’t thinking of it like that. I just kept leaning into the valley girl thing, with some extra pep to sell the immaturity. 

“Much better,” Kate nodded. Finally stepping away and giving me a little personal space, she retrieved a folded white garment from her back pocket. “Now, first things first. Do you know how to put one of these on?”

Fuck.

I had forgotten all about the initial reason she and Lilah had gone downstairs. The training bra in Kate’s hand was meant for me, and there was no way I could talk myself out of it after literally just agreeing to keep up appearances until I made it through all the outfits picked out for me. Plus, the girls were right. Although I was small in the chest department, I still needed something to wear underneath any given outfit. And, since my bras were no doubt stashed away in Kate’s bags, I didn’t really have another option at the moment. 

“Of course I do,” I muttered. Belatedly realizing how quickly the scowl formed on my face to go along with my annoyance, I quickly transformed it back into a cheery smile. Oof, the whole ‘attitude’ thing was going to have to be a conscious effort, especially when it came to my sister needling me. “Like, duh!” I added, giggling almost as a way to apologize for screwing up a moment ago.

“You sure you don’t my help?” Kate asked, “Why don’t you lift your arms? I can get that boring tank top off for you.”

“That’s okay,” I replied. As expected, it was painfully difficult to keep the girly smile going while my sister was clearly trying to make things difficult for me. The last thing I needed was her stripping me right in front of our cousins, even if I could already hear her claiming that we’re all girls and all related, so it’s not a big deal. The only way I could think to get her off my back was by letting her ‘win.’ I took a step back, just in case, not wanting to give her the chance to get a grip on my top. “I’m twelve years old, Kate. I, like, totally know what I’m doing!”

Based on her amused grin, it worked. 

“Oh, Annie, this is going to be so much fun!” She handed me the plain white bra. “Hop to it, little sis. We want to play dress up with you.” With another flick of the same pigtail, she practically skipped away to join our cousins and check out what they were selecting for me to try on. 

I let out a heavy sigh and turned around. My smile disappeared completely, and I mentally cursed out my brat of a sister. After making sure that the mirror in the corner wouldn’t reflect me in the slightest, I reluctantly peeled off my tank top. Facing away from the other three was the most privacy that I was going to get, though I still felt a blush coming on from my temporary exposure. Belatedly panicking at the thought of the pull-ups poking out of my skirt without the top to hide them, I was relieved to see that everything was fine. Except, of course, the fact that I was wearing pull-ups in the first place. 

The last time I had worn a training bra was, well, in middle school. But it was better than being fully topless. Wincing a little bit at the plain white undergarment, as it looked so cheap and boring compared to my stylish and expensive bras, I put it on before I could change my mind. 

Right away, I could feel the problem; it was way too small. While the material was admittedly more comfortable than a normal bra, there was a noticeable tightness around my chest once I had it in place. Adjusting the thing in an attempt to make it better, I gasped at the sight waiting for me when I looked down.

They made me look totally flat.