The Road Trip

Chapter 33
The Road Trip, Part 33

Part 33

The next outfit instantly made me wish that I could have stayed in the first one.

As I looked myself over in the mirror while wearing the pink tulle skirt and satin white top, all I could think of was how reminiscent it was of little girls running around at a princess party. Granted, the one I was wearing was slightly more classy and grown up in its design, but the girl looking back at me with her pigtails and freckles was nothing at all like the adult image I had of myself. Still, I managed to keep a soft smile and affirm how pretty the outfit was at Kate’s direction.

Showcasing myself for the twins was about the same. I kept up the bubbly/girly attitude the whole time, struck a few poses, and inwardly stressed about the second round of pictures and videos all three girls were taking. It would have been tough enough to steal one phone after successfully glancing over a shoulder to get the password. But three? There was no way. Besides, I was willing to bet Kate was saving them in multiple places, just in case. That was totally her style.

The third outfit was hands down the most ‘middle school’ of them all. It was Kate’s selection; shortalls and a light blue tee. Of all the outfits I had tried, this one was easily the least flattering on my body. My chest disappeared even more behind the layers, and my thighs looked particularly twig-like when contrasting with the thick denim resting around my pull-ups. Kate immediately brought attention to how my pigtails were perfect with an outfit like this. 

“How old are you, Annie?” she asked, turning me away from the mirror to look up at her.

With zero hesitation this time, I smiled and said, “I’m twelve years old.”

“And you’re my little sister?”

“Like, totally!”

Kate just smirked. “And don’t you ever forget it.”

We walked back to the bedroom together, and I did yet another embarrassing runway walk and allowed the girls to take more pictures and videos for their collection. I was most nervous about the pull-ups this time around; since I knew what I was wearing, the bulk seemed super obvious underneath the shortalls. Neither of the twins said anything, however, so maybe it was just me being paranoid. 

Since this was the last outfit, I was encouraged to do a few more poses than before. Every single one of them was complete with a big smile, or sometimes a giggle as I forced myself to be amused at whatever one of the girls suggested. Little by little, it was getting easier to maintain the bubbly attitude, although there was still a healthy amount of internal cringing at the same time. 

When the girls were done playing with their ‘pretty little doll,’ as my sister put it–in that usual way that was lighthearted on the surface, but doubled as a jab towards me–my hopes of finally getting changed were dashed yet again. First, outside the house. And now, while I was the center of attention. “Why don’t you wear this one to mini golf?” Kate suggested, “You look so cute!”

My eyes slightly widened when I realized the implication of her ‘innocent’ suggestion. If I stayed in the shortalls, then how would I get out of the messy pull-ups before we left? “Umm, like . . .” I trailed off. Without giving away the situation I had worked so hard to keep a secret, and while needing to keep the giggly tween facade up, what could I even say in response?? “Okay!” I exclaimed. Maybe it was a test. Kate wanted to see if I could maintain the attitude of her ‘little sister’ in the face of something that didn’t particularly make me want to smile. Still, I couldn’t resist trying at least a little bit to get out of it. “You don’t mind?” I asked Luna and Lilah, in regards to me wearing their old clothes.

“Of course not!” Luna exclaimed, “What’s ours is yours, Annie.”

“Really? Thank you!!” My face flushed at how overly excited I ended up sounding in response. It was mostly because I was trying so hard not to revert back into how Annelise would react to all of this. My instincts managed to push down any lingering frustrations, however, and I leaned into the demeaning role by clasping my hands together. “And I’m, like, so excited for mini golf! It’ll be so fun!” Happy, Kate?

“I can drive,” Lilah said, “Are we good to go right now? Honestly, you and Annie don’t even need to bring anything. I can just pay for all of us!”

I glanced towards Kate, waiting for her to say something. Instead of making an excuse for us to wait a few minutes, she just thanked Lilah and said that we’d pay her back sometime this weekend with another activity. Apparently I was in charge of reminding Kate about our deal. “Umm, can I use the restroom before we go?” I asked. Oh God, I was literally asking for permission. 

“Go ahead, Annie.” Kate gestured to the bedroom door. “We don’t mind waiting a minute or two for you!”

But . . . That wasn’t fair! Even if I had the bathroom all to myself, it wouldn’t be good enough. Kate explained as much on the front porch. There was no way to efficiently clean myself up without a shower or some major wiping, and neither of those things could be done in the time it would take to simply go to the restroom. And then, where was I going to put the pull-ups afterwards? Once again, I was stuck, and Kate knew it.

Was it better to cut my losses? Prove my real age, and suffer the consequences when Kate took that as an excuse to reveal my mortifying underwear situation? My compliance had already resulted in all those pictures. What if going along with this for even longer wasn’t the best idea?

“Okay!” I replied, still with a smile, “Be right back.”

Stepping out into the hallway, I paused a few feet down the hall and listened for Kate. I was hoping she would give a clever excuse to follow me, but she just asked the twins about how school was going for them. Sighing to myself, I put my impulsive plan into action. This was going to be an awful band-aid to rip off, but clearly Kate wasn’t the answer to my ongoing problem. Not when she knew that she was both the only one who could help and also the one who could make things so much worse. 

Padding down the hall, and then taking the stairs to the first floor while hoping the couple of creaks along the way wouldn’t cause anyone to come after me, I quietly walked from room to room instead of calling anything out. Hearing sounds in the kitchen, I turned that corner next and found my aunt chopping some vegetables on the island. She could actually help. We didn’t really know each other, but she would at least know that I was Kate’s older sister. And her daughters would take her word over Kate’s. 

“Aunt Miranda?” I said, flushing when it hit me that my first impression with her would be in my childish get-up. 

“Oh, Annie!” Looking up from her prepping, she took me in for a moment. “Wow, Kate wasn’t kidding. You could have fooled me.”

“Umm, nice to see you,” I mumbled. Instead of broaching the subject I wanted, I found myself distracted by what she said, “And what do you mean? With Kate?”

“Don’t worry, dear. She explained everything. For the record, I think it’s a fun idea! And a really interesting experiment.”

An- an experiment? The pieces weren’t quite coming together, save for the fact that apparently Kate had already talked to our aunt. When?! “Wait, hold on,” I said, head spinning. That’s right. When Kate went down to help bring up the boxes of clothes, she easily could have stolen a minute with Aunt Miranda. “I mean, I’m not- Kate didn’t- This wasn’t my idea!”

“Oh, was it Kate’s?” Aunt Miranda asked, “Either way, it’s fine. Luna and Lilah barely remember you two. And trust me, the makeover is super convincing. You can be twelve all weekend, Annie. Or, at least until you decide to tell the girls.”

I was surprised, to say the least. What was going on?!

Speaking of Kate, her voice sounded from upstairs a second later. “Annie? Where’d you go?”

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