“Why the hell are you out here?”
Meredith rolled her eyes, avoiding eye contact with her sister.
“Can’t I have tea?”
“Yes, there’s plenty of it at home. You know that.”
“Maybe I just wanted to get out.”
“Mer it’s fifteen degrees. No one wants to get out. Hence everything’s closed.”
“Not the mall, which is where I was going to eat before you interrupted me.”
“If that’s your way of shutting me out and telling me to go home it’s not gonna work.”
Payton walked back to her car and opened her door on the passenger side. Meredith gritted her teeth and clenched her jaw as she got into her sister’s car. Warmth immediately blared in her face and she rested her forehead on the window and closed her eyes avoiding any possible conversation with her sister.
“Why’d you go out?”
“Payt! Please. It’s Christmas.”
“And I’m supposed to what? Wait until tomorrow to talk to you?”
“No, you’re supposed to respect the fact that I don’t want to talk to you by not pressuring me with questions I don’t feel like answering.”
“Fine...Fine.”
Payton gripped the sides of her steering wheel and focused on the road, trying to ignore the terrible vibe she was getting from her sister. Payton didn’t know what the hell happened with Meredith but she knew that college had changed her and not for the better. Meredith was always very open with her sister; they talked about everything. Now that she was keeping something from her, it bothered Payton. She noticed that Meredith hadn’t been herself for a very long time and Payton was trying every outlet to figure out what was the issue. Keliah always replied that nothing was wrong; that it was just Meredith being Meredith and Gabrielle hadn’t even returned a single phone call. Meredith refused to talk to her, so Payton continued to guess until she could ooze the problem out of her baby sister. Maybe she was having boyfriend trouble and was too shy to talk about it with her. Either way, Meredith shouldn’t keep things bottled up inside of her.
***
Payton pulled into the parking lot of the mall and walked around her car to open the passenger side door. Meredith reluctantly reached for her sister’s hand as they walked inside the mall together. The affluent stores had lines wrapped around the buildings as the customers impatiently waited. Meredith and Payton walked past them and into the food court. Payton ordered food for herself and her sister while Meredith grabbed a seat at an empty table in the middle of the mall. Payton walked over to the table with two trays and sat in front of her sister as she watched her eat. She parted her lips, as she opened her mouth to speak, wanting to say something but filled her mouth with a grilled pastrami Rueben instead. She knew she needed to give Meredith time to cool off from whatever the hell was making her heated. Payton didn’t want to invoke an argument by starting a conversation Meredith wasn’t ready for. Wiping the sauce that rested on her bottom lip, Meredith realized her sister was glancing at her, more like gawking, but pretended not to notice and continued scrolling through her phone. After the two sisters finished eating, they got up, threw away their trash and walked throughout the mall. Payton led Meredith into Victoria Secret and was immediately greeted by one of the exuberant saleswomen.
“Can I help you ladies with anything?”
“Yes, I have an appointment.”
Meredith folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure Payton was the only one who made appointments made for these kinds of stores. There was no need for an appointment to figure out which floral design you wanted printed on your ass. Meredith was more of a briefs and sports bra kind of girl. All of that flowery shit was really unnecessary.
“Name?”
“Meredith Compton”
Meredith’s eyebrow quickly jerked upward and she stared at her sister.
“Pardon?”
Payton turned around to look at her sister and whispered, “Mer, I think it’s about time you get fitted for a bra.”
Meredith’s lips curled faintly in response. Her sister was such an ass. Chuckling to herself, Meredith followed the saleswoman in the back into the fitting room.
“I just need for you to remove your shirt and bra, then we can measure.”
“Um,”
“Don’t worry. We’re all girls here.”
We’re not all straight, though.
Meredith bashfully pulled her sweatshirt and bra over her head and avoided contact with the saleswoman as she folded her arms across her chest this time to cover herself.
“So what is your current bra size?
“Small, I guess.”
“O-kay…I’ll get my measuring tape.”
Meredith looked over her shoulder and saw that her tan lines were starting to fade. She popped back and forth on her heels impatiently waiting to have something clothe her chest. There was a knock on the door and Meredith let the saleslady come back in.
“Arms up.”
Meredith stuck her tongue in her cheek thinking of ways to get Payton back as she held her arms high. The measuring tape was cold and Meredith had to do everything in her power not to flinch when a thumb pressed underneath her
