Fake Boobs

Chapter Three

Tori

I stayed in my room the next day, watching out my window for the guys to trickle out one by one after sleeping off their hangovers. Kyle was the last one to leave, and by the time his car drove away, it was noon.

My stomach grumbled. I needed to eat. I'd been hiding out in my room all morning trying to avoid going downstairs and encountering any awkward run ins with Kyle or Grant. Though, I didn't have to worry about Grant; his car had been the first one to pull away early this morning.

Thank goodness for Ellio's. I shoved a rectangle of pizza in the toaster oven and watched it bake.

The front door opened and Jeanie walked in, her auburn hair pulled back in a clip and sunglasses sitting on top of her head. Jim ran up behind her and squeezed his arms around her waist, placing a kiss on her neck. She pretended it bothered her for all of a second before squealing with delight. I loved Jeanie. But seriously, I hated her in a completely jealous way. Not that she was dating my brother because, gross, but at how easy life was for her.

"Beach time." She dangled her keys. Her red bikini top showed through her thin white tank top. My brother reached for his sunglasses and wallet sitting on the counter. "You wanna come with us?" Jeanie offered politely.

"No, thanks, I'm busy."

I'd done the third wheel thing a few times before. It sucked. I'd also done the beach/bathing suit thing. It sucked even more.

Bikini. Bikini. Bikini. Bikini. One piece with a t-shirt covering it up.

"You can't be in the picture Tori, you'll just...it just won't look right," Melody motioned with her hand for me to step away from the other girls. "It's a pic of all the girls in their bikinis and you didn't wear one and it'll look weird. Plus I'm posting it on Facebook. Do you really want everyone seeing you look different from everybody else?"

I definitely didn't. I did not want to be tagged in a picture of pretty girls in bikinis as the flat-chested girl with no ass hiding in a one piece. As bitchy as Melody sounded, she was absolutely right. I graciously bowed out of the row of girls linking their arms around each other and stepped away while a hot guy in an orange bathing suit riding low on his hips made the girls pose for endless sexy pictures.

I assigned myself to keeping an eye on everyone's belongings. Someone had to. At the beach, there was always a lot of pick pockets and it was good that I was there to protect the sparkly beach bags containing towels, suntan lotion, cell phones and money.

I lifted up the short sleeve of my t-shirt to a white patch of skin. All day in the sun in a short sleeved tee had given me a farmer's tan. I bunched up the sleeves trying to tuck them up into my bathing suit straps to try to even out the coloring. It was already past four pm. No doubt it was already too late.

That night while everyone wore their strapless sundresses and thin strapped tanks, I wore a gray sweat shirt covering up my grotesque tan lines. The shirt may as well have said – Guy repellant – on it. The rest of that night was spent in the background watching everyone dance around and make-out with random guys and wishing I could be part of it all.

"Are you sure? It'll be more fun if you come." Jeanie tried again, always going out of her way to be super nice to me. Partly because she knew we'd most likely be family soon enough. Whereas I was about to start my first year of college, Jeanie and my brother were starting their final year. I'd be shocked if a ring wasn't sparkling on her finger by graduation.

"I'm sure. Go. Have fun. I'll just stay here and clean up the mess before Mom and Dad come home tomorrow. Someone has to." I rolled my eyes at my brother. Cans, bottles and sticky glasses lined the counters and I could only assume the mess carried on into the backroom.