The Step Sister

"Do you like this one?" Claire asked me. She was holding some foreign object that resembled a grandma's doily.

"Uh, yeah, it's great." I said looking around the mall. My legs were starting to get tired and Claire was only getting started. I was beginning to regret agreeing to go shopping with her. I heard her exchanging money with the women behind the counter.

"You can atleast pretend you want to be here." She said, pushing her golden hair out of eyes.

"I am pretending." I explained, taking the bag from her hand. "Guys just don't belong in these types of surroundings." I wrinkled my nose as we passed a candle and incense shop.

"These types of surroundings?" She questioned. "It's a mall. Don't you shop?"

"No." I said bluntly.

She laughed for a moment before dragging me into another shoe store. She exchanged greetings with a worker. They knew eachother by name, no surprise.

I followed her as she wandered into an aisle of high heels. I saw her eyes light up. "Claire, do you even know what you are looking for?" I took a seat finally on a little stool.

"No, Kyle, I don't. That is the pure magic of shopping. You find things that you didn't know even existed." She a waving motion with both hands. I rolled my eyes.

Three hours and a hundred magical dollars later, Claire was finally done shopping. I walked back to the car carrying multiple bags from lingerie stores that I refused to go in which only made Claire want to stay in there five times longer.

"Kyle?"

"Yes?" I said trying to remember where I  parked.

"What's going on between us?" She stopped walking. Naturally I stopped as well.

"What do you mean?" I scratched my head and looked around the parking lot.

"I meant exactly what I asked. Are we just friends?"

Finally I spotted my Jeep about five aisles over. "Yeah, whatever you say." I said grabbing her hand and dragging her through the parked cars.

We were almost to my car when Claire told me to stop.

"We aren't going back into the mall."

"No, look."

I looked over where she was looking.The parking lot was nearly dark now and most cars were gone. I spotted a boy and a girl who seemed to be arguing. The guy was older than me. He had a half shaved head with a big skull tattoo on the bald side. He was starting to yell at the girl and point a finger in her face. The girl stood there taking it. She was about my age, a lip piercing and an eyebrow piercing. I heard the guy yelling about money missing. He now raised his hand in the air and hit the girl across the face. I felt Claire squeeze my hand.

"Do something!" I heard her say.

I watched as the girl held her cheek but still stood there looking at him. I wished the girl would walk away, move, cry out for help or something, but she didn't. The guy was finished with her after he shoved her against his pickup truck and then told her to get in. She obeyed and within seconds of the truck starting, they were gone.

"Why didn't you do something?" Claire whined.

"What? You want me to hit him with you lingerie bags? He was huge, Claire."

She looked at the ground then continued walking to the car.

I enjoyed the silence in the car ride home, but I think it was driving Claire crazy. She shifted in her seat multiple times. She put her feet on the dashboard, then out the window, then sat cross-legged, and now she settled in a normal position. She hit the ON button for the radio.

"No." I  said sternly, hitting the button off.

She pouted and crossed her arms. I couldn't avoid the question anymore.

"What's the matter?" I asked, knowing I'd probably regret it.

"That girl who got hit, she, she was-"

Claire always got upset over things she couldn't control. I've known her for two years now and she's drove me crazy over stupid things like me not doing the exact speed limit or braking too soon or even resturant food, just because she can't control it. She was a perfectionist and she hated the silence, which is why we were complete opposites. I could tell she was upset about the arguement between the guy and girl only because she couldn't do anything to prevent it, unlike me where I think that it's those people's business and not mine. But Claire needed to know everyone's business.

"- I just don't understand why he would do such a thing. I mean she didn't look like she was harmful, well she did have bad hair, but that's not harmful-"

She went on for the rest of the car ride home. It was silence once again until I got home.