The Nothings

Kate (Chapter Fourteen)

  Tabitha went with Kate to find some shoes, and they stopped at all of Tabitha's favorite thrift stores. Kate ended up having a lot of fun. She found a lot of vintage t-shirts, and she found a pair of beat up green sneakers that fit her perfectly. It made her smile to imagine her Mom's face if she knew her daughter was wearing used shoes. 

 Tabitha saw some cute dresses, and she tried to talk Kate into trying some of them on. Kate wasn't a dress person though. She liked her jeans and hoodies. She said she would leave the dresses to Tabitha.

  "Why not?" Tabitha asked with a laugh. "You'd look good in them. You haven't even tried."

  "I don't know," Kate shrugged; her hands in the pockets of her red hoodie that would also need replaced soon. It was getting threadbare too. "I always get self-conscious. I don't want people noticing me, you know? I fade into the background with my jeans and t-shirts. A bright yellow dress is the last thing I need."

  Tabitha shrugged. "Alright. I just think you'd look nice in some of these."

  "I don't know..." Kate looked at one of the cute dresses that looked like something Tabitha would wear. "I just think it'd look weird on me is all. It looks natural on you, but I'm too skinny and tall."

 Tabitha had been so helpful about helping Kate pick out her new sneakers though that Kate decided to play along. It was just a few dresses, after all. She might even find something she didn't completely hate that she could wear when her Mom dragged her to church. 

   They changed together in the changing room which was a first for Kate. Even in gym class in high school; she changed in the shower stall, and she was teased over it. Tabitha didn't seem too self-conscious about it though, and Kate didn't see why she would be anyway. She had a beautiful body. She was far more voluptuous than Kate. Tabitha actually had breasts (unlike Kate) and a thick but firm, pale stomach with three tiny moles that went in a line from her belly button all the way down to her simple white underwear. Kate suddenly realized she was staring at her friend, and she felt her face redden. She quickly changed so Tabitha couldn't see how pale and small Kate was in comparison.

  "See, you look gorgeous," Tabitha looked over Kate's shoulder as Kate looked at herself in the mirror, but mostly at the girl behind her.  Her long, orange hair was tousled messily on her shoulders; clearly static from pulling the clothes over her head so many times. She wasn't wearing the white cat eye framed glasses that she'd been sporting around recently, and Kate liked her better without them. 

Tabitha had beautiful eyes, thought Kate suddenly. They were almost gray in color. Like her last name.

  "I look like Olive Oil," Kate said with a sigh. She hated her legs. They were long, but they had no shape. And no tan since Kate didn't go outside a lot especially during the summer. She hated the sun. "This is why I don't wear dresses."

  "You're tall and thin. That's a good thing! I'd kill to be tall and skinny," Tabitha said. "My boobs always stop me from wearing a lot of the cute stuff I find here. You could fit into anything really. I'd kill for a body like yours."

  "I'd kill for yours," Kate admitted.

  "The grass is always greener I guess," Tabitha said as she tried on a pretty blue dress. "Fuck, I look like a sailor in this one. No thanks."

  Kate ended up buying a dark blue dress she tried on and a few old men's hoodies she found that were too big on her, but she liked it that way. Tabitha had rolled her eyes when Kate picked them out, but she was smiling. 

   Then the two then made their way to their group counseling session. Kate dreaded group even though it really wasn't that bad and especially since she usually went with Tabitha these days. Gia and Sara knew the two were friends and acted as if they were responsible for it. They loved that a friendship had blossomed, and Kate almost hated that something good had come out of group since now Sara had something to gloat about.