Chapter 22
“Hey baby!” I felt an arm slip around my waist and turned to my side to see my younger sister, Bridgette. Instantly smiling, I hugged her tight, kissing her forehead.
“Hello my love,” I said affectionately, the love I had for her rushing through my veins. I hadn’t seen her in months and I was beyond glad to have her there. It was a nice distraction even as I heard Henry’s robust laughter coming from the other side of the room. Admittedly, I missed that sound but I couldn’t indulge in that. My love for my younger sister was all encompassing that even my confusion with Henry couldn’t overpower the feeling.
“You look amazing,” she told me and I smiled before tucking her head under my chin and tightening my arms around her again, hoping I wouldn’t crush her but knew better. While she was petite, she was strong due to her resistance training she did as part of being in her basketball team at school.
“Thank you hun. You look amazing yourself.” And she really did. She was a beauty and the only one in the family with freckles like me, though hers lighter.
We caught up on her studies while waiting for everyone to congregate, but the strong aromas of food sidetracked me. It was making me dizzy and the hunger I felt from not eating enough the past few days was giving me one hell of a headache. I wanted to eat till I dropped but as the biggest girl among all the bridesmaids I refused to allow myself to.
“You’ve lost a whole lot of weight, sis. What’s your secret?” Bridgette asked.
The innocence of the question struck me. Her eyes were brimming with curiosity and she had no earthly idea what I had done to lose so much weight.
I braved a smile and pulled her close. “Just, you know, working out. Eating boring foods. The normal way.” I tried to turn it around on her. “Now you tell me how you’ve kept this figure, honey.”
Bridgette had a high metabolism like my mother, and was very athletic, so there’s no surprise how she kept the weight off and barely gained even if she tried.
With a hand on her hip she shrugged and sassed me. “You know it’s just my good genes.”
I laughed and hugged her. “Silly goose. I love you so much and I’ve missed you.”
I did try to keep up with Bridgette, but as one of the more popular kids in her high school with an active life, she barely had time for me. She called me whenever she needed tutoring or advice on colleges or what to do with her life. I was always there for her but I realized not seeing her in a while had affected how I approached things. When I was around her, I had no choice but to be happy and strong and live as I should. She really was the only person I felt I had to do that for. I was there for all her break ups and other issues and made sure her self-esteem was where it needed to be. Maybe it was this pressing fear that she would turn out like me. And maybe it was also the feeling that I wish I’d had that in my life.
But the amount of guilt that tore through me when she asked me how I’d lost so much weight was unbearable. I felt shame and disappointment.
