Leap of Faith

Day Three

Weekends were my downtime days and I loved nothing more than chilling out in my room, catching up on old re-runs of Felicity and just being in my own company. I relished days like this and seeing as this was the first Saturday of 2015, I couldn’t wait to snuggle up and eat my weight in Ben and Jerry’s.

At least, that’s how my day should have gone. Instead, I was sitting in Elizabella’s Bridal living out my worst nightmare in slow motion. I was currently in bridesmaid’s dress number seven and still Libby was nowhere near happy with any of her choices. She pursed her lips at the sight of me and Anna in long, flowing pink chiffon and scrunched up her nose.

Having seen this look more than once this morning, Anna and I step off the podiums and head back to the dressing rooms, where another near identical dress was waiting to be tried on. I slipped off the dress and hung it back on the hanger, frowning at the next dress.

“So, Cate,” I heard Anna’s voice from the dressing room next door. “What’s new with you?”

“Nothing,” I lie.

My sister’s and I weren’t close and I very rarely opened up to them. Libby and Anna were close in age and shared a lot of experiences, but as the surprise baby, I had always felt a little left out. What could I talk to them about? They had their own lives away from Hastings, their own careers and their own boyfriends. I had none of those.

“You sure, Cate?” Anna checked. I could just picture her giving me her ‘I’m your big sister, tell me everything’ look, but I wasn’t about to give in. “You’re quiet, and I meant that in a you’re-quieter-than-usual kind of way.”

Out of both my sisters, I think Anna is the one who knows me the best. Anna’s a psychologist and she loves to analyze me, and she’s really good at it. I used to think that I was a closed book and unreadable, but Anna knew every inch of me. A subtle change in mood, or words used or unused in conversation, the clothes I wore… to Anna all these were signs that I was either doing really well, or on the verge of a breakdown.

“Anna, I’m-”

“Fine?” My sister finishes my sentence for me. “You know, you say that but everything else about you screams that you are not fine.”

I groan. “Anna, can you not?”

“What?” She says in that high pitched, faking innocence kind of way. “I’m just saying that something is up with you and I intend on finding out.”

If there’s one thing about my sister that you have to understand it’s this- she’s really stubborn. With Anna, once she sets her mind on something, that’s all she can focus on. My situation has suddenly become this big mission for her, and it’s not one she’s going to give up on lightly.

I slip out of the dressing room and wait for Anna to join me.

“How about you concentrate less on finding out about my life,” I suggest to Anna. She perks up at my challenge and smiles. “And try to find a way to tell Libby that pink is not our color.”