Free the Nip

Gloria, my sister, walked into the kitchen this morning and declared that she needed a new bra. My mother looked up from her breakfast then over to me with a grin plastered on her thin face.

"I'll take both of you to Target after I finish eating."

"But mom, I want to go to Victoria's Secret! They have a sale going on their spring collection, and I could get new thongs as well!"

"Maybe next weekend-"

"The sale will be over by then," Gloria whined and made a silly gesture as she stomped back into her room.

A couple of hours later, my mother loaded us into the van, and we drove to target. Gloria took the front passenger seat and sung pop songs the entire way in a nasally pitch.

We parked as far away from the door as possible because our mother wanted me to get a bit of exercise. I weigh less than she does, yet she still calls me fat.

"Mom, I want ice cream!"

"We'll get whatever kind you want after we get everything else."

As we wandered down the aisles with our cart that had a wobbly wheel, it kept veering to the right. I had to fight with it all the way to the clothing department, where it knocked over a stand of socks. My mother glared at me as if I did it on purpose, so I cleaned it up before she said anything.

Gloria found the bras and started picking out the pinkest ones that she could find. I went to the sports bra section, hoping to find a compression one that could shrink them a little.

"Mom, I want these and maybe that purple, but I think I like this red one more what do you think?"

"Get them all, that way you have some variety."

I went into the change rooms and tried on the two bras I found, but only one fit me comfortably. When I put it into the cart, my mom pitied it then told me to grab another one. Gloria dropped five bras in and a couple of matching thongs and begged to be allowed another set.

"I'm going to get the fruit and veggies, you can get the pasta, and Gloria, you can get your ice cream. I'll meet you in the snack aisle for school lunches."

We separated, and I kept my hood up when I saw some kids from my school in the grade above me. Once I grabbed the macaroni and sauce that my mom wanted, I walked to where we agreed to reconvene. Gloria was flirting with some guy, and my mom was encouraging them when I arrived.

I took the list and pushed the cart little ways down to get away from the spectacle. A guy who had a crush on me winked as he walked past me into the next aisle. Thankfully my mom didn't see that.

The rest of the items on the list weren't hard to get, and when I got back to the aisle, I saw Gloria give the guy her number. We walked to the checkouts, where we started loading out stuff on to the empty conveyer belt.

Once my mom finished paying, she started looking over the receipt as I loaded the bags into the cart.

"This is less than I expected. Great choice, Glo, on pralines and cream, but wait, what's this," she stopped at the next item. "It's just a number, what could it be?"

My mom started going through the bags, and Gloria helped her.

"I don't know," Gloria shrugged as she put some lipgloss on.

"OH MY GOSH, IT's YOUR BRA SAM! HAH-ha, oh, I cannot believe it, it's the only one without a name," she held my bra up to the receipt.

Heat burned my cheeks as everyone turned at my mom's exclamations. My mouth went dry when I saw the guys from my school rounding the corner. They stopped and stared like everyone else, and my heart was pounding when that guy who liked me joined them.

Forget this I dropped the bags I held into the cart and walked out of the store.