Like Mother, Like Daughters (4)

Veronica didn’t know how Claire could do it. All the sleeping in, the lazing around? After just a week at home, Veronica was itching to get back to her own routine. She had to put it down to their ages. At 23, Veronica had been out of the house and on her own for quite a while. She had a whole life to get back to. Claire wasn’t even 19 yet. She was clearly enjoying school and had made a bunch of friends, but since she was still living in the dorms, Veronica figured it all still felt pretty temporary. Being back home with their parents probably actually did feel like home to her rather than an entirely temporary visit.

All that time away from her childhood home meant Veronica saw everything in a different light. It seemed like there was so much food around, and hardly a break between meals. But then, she wasn’t particularly used to abundance given her less-than-stellar salary and ludicrously high rent.

Where her youngest sister looked to have slipped easily into enjoying three heavy square meals per day, Veronica could only think about how sluggish and slow she felt, how badly she wanted to get back home and sweat her way through practice.

She hadn’t found a way to bring up Claire’s increased (and still increasing, by the looks of it) weight. She knew she needed to do something quickly, though, because it seemed like Claire was losing her self-control by the day. Even after a wardrobe upgrade, she was still filling out her clothes a little too well.

Finally, Veronica just couldn’t stand it anymore. She’d spent days trying to figure out how to tell her sister she was turning into a whale as tactfully as possible. When Claire slumped down the stairs and into the living room, still in her pajamas, Veronica pounced. She gave a loud whistle of faux surprise that made Claire grimace. “Daaang, just getting up at – what is it, 11?”

“Like you’ve never slept in before,” Claire mumbled as she flopped down on the couch.

Veronica sat beside her. “You know, you’d probably have more energy if you were getting out more. Some fresh air, some exercise… maybe cutting down on the food…” She’d added that last part tentatively, watching Claire closely to see how she would react.

“Ugh, stop acting like such a mom. It’s summer vacation!”

Veronica finally said it. “Yeah, and you’re turning into complete fatass just sitting here at home.”

Claire’s jaw dropped. It wasn’t like she didn’t know she’d gained weight, or like she thought her sisters hadn’t picked up on it. and it wasn’t like all three Emple sisters hadn’t been extremely candid about each other’s bodies their whole lives. Still, it had been some time since anyone had spoken about her body so frankly, and it was the first time anyone had pointed out that she was getting chubby. “Veronica! Oh my god, that’s so mean.”

Veronica had a little triumphant smile on her face. “You said it was mean, but you didn’t say I was wrong,” she chirped.

Claire crossed her arms, feeling exposed. The tank top she’d worn to bed showed off her softening tummy much better than she would’ve liked. For a moment, she wanted to argue, or point out that Veronica hadn’t exactly been following her own advice since she’d arrived at home. She’d seen her stranded on the couch in the evenings with a stuffed belly more often than not. “I didn’t,” she acceded. “But like. I’m gonna go back to school, I’m gonna be cheering again, and I’ll be back to normal.”

“Girlie, you don’t go back to school for two whole months. I’ve watched how you’ve been pigging out this past week. You’re gonna be massive by the time the school year starts if you don’t get it together.”

Claire felt deeply ashamed, cheeks flaring bright red. Veronica was right, of course. Claire had made the mistake of stepping on the scale the day before, and she’d already put on close to ten pounds since she got home. It was easy to say it was just because she was comfortable and had been a little lazier than usual, but then she remembered her trip to the mall and winced. She was completely out of control. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“Claire.” Veronica said, her tone chastising. “You stayed skinny for years. You know how it works. You pay attention to what you’re eating, you exercise more.” As she said this, Minnie walked through the room, on her way out the front door. She’d just taken a bite out of the cinnamon bun in her hand. Their mother had made another batch fresh that morning. “And you find a reason to get out of the house to avoid temptation. Because there’s a whole lot of it here.”

“Like what? All my friends ever want to do is go to the mall, and that’s just as bad.”

“Have you considered… getting a job?”

Somehow, Claire hadn’t thought about that at all. She’d pictured a fun summer hanging out with her friends at the lake, walking through the mall, and going to parties. She felt silly and spoiled for not thinking of it before. “Do you think anyone’ll take me when I’m only going to be here until school starts?” There wasn’t a lot of seasonal work in their hometown. Not anything she wanted to do, anyway.

“I’m sure there’s something. I can help you look, too.”

***

True to her word, Veronica spent the next few hours helping Claire find work anywhere she could think of. Finally, they found something perfect: a local insurance office was looking for someone to replace their receptionist before she went out on maternity leave for a couple months. Veronica helped her sister fill out the application, feeling satisfied that she’d done the right thing to get her sister back on track.

Despite her earlier despondence, Claire was ecstatic. The thought of getting a first job on her resume, making some extra cash, and hopefully slimming down a bit all in one fell swoop sounded almost too good to be true. “Do you have any businesswear-type stuff I could borrow for an interview? I think everything I own is either too casual or too fancy.”

They both headed upstairs to Veronica’s old room. Both of them, for some reason, were under the impression that Claire would fit into her older sister’s clothes from high school. This wasn’t a completely wild assumption – Veronica was much taller and had always been more sturdily built compared to her sisters.

Veronica started picking through her closet, occasionally getting distracted by some favorite old dress or shirt she hadn’t seen in years. It took time, but she eventually found some things for Claire to try on: a pale pink button up, and a white pencil skirt.

Claire went into the bathroom to try them both on, and Veronica kept looking through her old clothes. She let out a little exclamation when she found one of her favorite old dresses. She’d bought it for junior prom or something like that, and had always loved the way she looked in it. It was a closely fitted sheath dress with a plunging neckline in the front that nearly went down to her bellybutton. The back of the dress was almost completely open save some fabric ties that laced across the open back like a corset.

Veronica knew better than to try it on. She definitely was not the same size she was when she was a junior in high school. She’d grown a couple inches, and put on some additional muscle. The past week at home hadn’t done her any favors, either. Somehow, though, she found herself putting it on.

It took a lot more shimmying and tugging than she’d predicted. God, had it always been so tight? Even without the ties laced up in the back, she felt herself being squeezed. When she did lace them up, she could feel herself pouring out the back. She looked at herself in the mirror, hoping somehow that she’d look better in it than she felt. No such luck. Between the heavy breakfast she’d had and how much her mother had been overfeeding her for the last week on top of the lack of exercise, she had a noticeable tummy pooch that the tight dress couldn’t help but showcase. She turned, hoping at least her ass would look good squeezed into all that tight fabric. The only saving grace of the dress was that it did. It was hard to appreciate that as the dress’ laces dug into her skin, making her look like she had actual rolls. Rolls! On a pro fucking athlete!

She took one more look at herself and then scrambled to take it off, feeling completely disgusted with her body. As she twisted and tugged at it, Claire came back into the room. “So it looks like it fits. Not great, but definitely fine for an intervie–ooh, Nic, that’s, um…” Claire bit her lip, taking in her older sister. She remembered the dress from years ago. Veronica had looked absolutely stunning in it then. Now, it made her look… well, almost as pudgy as Claire was these days. Not that Veronica actually was – it was mostly just that the dress was too small and no longer particularly flattering. “Do you need help?” she offered tentatively.

“No!” Veronica insisted as she tried to loosen the ties at the back to get some breathing room. God, she felt so fat. Seeing Claire squeezed into her old pencil skirt only made her feel worse. Sure, she was an athlete now, but what if she got hit by their mom’s genes next? It had taken so little for skinny Claire to turn into a little hog. Was that how it would be for her? Would she just start to blow up one day?

She was panicking, tugging at the dress, trying to get out –

And then it ripped. Loudly. The seam along one side gave way, splitting open. Veronica froze. She could feel her body forcing its way through the gap. Nonono, I’ve worked way too hard to be splitting seams, I’m a fucking athlete, I run a five-and-a-half-minute mile, this CANNOT be happening.

But it was. Claire stepped in and undid the laces easily and helped Veronica pull the dress over her head. Even with the rip, it wasn’t easy. It should’ve been expected; Veronica wasn’t a teenager anymore. She was a grown-up who had a body honed to win soccer games. Still, something about it triggered every bad feeling she’d ever had about her body.

She got dressed in her normal clothes and composed herself. By the time she was done, she took a look at Claire. Part of her felt bad for being so hard on her earlier. But after her struggle with the dress, she realized it was for the best. She didn’t want Claire to feel like that, and the best way Veronica knew to avoid bad body feelings was to have an unimpeachably thin figure. The curve of Claire’s stomach pressing against the pencil skirt she’d borrowed only underscored her resolve.

“Let’s go get you an interview,” Veronica said as she grabbed her purse and headed for the stairs.