(This is a story someone commissioned me to write, names have been changed for privacy.)
"Heeey girly!"
The moment I heard that squeal I knew it was Sarah running up to me in the mall. I mean, the echo of her 4-inch heels is always bound to give her away, but I looked up from my phone and saw Sarah bouncing towards me. Bouncing because, well, it's not only her brunette curls that have a lot of bounce in them. I couldn't help but notice how much cleavage she's showing right now! I quickly shoved my phone in my pocket and closed the distance between us.
"Sarah! I'm so glad we could meet up today, it's been too long!" We both laughed, knowing it's only been a week since we last hung out.
"Hey Grace, did you have trouble finding us?" I looked behind Sarah to see my other good friend Courtney rolling up.
"No, I was just making sure my boyfriend knows where I am, I couldn't remember if I told him we'd be at the mall." Courtney gave me a face, she's not a fan of my latest partner and doesn't try to hide it.
"Come on guys, just give him a chance!" I looked at Sarah, hoping maybe she'd back me up.
Sarah just gave me a tight-lipped smile and shrugged, "let's check out the new thrift shop that opened."
Courtney rolled her wheelchair around, "it's an antique store Sarah, I've told you a hundred times!"
Sarah laughed, "what? Is there a difference?"
I let out a small huff but followed along, not bothering to butt into their argument on the way to the shop.
The antique store wasn't out of the norm for our local mall, but it was surprisingly void of customers.
"Courtney, I thought you said this was the grand opening." I looked at Courtney but she seemed unconcerned.
"I'm sure it'll get busy later, it's only noon." Courtney gave us a smile, "besides, I'm happy we beat the crowds, look at all that stuff!"
Courtney rolled into the store and started eyeing everything like a maniac. Sarah and I just rolled our eyes at her and followed along. They must not have set up their lights completely because the store is still a little dim, it's honestly hard to tell how old anything is in the poor lighting. Sarah ended up finding the sales clerk and talking them up, as predicted. She has a gorgeous body and knows it. Even on our girl's day out, she has to wear her shortest shorts and a low-hung top, it's like she's trying to show us up all the time!
"Find anything yet?" I almost jumped out of my skin but turned to find Courtney had snuck up behind me.
"Uh, no. Not yet." I gave out a weak laugh but finally just let out the sigh I had building up.
"Why don't you like my boyfriend, Courtney? I know there's a reason." I couldn't meet her eyes, too ashamed to know the truth.
"He just... doesn't seem to treat you like you deserve."
"I bet if you had bigger boobs he would treat you right!" Sarah almost doubled over laughing at her joke while she sauntered over to us.
"Sarah!" Courtney roared.
"Just kidding! You know I love you, Grace!" Sarah pulled me in for a hug but I felt my eyes pricking up.
"Yeah, it was funny Sarah... Anyway, I want to find a gift for him, let me look a little more."
I don't want a gift for him, but it was the quickest way to get out of Sarah's embrace. Away from her perfect boobs and perfect ass. Away from Courtney's sympathetic eyes and petite body. They both look so much better than me... My eyes started trailing the nearby table of golden trinkets when they landed on the centerpiece. I know it was dumb, but I could help but let my finger trail across the cold metal. It was shined to perfection, probably the only item in this store that was getting any light on it. My finger didn't even leave a mark on the golden piece.
I wish my boobs and my ass were bigger than Sarah's...
"Ooh, what'd you find Grace?" Courtney came up to me and I instinctively grabbed the trinket before either of them could claim it.
"It's the gift I wanted."
"You wanted an old oil lamp? Like from Aladdin?" Courtney looked concerned, and my grip tightened on the newly found treasure.
"Yes. Yes, I did. It's, um, our favorite movie."
Sarah was right behind Courtney and piped in, "I mean that's cute, right?" She and Courtney locked eyes and then started laughing at me.
"Look you guys, it could be magical for all we know. Who are you to judge?" I thought this would sober them up but they only laughed harder.
"Magical? For real, Grace?" Courtney gave me an unconvinced smile.
"What are you gonna wish for? A butt-lift?" Sarah was laughing so hard at her joke that even Courtney joined her.
"I didn't say it was magical guys, but you never know. Look, it's what..." I flipped the item over but found no price tag, "probably a few bucks, I'm just gonna get it."
They didn't say anything more as I stormed over to the store clerk. He didn't seem sure about the price so he found a similar gold item from that table that was twenty dollars and gave it to me for just as much.
I let him bag it and then turned to get the girls.
"Wish granted."
"What was that?" I turned back to the clerk but he was already looking at his phone. Whatever, I walked away and the girls and I left the shop in silence. I ended up being the only one to buy something.
The quiet didn't last long, and as usual, Sarah was the one to break it.
"Okay look, it's almost swimsuit season! I think we should go try some on!" She looked at Courtney and me expectantly.
"I don't know Stace- I wasn't prepared for that..." Not that there's anything I need to do to prepare, other than maybe lose twenty pounds.
"Yeah, same, that's a lot of work." I looked to Courtney, at least she had an excuse and Sarah might let her out of it. She doesn't have good use of her legs and would need us to help her change outfits quickly.
Sarah didn't miss a beat though, she linked her arm in mine and proudly boasted, "that's what Grace and I are here for- teamwork! Whoo!"
If I wasn't linking arms with her, I'm one-hundred percent sure Sarah would have done a kick like in her old cheerleader days. Well, I guess we can't back out of it now.
All the mannequins on display looked identical to Sarah like she was the mold for their bodies. Their plump chests filled out the sexy bathing suits like they were lingerie. My grip on the plastic bag with the lamp tightened as I eyed the figures and walked into the store.
Sarah quickly made herself at home, grabbing swimsuits left and right to try on, all very skimpy bikinis and tops. Meanwhile, I followed Courtney around, ultimately we stopped near the one-pieces.
"What do you think? Too flashy?" Courtney held up the black singlet to her body, it was a very modest piece, only having one opening in the design to show off some extra cleavage.
I let out a small chuckle, "come on Courtney, you know that would look great on you!" I'm always surprised by how conservative Courtney can be with her body, she's so small and while she's the least curvy of our bunch, she still has a nicer sized body than I do.
"Okay, okay, I'll consider it." Courtney tried to hide her smile but I think she's excited to try it on.
I finally started to take the search more seriously, I found a one-piece and a couple of two pieces that were just my size and very flattering. I looked over and saw Courtney and Sarah were still deep in their search so I snuck over to the dressing room to try and change alone, not ready to be embarrassed in front of them just yet.
I slipped into the changing room and quickly stripped down to my panties. My eyes avoided the mirror until I put on the one piece.
I cringed at the sight, my stomach was still poking out in this swimsuit! No wonder it was so hard to pull up over my legs and butt, I've gained more weight than I realized recently.
I opted to try on the two pieces, thinking maybe my stomach would be less obvious without the fabric stretched over it. I could barely pull on the bottoms but I double-checked the tag and they're supposed to be my size.
"Damn it!" I went up a whole size in just a few months. I wanted to cry but the only thing that kept me sane was how good the top looked on me. It almost looked like something Sarah would wear, a cute white top with a small cherry pattern on it. It looked bigger on the rack, but now with it on, it covered little more than my areola. I could see the bottoms digging into my skin, which made the whole look a little less flattering.
The banging on my dressing room stall snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Grace! Let me in! I wanna try these on with you!" Sarah was twisting the handle repeatedly to no avail.
"One second!" I ripped the top and bottoms off, not wanting her to comment on my sizing. I only had time to throw my shirt on before she got more aggressive with the door and I let her in.
"Jeez, having a party without me?" Sarah bustled past me and began to hang the armful of items on a hook.
"I'm done trying stuff on, I can let you have the dressing room..." I started to put the items back on their hangers until Sarah grabbed the one swimsuit I hadn't tried on yet.
"Omg! This is so cute, are you gonna get this?" The swimsuit in question was a ruffled red two-piece, but being that it's the same size as what I just tried on I knew it wouldn't fit. I didn't want to tell Stacie that though.
"Oh, uh, no it's not my color."
"Please, I wanna see, you're totally lying!"
I knew she wouldn't let it go so I just obliged her. I pulled my shirt back off and put on the swimsuit top, this time I struggled with the clasp in the back, I really had to pull on the straps to get them to reach.
"That is your color Grace, you have to get this. Now the bikini!" Sarah handed the bikini to me and I just sighed, I got it over my legs but this one was even tighter on my ass, I could feel the fabric stretching to its limits.
