Tara and her younger sister had never really seen eye to eye on many things. While Tara was older than her, Haley had always been more popular than her with just about everyone—up to and including their own mother, it felt like. Ever since they were little girls, things had always gone Haley's way, and she never really seemed worried about anything. While Tara had spent her life with her nose to the grindstone, worried about grades and getting a good job, Haley had spent hers living without a care in the world and somehow managed to just... wing it. She would go through boys back in high school that were Tara's age... sometimes they were even Tara's exes!
As much as she loved her sister, Haley had always been kind of a brat. So, imagine Tara’s discomfort when Little Miss Perfect waltzed through the front door and registered that the chubby blonde with bad roots, squeezing into her biggest pair of pants and buried under an Ugly Christmas Sweater that made her look pregnant was, in fact, her big sister Tara!
Haley’s expression had to be seen to be believed, all of her pearly whites bare as she did little to disguise the humor she found with her older sister’s expansion as a genuine excitement to see her baby sister once again.
“It's Taraaaaaa!” Haley exclaimed as she held her arms out wide, “Oh it’s so good to see you—I almost didn’t recognize you!”
“Yeah, good to see you too.” Tara cut her eyes as she and her younger sister embraced, trying to will herself to find a way to suck in her backfat as Haley's hand brushed against it, "You look good."
"Thank you!" Haley said in a way that was hard to pin down, but almost certainly snotty, "Charleston agrees with me just as much as... well, living at home does for you! You look good too!"
That was a bold-faced lie and Tara knew it. It had to have been, because she didn't look good. She looked like shit. A fat, washed up Executive Admin from DynaCorp that had to slink back home to the boonies with her tail between her legs after her branch folded to the Yeng Corporation's superior market saturation. Tara didn't even try to hide how sour she felt at that little remark, regardless of whether it was ill-intended or not. The little parting pats that Haley gave her sister over the shoulder made her jiggle beneath the sweater, making her round face get red.
"Oh it's so good to see you two together again." Mrs. West crooned, perhaps sensing the tension and trying to defuse it before a fight could break out (on this, the first five seconds of them all being together again) "Haley, honey, I'm making all of your favorites for tonight. Why don't you and your sister go get comfy in the living room while I finish up lunch?"
Tara's expression grew dour at the thought of forced socialization. Let alone with her sister, who was either willing to lie to her face or tease her like that. But she also knew better than to disobey a direct order from her mama. Regardless about how she felt about Haley, or if Haley really was just making fun of her in her own snide little way, Tara didn't want to risk being the one to cause a scene.
Venturing into the living room, Tara and Haley sat down on the couch (on the opposite ends, naturally) and tried to force small talk.
"So..."
"So!"
"How's um... how's being back in Spartanburg?" Haley ventured, "Run into any old friends?"
"Not really. Most of my friends are married with kids." Tara grumbled, "Or... you know, back in Charleston."
"There are some pretty cool people in Charleston." Haley conceded, "Did you ever make it to the Faculty Lounge? It's this great little bar that—"
"I know where the Faculty Lounge is." Tara rolled her eyes, "... I never got to go that often, but I went on a date there. Once."
"It's a great date spot!" Haley continued, unencumbered (or at least, unbothered) by Tara's reluctance to talk about the place that she had been forced to leave, "I met this guy there—he plays in a band, and we really hit it off, but later I found out he was kind of a creep. So anyway, I'm having the best time living in the city and—"
Tara couldn't help but think that this must have been what hell was like. Listening to her sister talk about how great of a time she was having in the city that she had moved to first, having a booming social life, going out to bars and seeing bands and...
Ugh this was going to be the worst Christmas ever.
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