“Well,” Gloria said thoughtfully. “None of us are old enough to drive so I think we’re stuck for now.” Lisa and Ann groaned in annoyance as they gazed at their youthful appearance. “Great,” Lisa mumbled. “Not only am I stuck here while my husband is out of town, I get to deal with my goth sister AGAIN.” Gloria sheepishly looked at Lisa as she went into the living room to watch t.v. “Well,” Gloria said quietly. “I could call a couple of friends to hang out. I’m pretty sure Jackie and Felicia don’t have any plans.”
“Um I don’t know,” Ann said quietly. “I’m not exactly comfortable with any of your friends seeing me like this.”
“She was a geek at this age,” Lisa called from her spot on the couch.
Gloria frowned as she turned towards her aunt. Ann blushed slightly as she lowered her eyes to the floor. “She’s not lying,” Ann mumbled. “I...um...I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up. To be honest Katie’s mom was really the only friend I had. Too bad she was always busy watching Lisa over there.”
Gloria watched as the two teens now glared at one another yet again. “Hey it’s not my fault I was the youngest,” Lisa said defensively. “I didn’t ask to be born last. And she was my best friend too you know, plus she always looked out for me.” Lisa wiped her eyes as she now thought about her eldest sister.
“Ann, mom,” she sighed. “Listen...you two obviously loved Katie’s mom a lot. Why are you two trying to out do each other over who loved her more?”
Lisa and Ann now silently stared at each other before lowering their heads towards the floor and shrugging. Sighing Gloria looked at the young teens. “This is going to be a long weekend,” she thought. “And right now I’m pretty sure I’m the oldest in the house. Maybe...maybe having these two hanging out with some other kids might get them to patch things up.”
“Okay you two,” Gloria sighed. “I’m going to call a couple of my friends. No butts, you two are going to have a weekend like a pair of regular teens understand.” Ann and Lisa stared in shock at Gloria unable to speak, realizing that neither where in any position to argue they simply nodded, watching as Gloria exited the room.
“She’s awfully mature for her age,” Ann said quietly as she looked down at her sneakers. Lisa smiled as she looked up to where Gloria had left. “Yeah Gloria has always been a sweetheart,” she said warmly. “It amazes how well Jason raised her.”
Ann smiled as she looked at the young teen that was her sister. Ann was still coming to terms with all of this as she looked over herself and Lisa. Lisa was dressed in a simple pair of jeans with a bright orange T-shirt. Despite the grumpy look on her face Ann had to admit that even at this age she could turn heads. While much skinnier and a little shorter than her adult self she realized she possessed a larger chest than she did. Sadly Ann looked over her own skinny body, sighing as she realized she would have trouble filling a b cup at this point. “Ugh this is frustrating,” Ann groaned as she leaned back on the couch. “How can you just sit their and deal with being this young?”
Lisa looked over Ann surprised to see her usually confident sister reduced to an awkward young teen again. Lisa watched as Ann now tried to brush her dyed hair out of her eyes. “Ann,” Lisa whispered. “Listen...this actually can be a lot of fun. True usually I have more control over it than this but it can be fun reliving your youth for a little while.”
“Yeah maybe for you,” Ann grumbled. “You were always so confident and popular. Me, well..I was just some dork.”
“I always thought you were cool,” Lisa said quietly, causing Ann to gape at her sister. “Oh get real,” Ann exclaimed. “We we’re constantly at each others throats, how many fights did Kellie have to break up when we were kids.”
“Too many,” Lisa giggled. “But it is true, I always thought you were cool. I mean you were the older sister. Yeah Kellie always looked out for me but she...she was almost like a mom not a sister.”
Ann and Lisa now sat silently staring out the window. “I miss her,” Ann whispered as she wiped her eyes. “Yeah me too,” Lisa said sadly. “I..I always think about her, every time I look at Katie I wonder if I raised her right.”
Ann smiled warmly as she now sat next to Lisa. Although both grown down adults were now shorter Ann found herself just a bit taller than her 13 year old sister. “Hey you did a great job raising Katie,” she soothed. “And your doing a great job with Gloria too. I wish..I wish I was better with kids but I didn’t exactly love being a kid the first time.”
Ann and Lisa laughed softly as the older sister squeezed her little sisters shoulder tightly. “I wish I had been around more when Katie was growing up,” she said sadly. “I was so depressed when Kellie died that I just threw myself into my work. Really regret missing out on so much.”
Lisa glanced over at her sister smiling. “Well you still got time,” she said happily. “And hey might as well make the most of this weekend.” Ann frowned at her enthusiastic sister. “Yeah was kinda hoping to maybe drink some wine or go to dinner, not obsess over the latest boy bands.”
Lisa began to giggle as she excitedly took Ann’s hand. “Ann listen and listen well,” she smiled. “Look I’ve had some experience with this kind of thing before. So for this weekend you and me are not going to even remotely do anything adult. We’re going to enjoy being teens and enjoy ourselves.”
Ann gave her sister a befuddled look before sighing. “Okay fine,” she said. “I’ll try enjoy being 14 again.” Lisa squealed with girlish excitement as she lept off the couch. “Ann trust me on this,” she said happily. “I think you’ll enjoy this. Besides Gloria’s friends are absolute sweethearts, I’m sure you’ll like hanging out with them.”
Despite Lisa’s reassurances Ann had her doubts. “We’ll see,” she mumbled. “By the way, what’s with you? Your acting like a giddy teen.” Lisa waved Ann’s concerns off dismissively as she grinned at her sister. “Yeah should tell you that when you become younger you start acting like that age. Don’t worry though your still you, just well....a little less mature.”
As Ann gave her sister a confused and concerned look Gloria went to answer the door. Pulling it open she could see Felicia and Jackie standing on her porch, complete with overnight bags. “Thanks for coming on such short notice guys,” she said. Jackie and Felicia nodded as they entered Gloria’s home. “Sure no problem,” Felicia said. “So can you tell us what happened?”
Before Gloria could answer Lisa ran into the foyer, dragging Ann behind her. “Hi Felicia, Hi Jackie,” she exclaimed. “This is my sister Ann, we um...kinda got aged down for the weekend but we’re glad you could come over. Just drop your bags down and come hangout. Maybe we can order a pizza later or something.”
Jackie and Felicia gaped at the two grown down adults as Lisa once again dragged Ann back to the living room. “No way,” Jackie exclaimed. Gloria blushed slightly as she looked at her friends. “Yeah hope you don’t mind hanging out with those two,” she said sheepishly. “I think the ring wants them to get closer by bringing them down to our level.” Jackie and Felicia could only stare in shock at Gloria’s mom and aunt. Gloria now had to trust that the ring knew what it was doing as she now held an impromptu sleepover.