Four Versions

9.

‘Oh my gosh, that guy was totally checking you out!’ I laughed and nudged Ari.

She looked behind her and grinned. Her thin arms had six bags hung over them, just like mine had. It was almost impossible to carry all these bags, so it wasn’t a surprise that with every slight nudge or imbalance one of us would almost trip.

‘That dude is totally twice as old as me.’

I looked at her and my smile disappeared. That guy didn’t look older than twenty-eight, maybe if stretched thirty. I realized I had never asked Ari how old she even was. I had just assumed that I would be the youngest in the competition, but that was stupid of me. I stopped walking and turned towards her, the handles of the bags getting tight around my arm.

‘Ari, how old are you?’

She looked down and I could swear I could see a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and then looked up at me. The light color of her green eyes really struck me; it was so intense and I had no idea that such a simple question could bring up so many emotions.

‘I’m fourteen,’ she responded silently. ‘But as you can see I don’t really act like a kid my age. I like to pretend that I am older.’

I was kind of shocked that she still was so young. It seemed impossible for me that a girl that age could already be so privileged to have this chance she has now. She must be determined to do everything in her power to win. That realization struck me, because I knew that she wouldn’t go down. Not even if it cost her life.
Now that I looked at her, I could see it. I could see the insecurity, the delicateness of her age and it reminded me of my sister. How she would always be as delicate as Ari now was. She could use her innocence as such a great asset in the modeling industry.

‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘I’m only four years older than you.’

Ari nodded her head and suddenly the whole sadness in her face disappeared.

‘I know,’ she excitedly said. ‘That is why I befriended you. I had a feeling you weren’t much older than I was.’
I smiled back at her and then we were off to the next store. We might as well buy a shopping cart, since we definitely wouldn’t be able to carry any more of these horrible bags.