Nicole: Bra shopping!

For English we had to write a short story on a moment (so something that happens in minutes rather than hours or days) to do with "coming of age" (the extremely tedious topic we've had all year). It had to be more descriptive rather than telling an actual story. It was really hard for me to think of an idea, so I thought back to Lizzie McGuire because it's full of growing up moments. Then I remembered when her mum took her bra shopping, so that's what I did. Here's the story if you're interested!

The agonizing walk of shame through the department store felt as if it were in slow motion. The sound of my heart banging against my chest was all I could hear. It drummed and echoed in my ears. My shoes felt liked they weighed down my feet and I dragged them along the floor.

Each time we passed someone, I thought that it was a face I recognized, and my stomach dropped. Once I realised that it was merely my paranoia, my eyes continued to dart across the store. I could’ve sworn that every other person was sniggering at me like they knew exactly why I was there.

The heater made me feel as if my jumper was clinging to my chest, and a bead of sweat rolled down my face. When we turned into the destination that was my own personal hell, I saw my life flash before my eyes.

I remembered, “seeing the light” when I first came into this world. I remembered my first unrequited love in primary school, and the first excruciating day at high school, with my school dress below my knees. All of the important moments of my life. I remembered when I was eight, and the time my mother found my face smeared with chocolate cake that was meant for my brother’s birthday. I thought my life was going to end then and there by the look on her face. I survived… but this was definitely it. This was the end of me.

I stopped and gulped. My throat was dry.

“Is everything okay sweetie?” Mum put her arm on my back. I nodded. “Oh, this is such a big and exciting day – becoming a young woman!” My mother stood beside me with a proud grin plastered on her face. I cringed in embarrassment.

I stood there for a moment, frozen and mortified. Finally, with the little push from my darling mother, I stepped forward into the bra department.

The frills and lace filled my vision, and the infinite colours made me dizzy. Luckily, there weren’t very many women, and they couldn’t scorn me either because they were there for that exact reason. That still didn’t stop me from bowing my head and stress creating a tight knot in my stomach.

The first thing we passed was the stringy underwear, and my face heated. I knew that I would be as red as a tomato. They were tiny and looked extremely uncomfortable. I wondered then why girls would even bother wearing them…

We turned into another isle and I was bombarded by the biggest knickers I’ve ever encountered. There were rows and rows, and they were a pooey brown, which seemed only fitting for the types of women that would wear them.

Once we passed the mammoth bras that matched the underwear, we rounded yet another corner. I felt as though my mother was doing this to taunt me further, but if I confronted her I knew she’d say it was innocent and all for “experience”. Finally we stopped at the sports bras. My mood dropped further. I thought this was supposed to be a holy, sacred moment in the process of becoming a young woman, and my mother didn’t even want me to get a padded bra like all of my friends already had.

I looked up to see a familiar face, and my nerves almost made me barf. Just when I thought we were safe in the secluded section, my next-door neighbour, who was a year younger than me, smiled at me composedly. She was holding purple bras that were padded. I died... Maybe not literally.

Yay for over dramatic teenage girl cliche ;P. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it so that's why I thought I'd share.