chapter 7

Amy still had all the disdain of a fat kid for exercise. She hated feeling out of breath and the prickle of sweat on her skin but the subtle curve of her stomach outlined by her tight lycra vest spurred her on, pushing her to run faster.

She paused for a moment outside the pharmacy to get her breath back and rubbed the stitch that was beginning to burn in her side. She certainly wasn't as fit as she was when she left London.

As she stopped to pick up some toothpaste, shampoo and a few other things she was running low on she became aware of the dark haired girl behind the counter regarding her curiously from behind her thick, black rimmed glasses. She was wearing a plaid shirt and skinny jeans under her white lab coat.

"Good morning," the girl behind the counter said smiling at her.
"Yeah, hi." Amy said.

She barely looked at the girl, her eyes distractedly scanning a display of gum on the counter.

"Can I pick up this prescription for my mom?" Amy said, handing the script over.

The girl's smile brightened as she read the name on the prescription.

"Hey, you're Daniel's sister, right?"
"Right."

She looked at the girl's face properly for the first time but she didn't recognise her. Vainly, her eyes darted to the name tag on her lab coat: Cassie Simmons. It still didn't ring any bells.

"It's OK if you don't recognise me."
"Sorry. Am I that obvious?"
"You were pretty much done with high school by the time I moved here."
"I just can't imagine Daniel having any girl friends in high school. Those guys were such dorks."
"I did get the feeling he and his friends were just stoked to hang out with someone with boobs," Cassie laughed.

Amy found herself smiling at the way Cassie's nose crinkled when she laughed and noticed for the first time that she was kind of cute.

"Your brother is cool though. Half those guys wouldn't believe that I understood what they were talking about because it didn't involve makeup or shopping but Daniel didn't feel the need to mansplain the rules of Dungeons and Dragons to me."

"Well, I'll tell him you said hi."

The most contact she'd had with her brother in the past year was getting her secretary to send him a card when his son was born.

Cassie went to the back of the shop to find Mrs Miller's prescription then bagged up the rest of Amy's items.

"That'll be $23."
Amy reached into the pocket of her shorts. "Oh shoot, I think I only brought a twenty so I guess I will sacrifice the shampoo."
"Come on, don't worry about it," Cassie shook her head.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really."
"Thanks..."
There was an awkward pause between them.
"I still want that twenty though."
"Oh, of course," Amy handed over the bill with an embarrassed laugh, feeling suddenly flustered.
"Have a nice day," Cassie said.
"Yeah, I'll see you around."

The middle child of six, Cassie was used to being forgotten. When she was younger it used to bother her that teachers could never get her name right or the way shop assistants and waiters would stare through her as if she was a ghost. One of her most vivid memories from childhood was being locked in the library overnight because the librarian had forgot that she was there reading quietly. But as an adult she learned that there was power in being the invisible girl. When people didn't realise they were being watched they let their guard down and you got to really see them. Right now she saw that, despite being dressed for a workout, Amy was going into the bakery on the other side of the street.