The Faire

Part One

Hideous.

That’s the first word that came to mind when Cassidy saw the costume. 

“What the fuck, Audrey?”

Her younger sister had warned her, along with an apology, but nothing could have prepared Cassidy for what was waiting in her sister’s room. Apparently there was some issue with the order the two of them placed, and she had been sent the wrong outfit. Rather than the hot fairy costume she was excited to rock, Cassidy found herself faced with the complete opposite of sexy. A pink leotard, a pink tulle skirt, sparkly pink wings, and a shiny pink wand. The childish, girly outfit had been laid out on Audrey’s bed, right next to the sexy wench costume Cassidy’s sister had ordered. 

How could anyone working in the costume industry screw up this badly?? Was it just because the word ‘fairy’ was the main label on both outfits?

“Don’t look at me!” Audrey exclaimed. With a hand on her hip, she gave Cassidy a skeptical look. “Are you sure you clicked on the right costume?”

“Of course I did,” Cassidy scoffed, “You were there, remember? I’m pretty sure one of us would have noticed.”

Traditionally, the two of them rented costumes at the Renaissance Faire itself. There was a whole costume shop outside the main entrance, so guests could find something fun to wear before heading in for the day. This year, however, they decided to buy costumes ahead of time. It was only a little more expensive, but worth it because they’d get to keep the outfits forever. Plus there was nothing worse than having to wait in a long line at the end of the day in order to change back into their street clothes and return the outfits. This way, they could simply show up and avoid the hassle of the before/after in the costume shop. 

“It’s fine, Cassie. You can just rent a costume.”

“Cassidy,” she said, correcting her sister. It was bad enough that Cassidy was short and petite, while her younger sister was blessed with all the height and curves. The last thing she needed was her stupid childhood nickname piling onto her youthful features, “And no, I can’t. Then I’d barely have any money left for the vendors.”

It was summer break for both girls. Audrey had just graduated high school, and Cassidy was on summer break after her first semester of university. The two sisters didn’t have much in common. Cassidy was academic and straight-laced. Audrey was the complete opposite. However, they both still shared the guilty pleasure of enjoying all things fantasy. Since it was more or less the only thing they connected on as siblings, and not something their friends really appreciated, they had established an annual tradition of going to the Renaissance Faire together. At first, it was just because Cassidy had a car and Audrey didn’t. Now it was just something they did every summer as sisters. 

The problem was, the Faire wasn’t cheap. While the shows there were free, they still had to pay for general admission, food, and drink. Costumes too, as going in street clothes just wasn’t as fun. And then, for splurging, there were the vendors who sold all kinds of interesting things. 

Cassidy had just finished her first year of undergrad. After paying for two semesters’ worth of textbooks, outings with her friends, and a handful of other things, she didn’t have that much cash to spare. Her parents had already graciously given both girls a bit of summer money to spend, but paying for two costumes would really eat into how much she had set aside for the day and the coming months as well. 

“What do you want me to do about it?” Audrey asked, “If you don’t have the money, then just don’t dress up.”

“Audrey, that’s not fair.”

“Sorry, sis. I’d offer you my costume, but it’s way too big for you.”

“Ugh!” Cassidy groaned. It wasn’t fair. Her annoyance sparked a desire to leave a scathing review on the costume site, but that wouldn’t fix her current problem. She always dressed up for the Faire. Always. Her sister’s casual reference to her size didn’t help her irritated state.

Audrey remained quiet for a moment, glancing towards the two costumes on the bed, then back towards her sister. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt to try it on, Cass,” she said, “You’d look super cute.”

That was exactly the problem. Cassidy hated being called ‘cute.’ She already looked super young for her age, and always put a lot of work into her make-up and outfits to make herself look like the young adult that she actually was. Wearing a pink on pink on pink fairy costume would push her in the opposite direction, visually. She would look childish, girly, and, worst of all, immature. 

“No, thanks,” she said, “I just won’t dress up this year.”

Audrey just shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

With that decided, Cassidy strutted out of her sister’s room with a huff. 

The moment she was gone, Audrey let out an annoyed sigh of her own. Couldn’t her uptight sister just play along? For once? The whole point of editing the online order was so her dear older sister would have to walk around looking like a girly tween all day long. 

It wasn’t a surefire plan. Worst case scenario, Cassidy didn’t get a costume. Since it wasn’t Audrey’s money, it’s not like she had anything to lose if things didn’t go her way. Still, she at least made a decent effort. The costume box in the basement was stashed away where Cassidy would never find it, and Audrey already ‘borrowed’ anything from her older sister’s room that might work as a makeshift costume piece. Since Cassidy was off at college, Audrey had unrestricted access to her older sister's room. When their parents weren’t home, of course. Organized room or not, going to college for a year was bound to make even a Type A girl forget where she put a thing or two.

With all that planning, however, there was still one obvious problem: Audrey couldn’t push too hard on the issue.

So far, she had played her indifferent sister role perfectly. Acting like it wasn’t her problem, offering plenty of alternatives, and ultimately shrugging it off when Cassie didn’t go for it. Her sister clearly didn’t suspect foul play, but she also wasn’t open to even trying the amusingly pink costume on. Yet.

Audrey had one trick left to try. Crossing her fingers, she began changing into the sexy wench costume that would accentuate her own curves so well. 

Of the two of them, Audrey clearly deserved to look like the older sister.

And little Cassie would make the perfect little fairy.