Curvy Girls Can’t Date Soldiers by Kelsie Stelting

Twenty

Nadira

Apollo:Happy Tuesday.

Nadira: You mean Sad post-sunderday.

Apollo: We haven’t decided on a name yet.

Nadira: You mean you haven’t decided.

Apollo: Uh-huh. What are you up to?

Nadira: Just finished homework. Hanging out on the couch and watching TV until my brothers get home from basketball practice.

Apollo: How late do they usually stay out?

Nadira: Well, practice ends at 5:30, but they usually stay longer to work on free throws. They have a friend drop them off here around 6 or 6:30.

Apollo: Do your parents work late?

Nadira: Depends on the day. Mom loves her job, so usually. Dad stays pretty busy during basketball season. What about you? Were your parents home most of the time?

Apollo: My mom was. She made it to every one of my games, videotaped them even. Now that I’m in college, I appreciate her more than ever. She always made the best breakfasts for us, and dorm food just doesn’t compare. Dad worked late a lot, but he was usually home before I went to bed.

Nadira: Is she talking to you yet?

Apollo: Nope.

Nadira: I hate that.

Apollo: Me too. So we should talk about something happier.

Nadira: And you call yourself a pessimist.

Apollo: Just not a masochist. :) How was school today?

Nadira: Oh, you know... One of my friend’s YouTube videos went viral, overheard the mean girls talking crap about me in the bathroom, got an A on my calc test. The usual.

Apollo: I don’t even know where to start with that.

Nadira: You’re saying you’re surprised by the A? Oh ye of little faith.

Apollo: No... I just... what did the girls say? I’m so sorry.

Nadira: It’s nothing I haven’t heard before. Called me fat. Said no guy would ever be interested in me. That scientists should put me in a lab...

Apollo: Nadira, that’s awful. I don’t understand why anyone would say that about you. You’re beautiful. And definitely not fat.

I read the words again, then put my phone down, tears stinging my eyes. This was my chance. I could send him a picture of me and let him know who I really was. That I wasn’t some skinny girl with flawless skin. I was a freak. And people were right when they insulted me that way.

I began typing out the message to tell him. To put this farce to an end before it went too far. But then he sent me another message.

Apollo: Call me. 555-0213. I’ll take your mind off it. :)

I stared at his number, then stood up and put my phone on the couch, staring at it like it was a viper.

Maybe it was.

What would happen if I took this relationship with Apollo out of text? Would hearing his voice make it real? Could he hear my fatness in my voice? Was that even a thing?

But my heart longed to talk to him. To let him comfort me from the things Tatiana and Isabella had said. Apollo was quickly becoming my favorite distraction.

I took a deep breath, tapped on his phone number, and called my pen pal.

It only rang a couple of times before he picked up and said, “Hello?”

I didn’t know what I’d been expecting, but it wasn’t the twist in my stomach at his voice, which sounded as warm as melting chocolate and as strong as steel.

“Hello?” he said again, and I realized I’d been clutching the phone so tightly to my ear I’d forgotten to speak.

“Hey,” I said, suddenly self-conscious of how the words sounded coming out of my mouth. Would Apollo be as entranced by my voice as I was by his?

He chuckled low, and if I thought I liked the sound of his voice, his laugh was even better.

“You sound just as beautiful as your picture.”

The words lifted me up before pummeling me to the ground. He thought Tatiana was beautiful, but my voice was too. For a moment, I wondered if there was a chance he could find the real me beautiful as well.

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

There was a pause, and he chuckled, which made me chuckle in return.

“I guess I’m not as good on the phone as I am online,” he said.

I smiled, thinking he was completely wrong. “You did promise a distraction.”

“True,” he said. “What are you watching on TV?”

“An old episode of Survivor.”

“Survivor?”

I paced on the living room carpet. “You seem perplexed.”

“You just don’t seem like a Survivor person.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not. Sometimes I like to watch reality TV to make myself feel better about my life. They’re sleeping on sand out there. My bed looks way better in comparison.”

“That’s brilliant. You should give life advice,” he said with another laugh that warmed me from the inside out.

“I have plenty of it, just none for myself, apparently.”

“You and me both,” he said. “So I have an idea for the next time you hear those girls being mean.”

I trailed my toe in a circle on the carpet. “I’m all ears.”

“Punch them in the face.”

I laughed out loud; the answer was so unexpected.

“Bet they won’t run their mouths anymore,” he teased.

“Yeah, and I won’t be valedictorian either,” I retorted. “I never get in trouble.”

“So you’re a good girl?” The flirty undertones in his voice made butterflies take off in my stomach.

“You could say that,” I replied softly.

This. This is what had been missing from my date with Josh. There was something about Apollo. The way he spoke, the words he said, that took me completely off balance in the best possible way.

The front door opened, and Carver and Terrell ambled inside, crashing into each other. Terrell saw me first, a grin spreading on his lips. “Is that lover boy?”

Carver began making kissing sounds.

“Apollo, I’ve got to go,” I said. But before hanging up, I added, “Call me tomorrow?”

“You can count on it.”

I couldn’t wait to hear his voice again.