Curvy Girls Can’t Date Soldiers by Kelsie Stelting

Thirty-Six

Apollo

I readjustedthe tie around my neck, feeling uncomfortable, and then turned to Josh, who was gaming with his new girl. They’d just met last week, but she’d been in our room every day since I first met Nadira in person, battling it out with Josh on World of Warcraft.

“Do I look okay?” I asked.

“Huh?” he said. “Oh, sure.”

I shook my head. “I was asking Carrie.”

The girl sitting next to him turned toward me, her dark, pierced eyebrows raised high. “Do you have to wear a suit? You look a little stiff.”

I let out a groan. “It’s a formal event. She was very clear about that.”

She shrugged. “You should wear jeans. Tell The Man you’re not his puppet.”

“You’re worse than Josh,” I muttered.

“See?” Josh said. “She’s perfect.”

Carrie giggled. “You’ll see how perfect I am when I crush you.” Her tongue jutted out the side of her mouth, and she erratically pushed buttons on her controller.

Josh let out a groan and fell back on the couch. “You killed me!”

She leaned over and kissed him. At first it was a peck, but soon I was turning around, my cheeks and neck and ears getting hot. I hated when they did that in front of me.

Again, I found myself wishing I could video call my mom and double check that I’d done my tie the right way. Instead, I went to my voicemails and listened to the last one she left me, nearly a year ago now.

“Hey, honey, stopping by the store. Wanted to see if you had a preference on taco shells for supper. Soft or hard. But you’re not answering, so I guess I’m getting... salad! Bet you’ll answer your phone next time. Love you! Bye!”

My eyes smarted, and I shook my head. Maybe I’d call my siblings after I got home tonight. After seeing how it went.

Nadira had asked that I pick her up in a limo, and when I told her I could barely afford to put gas in my car, she had seemed disappointed. It was so strange. I never thought Nadira was that materialistic, but she’d simply waved me off and said she would come get me instead. I had about five minutes until she was supposed to arrive.

I sprayed on some cologne, tucked my wallet and phone in my pants, then said goodbye to the lovebirds, who were so enthralled in each other they didn’t even notice me leave.

Nadira and I hadn’t even kissed yet. The thought made my stomach burn as I rode down the elevator. I’d dreamed of kissing Nadira since the first time I heard her voice on the phone. I’d wondered what her mouth would look like as she spoke. How it would look as she smiled at something I’d said.

But kissing her hadn’t felt right yet, and she hadn’t made a move. Maybe tonight, I thought. Although, after our first meeting, I didn’t know if kissing her was still something I wanted.

The elevator arrived at the ground floor, and I glanced at my wristwatch. I still had a few minutes left. I went outside and leaned against the railing that led up to the building, waiting to see the limo pull up.

But six o’clock came, and the limo didn’t arrive.

Then five minutes passed. Then ten.

I got out my phone and texted her new number.

Apollo: Still on your way?

Nadira: Should be there in a few.

I tucked my phone back in my pocket and folded my arms across my chest as I settled in to wait. Hadn’t Nadira and I joked on the phone about how punctual she was? She felt like being late was telling someone else their time was less important than hers, and she would never do that to anyone else.

When the black limo pulled in, it had been more than a “few.” I’d been standing outside for more than half an hour.

I tried not to be irked as the driver got out and made to open my door.

“I got it,” I said, reaching for the handle.

He smiled at me and said, “Thank you, sir,” then went back to the driver side.

It was weird to be called sir. Weirder to see Nadira in her revealing dress, tapping away on her phone.

“He could have gotten it,” she said, not looking up from the screen.

I frowned, settling in a foot or two down from her.

She looked beautiful—any red-blooded guy could see that, with her breasts swelling against the red silk fabric of her dress and her bronze legs crossed through the slit that went up her thigh.

But I couldn’t appreciate the view. Not when her eyes wouldn’t even meet mine.

I swallowed back my disappointment. Maybe she was just nervous. I wasn’t comfortable in my suit, either.

“You look beautiful,” I tried.

She looked up from her phone at last, pinning a smile at me, and said, “I know, right? My boobs look amazing.”

My eyes widened. Had my Nadira just said that to me? Out loud?

For a split second, I was starting to understand why maybe those girls had been mean to her, but I shoved that thought down even further. It was never okay to pick on anyone. Even if they acted conceited when nervous.

Her eyes slid over my outfit, assessing. She gave me a nod of approval, then looked back at her phone.

“So, any pointers for the party?” I asked. Clearly, she was worried about how I would present myself, and maybe I should be too. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of my dad’s work events.” Though, to be fair, I usually slipped out the back of the building to hang out with other kids my age. There were typically at least a few there. Something kept me from telling her that, though.

“Just stay by my side,” she said, barely looking at me. “Act like you’re in love with me.”

At this rate, that was going to be hard.

I sat back in my seat, trying to quell the disappointment racking me. Maybe I had read her wrong. All those messages, calls, had been an act. Maybe this was the real Nadira.

I wanted to get on my phone, to distract myself from this disaster of a night that was only just beginning, but I refused to get on my cell during a date. That wasn’t how I was raised to treat a lady.

We eventually reached an elegant hotel with an elaborately decorated entrance. There were so many flowers, I was thankful it was winter or else there would probably be a bee problem to go along with a shallow date problem.

We walked inside, and a photographer carrying a massive camera took several shots of us. Nadira posed me, telling me where to put my hands, to smile with my lips closed. To tilt my head toward her. I felt more like a Ken doll than an actual human being by the time we walked into the ballroom.

Someone passed by with a tray of tiny food and I reached for some, but Nadira hit my hand. “Don’t eat yet. You might get something in your teeth before we see Galina!”

I pulled my hand back, clenching it in my pocket. I didn’t appreciate being treated like a child getting caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

Nadira led me up to an older woman in a flowing ball gown. She turned toward us, eyeing us both like she was grading our appearance.

“Galina, this is my date, Apollo,” Nadira said nervously.

The woman eyed me even longer. “He’s attractive. But can he dance?”

Nadira giggled. “Of course not.”

She hadn’t even asked. Years of ballroom dancing lessons, wasted. I’d been planning to surprise Nadira with a dance, maybe even ask her to her prom, but I could see now that wasn’t going to happen.

Nadira steered me away from the woman and introduced me to her parents. Her mom looked so young she could have been Nadira’s sister, and her dad simply looked bored.

I shook their hands like my dad had taught me, but her parents quickly dismissed us, and Nadira took me to a table where I was finally allowed to eat. Although, my stomach clenched so tight, just the thought of food made me sick.

“Why are we here?” I asked Nadira. I didn’t know if I could make it through an entire night of this.

“I told you,” she said, an annoyed lilt to her voice. “This is a benefit for the studio where I dance.”

“You dance?” I asked, confused.

She gestured at her body. “Don’t I look like I dance?”

“That’s not it—I just—you never told me.”

“Of course I did, silly.” She batted my arm.

I couldn’t take this anymore. “Nadira, I’m sorry, but I don’t think... I don’t think this is going to work. I can stay here with you as your date for the night, but I think it’s best if we don’t try to force this into being something it’s not.”

A flash of anger crossed her face, but she quickly disguised it with a sweet smile. It scared me a little.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, taking my hand in both of hers. Her long nails stabbed me a little bit as she did. “I’m just so nervous, and you’re so attractive. Will you give me another chance?”

I hesitated, wanting to believe she was different, but I was already so done with this night.

“The state Mathlete competition is tomorrow. It would mean the world if you came to watch me,” she said, making her eyes wide and open, inviting, more like the Nadira I thought I knew.

My heart tugged at the offer. Nadira cared about Mathletes more than anything else. Maybe seeing her compete would give me a glimpse into the real her.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll come.”

Her teeth glinted as she smiled. “Perfect. I’ll see you then.”