Curvy Desires

Kevi Six Years Ago I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled at how I looked. Of course it was unusual that my two best friends and I were asked to senior prom by three of the hottest guys in school just a few days before prom and they just happened to be the guys who we had been crushing on since middle school. At first we were surprised because they all just happened to be part of the football team who along with the other cool kids namely; the cheerleaders and the other jocks that had always teased and made fun of us. But I believed that there was always a chance for people to change. And as my grandmother always said “good things come to good people”. I turned as I noticed my two best friends in the world Gabrielle, Gabi for short and Carmen emerge from the bathroom wearing the dresses that I made. We silently looked at ourselves in the mirror scarcely believing we were going to prom with our dream guys. I admitted that we might all have been of the chubbier side but being called the TT for the way we looked and the fact that we were as close as triplets was still fresh on our minds. I looked at the clock, snapped out of our trance and we hurried downstairs. We were just on time for our mothers to take endless pictures of us. Our dates finally arrived in a limo and we took some more pictures. After our mothers warning them to keep their daughters safe we headed off. The ride to the school was silent as we each tried to contain our excitement. If we weren’t so caught up in our fairytale we would have realized that our dates weren’t even half as excited as us, in fact they looked like they were waiting for a long ordeal to end. Finally we arrived at the school and we all climbed out and headed towards the gym. Immediately we entered the room all eyes were on us and the room was filled with whispers. We thought that it was just mumblings of jealous girls, if only we knew. As soon as we saw the smirking face of Jenn Harper we knew we were in trouble our ‘dates’ had joined the other members of the football team who were all looking at us with amusement and anticipation. As soon as Jenn started talking silence fell in the room. Even the dj stopped the soft music that was playing in the background. “Well, well, well it looks like the TT, what does that stand for again? She asked no one in particular. She answered her own question, “thunder thighs, thunder tummies or thunder trio?” After saying this she smiled her evil smile as the football team shouted that it didn’t matter since we were all those things. “Can clean up nice.” She said after sending them a sharp look to tell them who was in charge. She continued her torment. “Tell me did you have to start eating for one person instead of two to fit into those dress or did you just take curtains and bed sheets wrap them around you and let them be sewn while you wore them.” At this point the entire student body present started laughing at us. I could barely hold in my tears not only did she insult us, she insulted my dresses I had worked so hard on to design. Looking at Gabi and Carmen who looked close to tears as well, I grabbed their hands and we turned to leave. But unfortunately, Jenn wasn’t done with us as we were leaving, she snapped her fingers and two members of the football team took the punch and dropped it all over us. It was beyond embarrassing and hurtful. I still remember crying until a kind classmate offered us a ride home. As much as our moms wanted to press charges and report them to school authorities, we stopped them. We went through the rest of senior year with snickers and whispers following us everywhere. Finally it came to an end we moved, permanently. I guess I should explain how I got so lucky as to live with my best friends and their awesome moms. Well I guess I should explain our different histories. I’m half American, half Native American. My dad was an American police officer who fell in love with my Native American mother who was a therapist for trauma victims at the precinct where he worked. They got married and had me. Gabi is black American with a half Indian mother, I guess that made her one quarter Indian. Her dad was an abusive deadbeat who continued to harm her mom until a neighbor called the police. That’s how she met my mom, Anna. My mom was her therapist, when she lost her house due to debt she and Gabi came to live with us. And finally Carmen, she is a Latina, half Spanish and half Italian. Her father was my dad’s partner in the force. But now they’re both gone, they gave their lives to save a little girl stuck in a shootout between two gangs. They were heroes but I would rather have them here than their names on some medal of honor. Carmen’s mom, Lola owned a bakery and Gabi’s mom, Elise was a preschool teacher. With my dad dead Carmen and Nina moved for us to support each other and to share the cost of living in a big house. After finishing high school we moved from Miami to New York to attend college and chase our dreams. But mostly to leave a place that reminded us so much of the pain we all endured. College was pretty much the same as high school just that we all lost the baby fat leaving womanly curves and hourglass shapes. And we stood up for ourselves against any bully and stood our ground. But we still remained focused on our education that our parents were suffering so much to pay for. After four hard years we graduated with honors, I in fashion designing, Gabi in event planning and Carmen from the culinary institute. We were ready to take on the world. We worked while in school so after graduation we took the money that we had saved and bought a three story building. I had my boutique on one floor, Gabi had her event planning firm on one, and Carmen had her restaurant and bakery on the other. With time, due to our hard work we had our own mini mall. Most of all our businesses supported each other. Most people hired Gabi to plan their special events, especially weddings. Got me to design their dresses and got Carmen to cater for the event. Now that we were settled, our moms started pestering us to go out and meet some ‘fine young men’ as they put it. If only it were that easy, in the past month I’d gone on dates with six guys and all of them were jerks. Of course each one had a special way of ruining the date and any chance of a relationship. The first one Brent was a plain womanizer whose eyes had wandered for the entire duration of the date. He had openly flirted with our slutty waitress whose boobs were practically ready to jump out of her shirt. She had the audacity to write her number boldly on his napkin. I finally had enough and walked out of the restaurant fuming. The second, Ashton was a plain sexist who spent the whole date complaining about how women should stay at home and pop out children like a balloon. I didn’t even wait for dinner to arrive before leaving. The third, William the third, ironically was a spoilt rich boy who came from a very influential and stuck up family. He complained about everything about the date, including my attire. I just couldn’t stand it and I finally snapped and threw the expensive wine he ordered all over him. The next was Steven, he was a mama’s boy plain and simple. As if him using our time to describe how awesome his mother was, was not enough halfway through the date his mother appeared asking if she were late. I simply told her she was right on time and hurriedly left. Eric’s case was special, he seemed pleasant enough and I stayed for the whole date however when the cheque came he insisted I pay for my meal. I paid but decided he was too stingy for my taste. As if these experiences weren’t bad enough Charles was even worse. He had the audacity to tell me to lose some pounds then he could manage to sleep with me if he imagined I was someone else. That really angered me and I punched him and stormed off after adding a slap for good measure. To put it plain there were very few men out there who appreciated a woman with curves. It’s not as if Carmen and Gabi were having any better lack. We decided that if we couldn’t find men to love us just the way we are we could just adopt. It was better than turning into weird old cat ladies. But deep down inside, I knew that we all wanted that deep love that we saw in movies and read about in books. It just seems like it will be harder for us to find the Cinderella fairytale especially if all our frogs didn’t turn into prince charmings. I signed as I heard the bell chime in the distance alerting me of a new customer. I closed the door behind the last customer of the day. I took the elevator down and saw Carmen and Gabi waiting for me in front of my car. We live in one apartment building, next to each other in fact, so we normally carpool to save money, spend some time together and make the environment a little less polluted. Tonight being a Friday was our movie night. It was a tradition we started in middle school and we kind of grow up with it. It was probably also because we rarely went on dates. “Tough day?” Carmen the most talkative among us asked. “You know it.” I responded. Gabi just kept quiet and gave me a sympathetic look. We all entered my car and we drove home. On the way home we saw a long queue at the new club; Destiny, I guess it’s because its opening night. Most of the women there wore dresses that I could only dream about wearing even if I design it myself. It is tough being a plus size girl even if no one says it out loud it feels as if when you enter a room everyone is judging you. And most of the time you’re found lacking. It’s either that or you’re so worried about all your flab showing especially when you’re wearing a form fitting attire and your stomach is showing. I’ve actually sucked in stomach for an entire dinner party, except when we were sitting and the table hid it just to avoid the stares, it hurt like hell but I had do it. I had forced myself on more than one occasion to eat bland salads when on dates and with company, it was either that or eat as little of the food as possible without offending the host. Sometimes it feels as if every time I try to eat in public everyone starts staring at me and whispering. I know it’s only in my mind but I’ve lost my appetite many times because of it. I can say that has happened to both of my friends too. At this rate I don’t see any of us dating. I’m not saying there are not men out there who appreciate a woman with curves it’s just that they want curvy women that are confident and bold. From the way I see it I’m at a double loss: I’m plus sized and insecure. It’s going to take a miracle for a guy to notice me. Well a decent gut at least. In the meantime I have my friends, wine and romantic comedies to look forward to tonight. Let the party begin I thought. years ago