On the Plus Side (Chubby Girl Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Today was a slow day. After I finished with the new water pump on an old Ford Dad left for me, I gave Lucy a bath. After that, I grabbed a quick shower. Soon, it was noon and I had absolutely nothing to do. After I stuffed a ham sandwich and a coke down my throat, I decided to call Renee. I could use a little afternoon delight.

  I was about to call her and make up a lie about coming home early, when I noticed the napkin with Lilly’s number lying across my dresser.

  Why not?

  It only rang twice before she picked up.

  “Hello!” she sang into the phone.

  “Is this Lilly?”

  “That’s me!”

  “Hey, this is Devin. Can you talk for a few or are you busy?”

  The other line got quiet for a minute, and I thought maybe she had hung up on me.

  “Yeah, I can talk… what’s up?”

  “I know I just got your number yesterday and we have a date tomorrow night, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” I smiled to myself.

  It was more like I was completely bored and there was nothing better to do than sit on the phone handing out fake flattery. Work was work. I might as well have some fun with it. Either way, I was getting paid for this gig, so I might as well do it right.

  I snuggled down into my dad’s big chair. The house was nice and quiet. Jenny was at school, and Dad was out running errands.

  “Oh, whatever.” She giggled. “You’re funny.”

  “How am I funny?” I asked.

  From what I could tell, this chick must never get approached by guys. That was strange considering she was kind of a pretty girl—she’d be hot if she just lost a little bit of weight, but hey, some guys like that kind of thing. I just wasn’t really into that.

  “It’s just funny… Anyway, what are you up to today?”

  “I’m done with work, and now I’m lounging around trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my day. Exciting, huh?”

  She laughed a little. “It could be worse… you could be stuck at a boring jewelry store with me.”

  “Sounds like torture… being stuck somewhere with a beautiful woman all day? Just kill me now,” I joked.

  She giggled uncomfortably. “You’re silly.”

  We talked back and forth for a long while. Continuing our chat after she left the café and went back to work, while she was at work, and even while Shannon, who apparently was her roommate/coworker/best friend, put in her two cents in the background. I realized after a while that I was actually enjoying our conversation.

  She wasn’t like most chicks, all flirty and boring. She actually talked to me and asked me questions about myself. Not the normal, stupid, giddy, female questions, but actual questions about my family and work. It was kind of nice to talk like that. It was comfortable, maybe because I didn’t feel like I needed to impress her. Now that I thought about it, it was kind of strange. I didn’t feel like I was talking to someone I barely knew. We talked like old friends.

  By the end of our three-hour conversation, I learned so many things about her. She talked about her and her mom’s shitty relationship, which was uncomfortable considering I had already met her bitchy mom. She told me about her dad that lived in California and how she never really saw more than his back and briefcase when she was growing up. She told me about going to an all-girls school, which let’s face it… was really fucking hot! The point was, I could tell from our conversation that she was kind of raised alone—no brothers, no sisters, and really no mom and dad.

  It made me appreciate my crazy ass dad and goofy little sister. Yeah, we sometimes argued and sometimes my little sister tried her hardest to make me choke her, but at least we were a family. We were a family who laughed together and worked together to make it through this crazy life. I’d do anything to keep my family’s life afloat. I knew I should feel bad about what I was doing to Lilly, and in a way I did, but I couldn’t regret the fact that doing this was going to pay the bills.

  My little sister came bursting through the door about the time that I was about to hang up with Lilly.

  “Who you on the phone with?” she screamed across the house while the refrigerator door was being slammed. She came busting into the living room with a coke and a bag of chips. “Did you hear me, Dev? Who you talking to?” she continued to loudly yell, while shoving a handful of chips into her big trap.

  Lilly started to laugh through the phone.

  Jenny’s name should’ve been Benny because everything about her screamed male teenager. She was fifteen, soon to be sixteen, and was in the tenth grade. She had long, dark hair that she kept tied up in a low ponytail and big, green eyes that matched my own. When I sat and thought about it, there really wasn’t a girly thing about her. She dressed like a boy, burped like a man, walked like a dude, and fought like a pit-bull. The last part was thanks to me, of course. Even her bedroom was covered with car posters and blue and green bedding.

  “Hey, I’m gonna let you go, okay? My loud ass little sister is home. I’ll be by to pick you up after work tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good. See you tomorrow.”

  I hung up the phone, rolled my eyes at Jenny, and then got up to leave the family room.

  “That wasn’t Renee, was it?” Jenny smiled back at me like she had just caught me red-handed.

  “It’s none of your business, nosey.” I smirked back.

  “Oh my God, you cheater!” She laughed and bits of chip flew out of her mouth. “Thank God! It’s about damn time. You know I never liked that bitch Renee.”

  “Would you watch your mouth? And no, it wasn’t Renee, but keep that between you and me, okay? Seriously, Jenny, it’s important.”

  “Okay, cool! So… when do we get to meet her?”

  “Never!” I laughed as I poked her on the tip of her nose when I walked by.

  “Ah, come on. No fair, Devin!”

  It would never go that far. I would date her, get my money, and then never see her again. Yeah, it would last about three months, but there was no way in hell she’d be meeting my family, especially considering my dad would see right through me and the situation if I ever brought her around.

  Oh well, I had a date tomorrow. It was all in a good day’s work.

  That night, after Dad got home and we ate dinner, I relaxed in my bed and had a sudden guilty feeling. Would I be able to do what needed to be done? Would I be able to lie in Lilly’s face? Most people considered me a heartless bastard and honestly, I kind of made it that way myself. It was, in a lot of ways, my wall. It kept people from getting close to me, which in turn kept me from getting close to people. A psychologist would have called it my defense mechanism. I called it being smart.

  The reality of it was that I wasn’t a heartless bastard. I didn’t want to hurt this girl, and by lying to her and making her think that I was interested in her, I was hurting her without her knowing it. Honestly, she was kind of sweet. I could see me hanging out with her and being friends. Maybe that was why I felt so damn bad about what I was starting with her.

  I barely got any sleep that night. I tossed and turned, and when I finally did sleep, I had horrible nightmares about the day my mom left and never looked back. I woke up at five thirty the next morning, drenched in sweat and hyperventilating. I didn’t even bother going back to sleep.

  By the time Dad came out to the garage to open, I was already mostly done working on Mrs. Bennett’s old Cadillac and had already changed out the tires on Ralph’s new Chevy. Dad stopped in his tracks and stared at me like I had suddenly grown two heads. I swiped at the greasy sweat that was draining down my forehead with the back of my hand.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nuttin’… if you keep workin’ like this, we’re gonna run out of work. We’re already ahead. What’s going on with you? You’ve been acting funny the last couple of days. You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m good. I’m just trying to stay busy. We got to make this money. I don’t know if you forgot, but we got eight thousand dollars
to pay in a couple of months.”

  “No, I ain’t forgot, but you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  I really had to be careful around my dad. The man didn’t miss a thing, and he wouldn’t approve of what I was doing.

  Finishing up around the garage, I headed inside to get a shower and to get ready for the night. I needed to pep myself up big time, and I needed to figure out exactly where I was going to take this chick. She was rich, and I didn’t know if I could afford to take her to the places that she was used to. Hopefully, after this first date, her mom would give me that first installment. That would help a lot.

  I spent most of Thursday afternoon shopping with my mom. As much as I complained about it before, I needed her expertise in finding something to wear on my first official date. I ended up with a very low-cut black top and a sexy pair of slimming, boot-cut jeans. We finished it off with a cute, black necklace that almost touched my cleavage and dangly earrings. Mom tried to convince me to get my hair done, but I refused.

  “Are you going to tell me about him or not?” Mom smiled an unnatural-looking smile as we sat at her favorite ritzy restaurant.

  “There’s not much to tell really. He came into the store. Then I saw him later at the café, and he just asked me out.”

  “Oh come on, Lilly. More than that happened. Don’t you know anything about dishing with the girls about guys?” She laughed.

  “Okay, fine.” I sloshed my straw around in my drink. “He’s really hot, like, super-hot, and he has the most gorgeous green eyes I’ve ever seen. You probably wouldn’t like him though. He’s not rich, but I like that about him. He works at his dad’s garage and yes, he still lives with his dad, but they kind of own everything together.”

  Mom didn’t flinch, which I found extremely unnerving. She should be going on and on about dating a poor guy and how he was probably only after my money. I pushed harder to try and break her silence.

  “He doesn’t wear expensive clothes or anything and if I’m not mistaken, he drives an old car. Like, really old… I think, but money isn’t everything, right? I mean, as long as he’s a nice guy.”

  “Whatever makes you happy, honey, and you’re right, as long as he’s a nice guy, that’s all that matters.”

  I stared back at her like she had just shot fire out of her ass. Something was definitely up. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. Why?”

  “Come on, now. What are you playing at?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Please! By now, you would’ve already been going crazy about me dating some penniless guy and blah blah blah. You know, the usual “we’re rich and above him” comments. What the hell?”

  “No, I know you’re lonely, Lilly, and if this guy makes you happy, then I’m happy. Now, can we please order something? I’m famished. What kind of wine do you want?”

  Maybe Mom was going through menopause or something. I’d have to be sure to Google the symptoms when I got home. I’d never heard her speak so levelheaded. People changed, though, and maybe my mom was going through some emotional ones. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  We ate dinner in an almost-silent state. It was really odd. She didn’t comment on anything except to say that she thought I looked really nice in my new outfit and that I was sure to make him drool. I laughed at that one. Why would anyone drool over me?

  ON DATE DAY, the hours seemed to stand still. I couldn’t wait until he picked me up and took me out. This whole thing was so new to me. It had been way too long since I felt excited about a new development. It was always the same thing over and over again for the last year or so. I was slowly becoming a hermit who only came out for work and the occasional girls’ night out.

  At about six thirty, I went into the store bathroom and refreshed my hair and makeup. Shannon agreed to close up and drive my car home for me so I didn’t have anything to worry about, except looking my best. I was in the middle of applying a fresh coat of lip gloss when I heard the little bell over the door jingle, followed by Shannon calling my name.

  I shoved my powder compact and lip gloss back into my little black purse, patting my hair down one more time. As I walked out behind the counter, Shannon turned to me and mouthed, “Oh my God—hot!” I couldn’t help but smile.

  That was when I saw him again.

  He was leaning against the counter, all sexy looking, with a pair of loose-fitting jeans that hung from his hips and a black Henley shirt. He turned to look at me, and I could swear I saw something in his eyes that said, “Wow.” I blushed and looked down at myself one last time. He held out a single white rose, and I took it from him, holding it to my nose.

  “Thank you… it’s beautiful.” I smiled up at him.

  “You’re very welcome.” His eyes dropped to my cleavage.

  “If you want, I can put it in some water when I get home. That way you don’t have to leave it to die in the car,” Shannon said.

  I handed her the flower and then smiled back at Devin. My very first flower from a guy—you know that bad boy was getting dried and crushed between the pages of my journal.

  “I know roses are kind of typical, but I figured you’ve probably gotten like a million lilies in your life,” he said.

  I chuckled to myself on that one. If only he knew. No lilies for Lilly!

  “You ready to go?” he asked in that creamy, mocha latte-sounding voice of his.

  I know I know! Stop with the food already!

  “Yes, I’m ready.”

  I ran over, closing with Shannon real quick to make sure she didn’t forget anything, and then followed behind him to the door. He held it open for me. As I was passing by, I heard Shannon yell.

  “Have fun, kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, or better yet, do everything that I’d do!” She laughed out loud at that.

  I rolled my eyes and felt my face turn red. Devin chuckled softly to himself.

  On the walk to his car, he placed his hand on my lower back and I suddenly felt like all my skin was melting off my body. The heat from his hand went through my shirt and straight into my spine. It was such a sweet moment in time, and I was kind of sad when we finally got to his car. I felt his hand leave my back as he opened the car door for me.

  “It’s not much, but it’s mine,” he said apologetically before he closed my door and ran around the front of the car to the driver’s side.

  Before he could get into the car, I whispered out loud, “It’s perfect.”

  It was perfect to me. It wasn’t a brand-new vehicle, but it had character and small touches all over that reminded me of him. I had seen enough flashy cars in my life and this, as far as I was concerned, was a real car. Just like my old Honda, a real car, with scratches and dents—a car that had lived, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it was an older sports car, just like I had said before. Nail on the head, baby… nail on the head.

  Remembering the day in the café when he had asked me out made me wonder again why he wanted to take me out. I couldn’t for the life of me see this incredibly hot guy being attracted to me. Me! Large Lilly, the fat girl in class, the loser who hid behind Mommy and Daddy’s money—at least that was what the kids at school used to say. I had to stop thinking these things. I wasn’t in high school anymore. I wasn’t large Lilly anymore. I just needed to remember that… even repeat it to myself all night if I had to.

  After jumping in and starting the car, he turned to me and smiled as he revved the engine. I felt my cheeks heat up, and for a second, I worried that maybe this date was bad for my blood pressure. Lord knows I was feeling a little flushed just looking at his sexy smile.

  “I believe I was correct about the old Mustang named Bertha,” I said as I hoped for a sudden change in mood.

  “Nope, her name’s Lucy and she’s a Camaro.” He smiled sweetly as he caressed the dash of the car like it was an actual female.

  I’d never wanted to be a car more in my life, if that w
as what it took to have him softly caress me that way. I silently wished to be a car—I was big enough to be one. I wanted to imagine myself purring every time Devin got inside me and took me for a ride. Unfortunately, all I could see was me drunk with chocolate smeared across my face singing the Transformer’s intro “Robots in Disguise!” into Shannon’s broken box fan.

  “So, where do you want to go? I was thinking dinner and a movie, but it’s completely up to you if you wanna do something else instead.”

  “A movie sounds fun. I wonder what’s playing.”

  We stood out front and looked at all the movies playing. There really wasn’t much to choose from. There was a sappy chick flick, which I was sure any other girl would choose, but that I had absolutely no desire to see. Then there was the new slasher film that was supposed to be super gross with lots of blood, sex, and action... I was dying to see it.

  “It’s up to you, but I don’t mind blood and guts in case you’re wondering.” I shrugged as I hoped he’d man up and pick the slasher flick.

  There was no way I was going to admit that I wasn’t like every other normal chick he’s been out with. So instead, I just hinted that I’d rather see the scary movie.

  “It’s okay if you wanna see the scary movie instead of the chick flick. To be honest, I’m glad. I hate chick flicks.” He laughed, and I felt myself relax.

  “Yeah, me, too. No girly tears and drama for me.”

  “My kind of girl.” He winked. “Come on, let’s get the tickets.” He grabbed my hand, and I followed him to the ticket line.

  His hands were warm and hard, and they made my chubby hands seem small. I liked the fact that he was so much taller than I was, and his hands were so much larger than mine were. Again, he made me feel small, and I loved feeling that way for once in my life. Callused rough spots rubbed against my soft hands and instead of turning me off, I imagined how nice those rough spots would feel against different parts of my body.

  He paid for the tickets, and then we went inside where he paid for the popcorn and the drinks. I felt awful. Here I was loaded, with more money in my personal bank account than he’d probably make in his whole life, and yet he was paying for everything. I didn’t say anything. He’d probably hate it if I offered to pay. He was entirely too proud for that, and the last thing I wanted to do was make him feel like he was poor or something.