~BBW, Romance – shy guy manages to break through with a great gal
(Author's Comments: When I first thought up this story, I initially had a much different idea of what it was going to be. It was going to be a lot like the other stories I've written. However, a new idea took hold of me as I finished up Lynn 6 about how I could approach this story. I won't tell you everything as that would spoil things, but I liked the concept so much that I decided to use it as the primary focus of the story.
People who are familiar with my work might find this a little different in the way I'm approaching it, so I'll be very curious to hear any feedback. The story is just getting underway here, so I think that the next installment could be critical for really setting the tone. Still, one must start somewhere.
I hope you all enjoy!)
One thing must be distinctly understood to begin with.
Tina was a big girl.
Not big in terms of height. No, Tina was bigger around than most girls. She would be the first person to admit it, and rather readily too. It wasn’t anything she was ashamed of, though she wasn’t proud of it either. It was just the way things were. They’d always been that way. She’d been born a big baby (as her mother occasionally took the time to remind her in moments of exasperation) and had just stayed that way through childhood into her teenage years.
This was not to say that Tina Westley was fat. That would be stretching things. Tara Kelley certainly had her beat in that department. Tina was…stout. That was how she considered herself at least. She was of sturdy Wisconsin stock, sturdy being the operative word.
It was only by chance that her parents had ever left Wisconsin for Southern California in the first place, but they had and Tina found herself literally leaving a snowstorm and arriving in sunny 70 degree weather midway through the fifth grade.
To return to the matter at hand, Tina seemed to always hover in that zone between being thin and fat. Nobody thought less of her for it—they just thought that was Tina. In fact, most people thought she looked quite good. She was descended from hearty Nordic heritage, which gave Tina a decently large frame to begin with. She was just slightly taller than the average girl and she was just a little bit broad shouldered, which worked to her advantage when it came to playing water polo.
There was a regularity in the proportion of her physique that was very visually pleasing. No one part of her was more prominent than any other. For starters her breasts (for most teenage boys start there) were large, good handfuls to be sure. Needless to say, Tina appreciated her hooters. Moving downwards was her belly. Tina definitely had a belly, but not one that stuck out enough to garner too much attention. In fact, you could almost overlook it entirely. But only almost.
Through whatever top Tina wore, you could always make out the faint outline of the convex curve of her tummy as it pressed against the fabric. There was a gentle curve to her hips so that she certainly had hips, but not exceedingly large ones. Tina also sported a decent butt, one with enough bounce to get a couple glances as she moved down the halls. Her thighs were thick, but not so much so that they touched. Of course, Tina—like every girl—wasn’t happy with her thighs, but so it goes. Truth be told, they were actually very nice thighs.
Tina had straight blonde hair that reached halfway down her torso. She could do anything with if she wanted, but rarely did since it looked good as it was. Tina had eyes that were somewhere between brown and green that were surprisingly pretty. Ever since coming to California Tina sported a pretty decent tan on what had formerly been a fair skinned, Midwestern complexion.
In all, Tina was a good looking girl. Not on the scale of Jenna Shcherbatsky, mind you (well, Jenna Shcherbatsky when she’d started the school year as, truth be told, she’d been looking a little fuller recently) or Morgan Jones. But Tina exceeded cute by a long shot. She probably could have made it in the highest cliques at RFK High, but she chose not to. The highest she ever rose was eating lunch with the water polo team where she had plenty of friends and was well liked. She didn’t want to be the most popular girl at school. Tina just wanted to have a fun time, get good grades, and go to college somewhere decent.
It may come as no surprise then that, despite the fact that Tina was good looking, she hadn’t really dated anyone. In part it was because Tina didn’t really have much interest in dating right now. There wasn’t a particular reason for it. She just didn’t. However, this masked the fact that nobody had ever asked Tina out. Boys just didn’t simply think of it. Maybe it was because Tina was a bit bigger physically than other girls and that intimidated their fragile, developing self-confidence. Maybe it was because in middle school Tina had been very good in PE at most of the sports they played. She was almost on the level of the boys, and as such perhaps nobody had realized that Tina wasn’t one of the boys, but instead was a beautiful young woman. Whatever the reasons, Tina certainly wasn’t losing any sleep over it.
Unbeknownst to her, somebody was going to start losing sleep over her very soon.
***
“Tina, your father and I want to discuss something with you,” Mrs. Westley said after dinner.
Tina was suddenly filled with a feeling of dread. Whenever her parents started a conversation like that, it couldn’t be good.
“Yeah?” she said.
“You’re eighteen and we think it would be a good idea for you to get a job,” Mr. Westley said.
“A job!” Tina cried, “Why do I need to get a job?”
“It’d be a good experience for you to get into the workforce, earn some money for yourself. It’ll look good on a resume later in life too,” her father explained.
“But with water polo I don’t have much time for a job, what with schoolwork and all,” Tina said, “I mean, I do study hard and I wouldn’t want my grades to drop off.”
She was looking for any excuse to get herself out of having to take a job right now.
“It wouldn’t be all the time. Maybe three or four days a week in the evenings. We talked to Mr. Gubbins. He said they could use an extra part-time hostess at Chili’s and since we’ve known his family for forever he thought it would be a pleasure to have you,” Mrs. Westley said, “If things worked out well you could even become a waitress once you learned the ropes.”
Obviously her excuse hadn’t worked. “But when would I see my friends?” Tina pleaded.
“There’d be plenty of time for that when you weren’t working. You’d also have to learn to manage your time, which is an important skill for later in life when you’re working a steady job. It’s even good for college,” Mr. Westley said.
Tina just sulked.
“We’re not saying that you have to get a job,” Tina’s father said, “But we do think that you should be earning some money for yourself, which is why we’re cutting back your allowance.”
“Fine. I’ll do it,” Tina sighed resignedly. She never won these fights.
This was going to be no fun at all.
***
Matthew Sutherby, who was usually just called Matt, was a pretty average guy. There was nothing particularly outstanding about him. He was rather smart and an all around nice guy. It would be hard to find anyone who had anything bad to say about him. A couple girls might even say that he was cute. His blonde hair and blue eyes gave a bit of something special to his otherwise average physique. Matt wasn’t particularly distinguished at anything in particular, but people knew who he was.
Matt led a pretty quiet life on the whole that consisted of studying and sometimes going out with friends to catch a movie. Tonight he’d stayed in and had just done a bit of reading. Tonight he had picked up The Princess Bride. After a while he looked out his window to the house next door. The light was on in the window directly across from him. He slid open the window.
“Hey Penny?” Matt called out.
The opposing window opened. “Hi Matt!” Penny answered back.
If it was possible for a boy could have a girl for his best friend in high school, then without a doubt Penny Smart would have been Matt’s best friend. She was rather aptly named, for Penny was a sharp girl. She was always at the top of her class and always knew the answer—though she only reluctantly raised her hand when nobody else did so she wasn’t so obviously a teacher’s pet.
Penny was half Filipina and half Japanese, both of which had combined to make her incredibly attractive. Her tan skin was alluring and made her large, white, constant smile even more dazzling than it already was. She had dark brown eyes that you could drown in and her hair had a gentle wave to it.
Penny was thin, but had curves in the right places for a knockout package. The real kicker was that Penny was as sweet as could be. Rarely were looks, intelligence, and personality packaged so perfectly as in Penny Smart.
Needless to say, a lot of boys liked Penny, despite the fact she didn’t stray too far from her circle of friends, who were also hot and smart, like Emily Nyberg. Still, ever since high school had started Matt had rarely known a time when Penny wasn’t dating somebody.
Had they not lived next to one another, Matt probably would have asked Penny out a long time ago. Then again, if they hadn’t lived next to one another they probably wouldn’t have known each other as well as they did.
Matt had moved in back in sixth grade and was surprised that there was a girl his own age at the other window across the gap between the two houses. Naturally, their mothers had decided that carpooling was a very convenient arrangement, so it didn’t take long before Penny and Matt met officially and began to get to know one another. Pretty soon they were very good friends.
When high school rolled around and Matt began to realize just how much he liked girls for some reason he felt comfortable talking to Penny about romantic issues. He didn’t discuss them much with anybody else, certainly none of his male friends, but he didn’t hesitate to pour his heart out to Penny.
For her part, Penny took a genuine interest in her neighbor and was always a sympathetic ear. Matt also lent Penny his ear when she would worry endlessly about whether her current boyfriend was “the right guy” for her and when things ended, Matt was always there to comfort Penny. Quite often they talked to one another out of their windows, but each had a standing invitation to come over to the other’s house at any time, which they each availed one another of frequently.
Matt and Penny still drove to school together, even though they were both old enough to drive themselves now. Occasionally Penny would get picked up by her boyfriend and Matt would make his own way to school, but they were still pretty close.
Rarely have a boy and girl been such good friends in high school without their friendship ever turning romantic. Truth be told, Matt had had a crush on Penny when he was a freshman, but she was still his neighbor. Besides, Penny had jumped right into the dating scene and Matt had enough sense to know that it would be a bit awkward to date the proverbial girl next door. They were just too good of friends for that.
Matt didn’t wallow in any self-pity for his inability to date Penny. Quite to the contrary, he very quickly became aware of just how many good looking girls there were at RFK High. It seemed they were in all his classes and everywhere he looked at lunch. To his credit, Matt wasn’t afraid to ask them out, which a lot of high school boys were. Unfortunately for Matt, none of the girls he’d ever asked out had said yes. Matt’s lack of success was just as troubling for Penny and she did her best to keep up his spirits whenever she’d hear from him that his latest attempt hadn’t gone well.
“I’m sorry about Lori. That’s her loss,” Penny had said. Penny even tried to help things as much as she could by giving suggestions. “Maybe if you went to Alana’s tennis game on Thursday you could talk to her afterwards. She might really like that.” Or, “Maybe you should try asking Kim to a movie. That’s a nice casual way to get to know somebody.”
Sometimes it was even as if Penny had to talk Matt into asking a girl out. He would seemingly find all sorts of reasons why he wouldn’t ask a girl out.
Penny knew why—he’d been turned down so much that even though he really wanted to ask a girl out, it was easier to just think up an excuse for why he shouldn’t ask her out than face rejection. Because Penny was such a close friend of Matt’s she always tried to work him out of this state.
“I don’t know what I’d say to her,” Matt said once, “I always think up what I’m going to say, and then when I actually get in the situation it’s horribly awkward and I forget everything or it doesn’t go as planned and it just doesn’t work at all. I don’t want to sound like an idiot and blow my only chance.”
“Matt!” Penny exclaimed. She was a rather patient girl, but this was one of the few things that got her exasperated. “How many times do I have to tell you? If she likes you it won’t matter if it’s awkward. It’ll even be kind of cute. Trust me! All the boys who’ve asked me out seem horribly embarrassed when they do it and it’s sort of nice because you know that he likes you. It makes girls feel good. Besides, if a girl’s not going to go out with you because she thinks you’re awkward, then it just shows that she’s not the right girl at all.”
Still, despite all of Penny’s advice, Matt just couldn’t get a girl on a date. It had been twelve straight rejections for him since he’d started asking girls out. Penny always got mad at him for keeping track as she felt it was too negative an approach, but that didn’t change his lack of success.
Matt even had a cycle that he’d fallen into. It started when he first noticed a girl who caught his eye. He would then develop a major crush on her and it would be like she was the only girl in school to Matt. One of two things happened. The first was that Matt would ask her out and she’d say no. The second was that Matt would talk himself out of asking her out at all and it was the same as if she’d rejected him, though less painful but still disappointing. Then it would only be a matter of time before he saw another girl who he thought was cute and then the cycle would begin again.
“How are you?” Penny asked pleasantly from her window.
“I’m all right,” Matt said.
“What have you been doing?”
“I was reading The Princess Bride.”
“Oooooh!” Penny said. She was a great lover of books, which was one reason that she got along so well with Matt. “Is it any good? I really liked the movie.”
“It’s pretty good. It’s…interesting. It’s not just a straight fairy tale,” Matt said.
“Sounds fun,” Penny replied, “You know, that’s one of my favorite movies of all time. Every girl wants a Westley.”
“And I’d really like a Buttercup,” Matt said, “but I haven’t found her yet.”
“Would you really be a servant to her for years on end, content to be near her with the hope that she might one day fall in love with you?” Penny asked.
Mike paused. “I don’t know. If it was the right girl, like the one for me, I don’t think I’d have any other choice.”
“You know girls just love that sort of thing,” Penny said, “Like with Aaron. He’d had a crush on me for two months before I even knew he liked me.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “I think Westley loved Buttercup for like twelve years or something like that before she even noticed him.”
“Two months is a long time in high school,” Penny retorted.
“Okay, so it is,” Matt conceded, “Still…”
Penny’s ears perked up.
“I know that tone! You’ve got another crush, don’t you?” Penny said excitedly. She never ceased to enjoy being caught up in Matt’s romantic adventures. Maybe because with Matt it was such an adventure. She’d never had any problems dating and perhaps there was something exhilarating about helping out someone who really needed it. It would just be so wonderful if Matt really did find the right girl that Penny would be just as happy as Matt.
“Maybe…” Matt said, half trying not to betray anything.
“You do!” Penny exclaimed, “Who is it this time Matt? Anyone I know?”
“You’ll have to guess this time,” Matt said with a smile.
“Before I go any further, you have to promise me something,” Penny said.
“What?”
“That you ask her out. No chickening out. I want you to actually ask her out whoever she is.”
Matt hesitated for the slightest moment and then said, “Okay. I promise I’ll ask her out.”
“Good. Okay, so do I know her?”
“I think so.”
“Is she in one of your classes?” Penny pressed.
“Yes,” Matt replied.
“Which one?”
“If I told you it’d be too easy.”
Penny considered for a moment. “I’ll go with Biology.”
“No.”
“US History?”
“Yep.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere! Blonde?”
“Yes. And no more general questions.”
“Who’s in that class…” Penny asked herself. It wouldn’t be Lori since Matt had already asked her out. She sincerely doubted that Matt had a crush on Jenna Shcherbatsky just because everybody had a crush on Jenna and Matt didn’t go in for girls of Jenna’s caliber because they were just a bit too far beyond his reach. “Katie Evans?”
“No.”
“Then it must be Tina Westley!” Penny exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Matt said, as if slightly embarrassed he was admitting it.
“So you really like Tina Westley?” Penny asked with a note of surprise.
“Yeah. Do you not like her?” Matt asked.
“No no no!” Penny said quickly, “It’s just that…I wouldn’t have taken her for your type.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well…you know. Tina’s a little…thick,” Penny said, trying to put it gently.
“Okay,” Matt said, as if that was pretty obvious—which it was, “I still like her. Is there anything wrong with her being a little ‘thick’?”
“No! Not at all! Tina seems like a nice girl. When are you going to ask her out?” Penny asked.
“I don’t know yet. I always have trouble getting girls alone,” Matt said.
“Well, maybe you should try talking to her before class, let her get to know you a bit so she’ll like you and say yes. Maybe flirt with her a little bit,” Penny suggested.
“You know I hate flirting. It’s so obvious,” Matt complained.
Penny sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s one of the best ways to figure out if a girl likes you? It’s really fun too.”
“Says you. You don’t have to work up the nerve to talk to a girl. Boys just come up and talk to you. Girls don’t have to do anything,” Matt said.
Penny rolled her eyes. Apparently she was going to have to give Matt the “girls have it just hard as boys in dating” talk again.
***
“Any questions?”
“Nope,” Tina said.
“Well I realize it’s a lot of information, so don’t be afraid to ask any questions you may have later,” her manager said.
“Okay,” Tina replied.
It was her first day on the job at Chili’s and she’d just gone through all of her basic training. At this point it was pretty easy: just greet customers nicely and seat them as quickly as you could. There was of course more to it than that, but that was what it basically boiled down to. Tina was going to be working four days a week, mainly in the evenings after practice during the dinner rush until closing.
“If you don’t have time to eat dinner before you get here, that’s all right,” her manager had told her, “You can grab something from the kitchen on the house. One of the nice perks. We’ve got a lot of people who have something quick before they start their shift and something more substantive on their break.”
Tina found that perk to be a slight comfort. After all, Chili’s made good food and getting it free would be pretty nice. Furthermore, working at Chili’s was a step up from a fast food job, even in terms of pay. Though she still wasn’t thrilled to be working, there were worse jobs she could have been stuck with. In fact, as she settled into her first day, she found that her job wasn’t too hard. Still, she was on her feet all the time and she found her break to be incredibly restful.
She’d gone into the back and grabbed a quick chicken Caesar pita for her dinner. Before long, she was joined by one of the waitresses, who had gotten a country fried steak from the kitchen.
“So you’re the new girl,” the waitress said as she sat down, “I’m Wendy.”
“Hi, Tina,” Tina said to introduce herself.
“You haven’t broken anything yet, and you don’t seem to be shy about taking advantage of the food, so I think you’re doing a stellar job for your first day,” Wendy said.
“Thanks. The food part’s sort of a no brainer. There’s some great stuff on the menu,” Tina said before biting into her pita.
“Trying telling that to the girls who have salads every night. Sometimes they look like they want to hang themselves,” Wendy said, “The trick is to keep having a different thing every night until you go through the entire menu. Keeps stuff from getting old. Besides, if you ever get promoted to waitress, then you actually know what’s good and you can tell the customers so.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Tina said, “You start out as a hostess?”
“Nah, I’d waitressed at a Mom-and-Pop place for a couple summers, so when I found out they were looking for waitresses here I had enough experience they hired me straight in,” Wendy said as she tore into her steak. They really didn’t have much time to savor their food because of how short their breaks were.
Tina and Wendy chatted as they ate. Tina learned that Wendy was going to college nearby and found that the extra money from a night job really helped to pay the bills, along with other details like the fact that Wendy had grown up in the Central Valley and she’d once been part of a women’s a capella group.
Likewise, Tina shared how she still sort of thought of Madison, Wisconsin as her hometown and how she played water polo. The two hit it off wonderfully and though they’d only scratched the surface with one another and Tina was quite pleased with the fact she was already making friends her first day on the job.
The day didn’t turn out to be all fun and games, however. By the time her shift was over, Tina had decided she needed to find drastically more comfortable shoes by tomorrow evening.
***
Matt headed into US History with more trepidation than usual. Usually any nervousness a student had entering that classroom had to do with Mr. Hoffendahl, the stern, intimidating German man who taught the course and had a reputation for being harsh. Matt wasn’t even thinking of Hoffendahl right now—he was thinking about the prospect of asking out Tina. Last night Penny had given him the usual pep talk about how it wasn’t hard and he just had to get started and then things would be much easier.
“Don’t build it up in your head too much or else you’ll never overcome it,” Penny advised, “Just don’t be nervous. I know you can do it. You’re a nice person. The biggest problem a lot of guys have is that they get too nervous and then fall all over themselves trying to deliver some mythical perfect pick up line. So just be yourself, okay?”
Matt had agreed and, truth be told, he believed her. It was only as US History got closer and closer that Matt began to get nervous. He wasn’t as confident as he had been last night. The old fear of “what if I mess up?” was besetting him again.
As a result, by the time that Matt walked into class, he had a decent case of nerves that he was doing his best to control.
Upon entering the class, he found that Tina was already there and had taken her seat next to Katie Rollins. The two seemed to be pretty engaged in conversation, so Matt decided it was better to wait to approach her at another moment, like after class. He kept to his decision even after Katie and Tina seemed to end their discussion. Though he knew Penny would probably encourage him to go over and talk to Tina now, it just seemed like it would be too obvious and awkward.
Matt spent the entire class period alternating between anxiety and daydreaming. One moment he’d visualize himself talking to Tina and how she’d be totally enthralled by him, sighing and mooning over him as he eloquently delivered the wittiest lines. The next he’d imagine himself saying all of the wrong things and Tina turning away with a roll of her eyes.
To continually transition from ecstasy to agony was maddening, but no different from what Matt usually experienced in this situation. It was just such a sensation that helped to contribute to past instances where he’d just given up and not asked out his current crush at all.
Still, for some reason Matt was more determined this time. It wasn’t that he thought that there was something different about it. He always thought that maybe this time would be different since that would mean that the girl would just say yes. Perhaps Penny’s pep talk had had more of an effect than he’d realized. Maybe it was just a bigger crush than usual. Whatever the reason, as class drew to a close, Matt was gathering all his courage to talk to Tina as they filed out.
Throughout the entire class, Matt snuck furtive looks at Tina. Even though she couldn’t see him from where she sat, he still didn’t want somebody else to catch him starting at Tina. He’d admire a different part of Tina every time he looked at her. First it would be how beautiful her hair looked. Then it would be the gentle curve of her breasts. In the next look Matt would take in all of Tina and have to keep a romantic sigh from escaping. Just sitting there Tina looked pretty. She didn’t have to get dolled up or anything. She just looked beautiful every day.
As the seconds ticked down towards the end of class and the beginning of lunch, Matt could hardly wait for the bell to ring. At the same time, he was scared of the moment actually arriving. But it did and everyone got up to leave. Out of the corner of his eye, Matt kept a watch on Tina, trying to time his movements so he would wind up walking out next to her.
“Matt!”
Matt was forced to wrench his attention from Tina to Rob, one of his friends who he had a number of classes with this year. Though they were friends, right now Matt wasn’t much in the mood to talk.
“Yeah?” Matt said, unable to keep Rob and Tina in his field of vision at the same time.
“Did we have a response paper due in English tomorrow?” Rob asked.
“Yeah. She said it like three times during class,” Matt said, irritated that he could be losing his opportunity to chat with Tina over something as trivial as this.
“And we’re supposed to read to chapter 23 in Huck Finn, right?”
“No, chapter 25.”
“Hey thanks man. I’ll see you there tomorrow,” Rob said and before Matt could reply Rob had darted off to lunch.
Matt just sighed and hung his head. Now he was going to have to wait another two days to talk to Tina. And just when he’d been working up—
And there was Tina, just finishing up collecting her things. And they were both going to leave at the same time, with nobody else around. This was almost too good to be true.
“Hi Tina,” Matt said as they walked out the door.
“Hi Matt,” she replied with a smile, “How are you?”
“I’m all right. How about you?”
“Pretty good.”
And all of a sudden Matt didn’t know what to say. All his carefully thought out plans had suddenly fled his mind. This always happened to him and he always felt incredibly awkward whenever he had to think up something on the spot when talking to a girl he liked. Trying to minimize any sort of awkward silence, Matt simply said the first thing he thought of.
“So, when does water polo season begin?” Matt asked.
“It actually started a couple weeks ago,” Tina replied.
Matt wanted to bang his head into the hallway wall. He probably sounded like an idiot for not knowing that they’d already begun. Still, he did his best to recover.
“Really? I must be out of it then. Sorry.”
Tina shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t worry. It’s not like a lot of people follow it here, or at all.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking of going to a game some time,” Matt said.
“Really?” Tina asked.
“Yeah. I’ve heard it’s pretty fun and now that I know some girls on the varsity team, I thought it could be rather fun. You know, go out and support you guys,” Matt said, and then quickly added, “I mean you girls.”
Tina laughed lightly.
“So when’s the next game?”
“Thursday.”
“Are we going to win?” Matt asked.
He slightly regretted the question. If the team was doing badly, then it might be a sensitive issue. As it turned out, it wasn’t.
“Well, we haven’t lost yet, so we’re doing all right. I think we’ve got really good chances.”
Matt nearly sighed with relief.
“Well, I’ll be there then,” Matt said.
“That’d be great,” Tina said. By this point they’d reached the quad where everyone was having lunch, “I’d better get going. See you Thursday.”
“See you then,” Matt said before Tina left to join the rest of the water polo team for lunch.
Matt turned away and headed to go meet his friends. On the whole that had gone pretty well. After all, Tina had seemed to enjoy talking to him and he hadn’t put his foot in his mouth. She also hadn’t uttered that fatal single syllable of “No” yet.
Granted, he hadn’t yet asked her out, but Matt figured that it was a good idea to try and lay some groundwork. With a little bit more luck like that, this might just turn out all right.
(Click here for next installment)
(Author's Comments: When I first thought up this story, I initially had a much different idea of what it was going to be. It was going to be a lot like the other stories I've written. However, a new idea took hold of me as I finished up Lynn 6 about how I could approach this story. I won't tell you everything as that would spoil things, but I liked the concept so much that I decided to use it as the primary focus of the story.
People who are familiar with my work might find this a little different in the way I'm approaching it, so I'll be very curious to hear any feedback. The story is just getting underway here, so I think that the next installment could be critical for really setting the tone. Still, one must start somewhere.
I hope you all enjoy!)
Tina 1: Hey there Georgy Girl
By Id
By Id
One thing must be distinctly understood to begin with.
Tina was a big girl.
Not big in terms of height. No, Tina was bigger around than most girls. She would be the first person to admit it, and rather readily too. It wasn’t anything she was ashamed of, though she wasn’t proud of it either. It was just the way things were. They’d always been that way. She’d been born a big baby (as her mother occasionally took the time to remind her in moments of exasperation) and had just stayed that way through childhood into her teenage years.
This was not to say that Tina Westley was fat. That would be stretching things. Tara Kelley certainly had her beat in that department. Tina was…stout. That was how she considered herself at least. She was of sturdy Wisconsin stock, sturdy being the operative word.
It was only by chance that her parents had ever left Wisconsin for Southern California in the first place, but they had and Tina found herself literally leaving a snowstorm and arriving in sunny 70 degree weather midway through the fifth grade.
To return to the matter at hand, Tina seemed to always hover in that zone between being thin and fat. Nobody thought less of her for it—they just thought that was Tina. In fact, most people thought she looked quite good. She was descended from hearty Nordic heritage, which gave Tina a decently large frame to begin with. She was just slightly taller than the average girl and she was just a little bit broad shouldered, which worked to her advantage when it came to playing water polo.
There was a regularity in the proportion of her physique that was very visually pleasing. No one part of her was more prominent than any other. For starters her breasts (for most teenage boys start there) were large, good handfuls to be sure. Needless to say, Tina appreciated her hooters. Moving downwards was her belly. Tina definitely had a belly, but not one that stuck out enough to garner too much attention. In fact, you could almost overlook it entirely. But only almost.
Through whatever top Tina wore, you could always make out the faint outline of the convex curve of her tummy as it pressed against the fabric. There was a gentle curve to her hips so that she certainly had hips, but not exceedingly large ones. Tina also sported a decent butt, one with enough bounce to get a couple glances as she moved down the halls. Her thighs were thick, but not so much so that they touched. Of course, Tina—like every girl—wasn’t happy with her thighs, but so it goes. Truth be told, they were actually very nice thighs.
Tina had straight blonde hair that reached halfway down her torso. She could do anything with if she wanted, but rarely did since it looked good as it was. Tina had eyes that were somewhere between brown and green that were surprisingly pretty. Ever since coming to California Tina sported a pretty decent tan on what had formerly been a fair skinned, Midwestern complexion.
In all, Tina was a good looking girl. Not on the scale of Jenna Shcherbatsky, mind you (well, Jenna Shcherbatsky when she’d started the school year as, truth be told, she’d been looking a little fuller recently) or Morgan Jones. But Tina exceeded cute by a long shot. She probably could have made it in the highest cliques at RFK High, but she chose not to. The highest she ever rose was eating lunch with the water polo team where she had plenty of friends and was well liked. She didn’t want to be the most popular girl at school. Tina just wanted to have a fun time, get good grades, and go to college somewhere decent.
It may come as no surprise then that, despite the fact that Tina was good looking, she hadn’t really dated anyone. In part it was because Tina didn’t really have much interest in dating right now. There wasn’t a particular reason for it. She just didn’t. However, this masked the fact that nobody had ever asked Tina out. Boys just didn’t simply think of it. Maybe it was because Tina was a bit bigger physically than other girls and that intimidated their fragile, developing self-confidence. Maybe it was because in middle school Tina had been very good in PE at most of the sports they played. She was almost on the level of the boys, and as such perhaps nobody had realized that Tina wasn’t one of the boys, but instead was a beautiful young woman. Whatever the reasons, Tina certainly wasn’t losing any sleep over it.
Unbeknownst to her, somebody was going to start losing sleep over her very soon.
***
“Tina, your father and I want to discuss something with you,” Mrs. Westley said after dinner.
Tina was suddenly filled with a feeling of dread. Whenever her parents started a conversation like that, it couldn’t be good.
“Yeah?” she said.
“You’re eighteen and we think it would be a good idea for you to get a job,” Mr. Westley said.
“A job!” Tina cried, “Why do I need to get a job?”
“It’d be a good experience for you to get into the workforce, earn some money for yourself. It’ll look good on a resume later in life too,” her father explained.
“But with water polo I don’t have much time for a job, what with schoolwork and all,” Tina said, “I mean, I do study hard and I wouldn’t want my grades to drop off.”
She was looking for any excuse to get herself out of having to take a job right now.
“It wouldn’t be all the time. Maybe three or four days a week in the evenings. We talked to Mr. Gubbins. He said they could use an extra part-time hostess at Chili’s and since we’ve known his family for forever he thought it would be a pleasure to have you,” Mrs. Westley said, “If things worked out well you could even become a waitress once you learned the ropes.”
Obviously her excuse hadn’t worked. “But when would I see my friends?” Tina pleaded.
“There’d be plenty of time for that when you weren’t working. You’d also have to learn to manage your time, which is an important skill for later in life when you’re working a steady job. It’s even good for college,” Mr. Westley said.
Tina just sulked.
“We’re not saying that you have to get a job,” Tina’s father said, “But we do think that you should be earning some money for yourself, which is why we’re cutting back your allowance.”
“Fine. I’ll do it,” Tina sighed resignedly. She never won these fights.
This was going to be no fun at all.
***
Matthew Sutherby, who was usually just called Matt, was a pretty average guy. There was nothing particularly outstanding about him. He was rather smart and an all around nice guy. It would be hard to find anyone who had anything bad to say about him. A couple girls might even say that he was cute. His blonde hair and blue eyes gave a bit of something special to his otherwise average physique. Matt wasn’t particularly distinguished at anything in particular, but people knew who he was.
Matt led a pretty quiet life on the whole that consisted of studying and sometimes going out with friends to catch a movie. Tonight he’d stayed in and had just done a bit of reading. Tonight he had picked up The Princess Bride. After a while he looked out his window to the house next door. The light was on in the window directly across from him. He slid open the window.
“Hey Penny?” Matt called out.
The opposing window opened. “Hi Matt!” Penny answered back.
If it was possible for a boy could have a girl for his best friend in high school, then without a doubt Penny Smart would have been Matt’s best friend. She was rather aptly named, for Penny was a sharp girl. She was always at the top of her class and always knew the answer—though she only reluctantly raised her hand when nobody else did so she wasn’t so obviously a teacher’s pet.
Penny was half Filipina and half Japanese, both of which had combined to make her incredibly attractive. Her tan skin was alluring and made her large, white, constant smile even more dazzling than it already was. She had dark brown eyes that you could drown in and her hair had a gentle wave to it.
Penny was thin, but had curves in the right places for a knockout package. The real kicker was that Penny was as sweet as could be. Rarely were looks, intelligence, and personality packaged so perfectly as in Penny Smart.
Needless to say, a lot of boys liked Penny, despite the fact she didn’t stray too far from her circle of friends, who were also hot and smart, like Emily Nyberg. Still, ever since high school had started Matt had rarely known a time when Penny wasn’t dating somebody.
Had they not lived next to one another, Matt probably would have asked Penny out a long time ago. Then again, if they hadn’t lived next to one another they probably wouldn’t have known each other as well as they did.
Matt had moved in back in sixth grade and was surprised that there was a girl his own age at the other window across the gap between the two houses. Naturally, their mothers had decided that carpooling was a very convenient arrangement, so it didn’t take long before Penny and Matt met officially and began to get to know one another. Pretty soon they were very good friends.
When high school rolled around and Matt began to realize just how much he liked girls for some reason he felt comfortable talking to Penny about romantic issues. He didn’t discuss them much with anybody else, certainly none of his male friends, but he didn’t hesitate to pour his heart out to Penny.
For her part, Penny took a genuine interest in her neighbor and was always a sympathetic ear. Matt also lent Penny his ear when she would worry endlessly about whether her current boyfriend was “the right guy” for her and when things ended, Matt was always there to comfort Penny. Quite often they talked to one another out of their windows, but each had a standing invitation to come over to the other’s house at any time, which they each availed one another of frequently.
Matt and Penny still drove to school together, even though they were both old enough to drive themselves now. Occasionally Penny would get picked up by her boyfriend and Matt would make his own way to school, but they were still pretty close.
Rarely have a boy and girl been such good friends in high school without their friendship ever turning romantic. Truth be told, Matt had had a crush on Penny when he was a freshman, but she was still his neighbor. Besides, Penny had jumped right into the dating scene and Matt had enough sense to know that it would be a bit awkward to date the proverbial girl next door. They were just too good of friends for that.
Matt didn’t wallow in any self-pity for his inability to date Penny. Quite to the contrary, he very quickly became aware of just how many good looking girls there were at RFK High. It seemed they were in all his classes and everywhere he looked at lunch. To his credit, Matt wasn’t afraid to ask them out, which a lot of high school boys were. Unfortunately for Matt, none of the girls he’d ever asked out had said yes. Matt’s lack of success was just as troubling for Penny and she did her best to keep up his spirits whenever she’d hear from him that his latest attempt hadn’t gone well.
“I’m sorry about Lori. That’s her loss,” Penny had said. Penny even tried to help things as much as she could by giving suggestions. “Maybe if you went to Alana’s tennis game on Thursday you could talk to her afterwards. She might really like that.” Or, “Maybe you should try asking Kim to a movie. That’s a nice casual way to get to know somebody.”
Sometimes it was even as if Penny had to talk Matt into asking a girl out. He would seemingly find all sorts of reasons why he wouldn’t ask a girl out.
Penny knew why—he’d been turned down so much that even though he really wanted to ask a girl out, it was easier to just think up an excuse for why he shouldn’t ask her out than face rejection. Because Penny was such a close friend of Matt’s she always tried to work him out of this state.
“I don’t know what I’d say to her,” Matt said once, “I always think up what I’m going to say, and then when I actually get in the situation it’s horribly awkward and I forget everything or it doesn’t go as planned and it just doesn’t work at all. I don’t want to sound like an idiot and blow my only chance.”
“Matt!” Penny exclaimed. She was a rather patient girl, but this was one of the few things that got her exasperated. “How many times do I have to tell you? If she likes you it won’t matter if it’s awkward. It’ll even be kind of cute. Trust me! All the boys who’ve asked me out seem horribly embarrassed when they do it and it’s sort of nice because you know that he likes you. It makes girls feel good. Besides, if a girl’s not going to go out with you because she thinks you’re awkward, then it just shows that she’s not the right girl at all.”
Still, despite all of Penny’s advice, Matt just couldn’t get a girl on a date. It had been twelve straight rejections for him since he’d started asking girls out. Penny always got mad at him for keeping track as she felt it was too negative an approach, but that didn’t change his lack of success.
Matt even had a cycle that he’d fallen into. It started when he first noticed a girl who caught his eye. He would then develop a major crush on her and it would be like she was the only girl in school to Matt. One of two things happened. The first was that Matt would ask her out and she’d say no. The second was that Matt would talk himself out of asking her out at all and it was the same as if she’d rejected him, though less painful but still disappointing. Then it would only be a matter of time before he saw another girl who he thought was cute and then the cycle would begin again.
“How are you?” Penny asked pleasantly from her window.
“I’m all right,” Matt said.
“What have you been doing?”
“I was reading The Princess Bride.”
“Oooooh!” Penny said. She was a great lover of books, which was one reason that she got along so well with Matt. “Is it any good? I really liked the movie.”
“It’s pretty good. It’s…interesting. It’s not just a straight fairy tale,” Matt said.
“Sounds fun,” Penny replied, “You know, that’s one of my favorite movies of all time. Every girl wants a Westley.”
“And I’d really like a Buttercup,” Matt said, “but I haven’t found her yet.”
“Would you really be a servant to her for years on end, content to be near her with the hope that she might one day fall in love with you?” Penny asked.
Mike paused. “I don’t know. If it was the right girl, like the one for me, I don’t think I’d have any other choice.”
“You know girls just love that sort of thing,” Penny said, “Like with Aaron. He’d had a crush on me for two months before I even knew he liked me.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “I think Westley loved Buttercup for like twelve years or something like that before she even noticed him.”
“Two months is a long time in high school,” Penny retorted.
“Okay, so it is,” Matt conceded, “Still…”
Penny’s ears perked up.
“I know that tone! You’ve got another crush, don’t you?” Penny said excitedly. She never ceased to enjoy being caught up in Matt’s romantic adventures. Maybe because with Matt it was such an adventure. She’d never had any problems dating and perhaps there was something exhilarating about helping out someone who really needed it. It would just be so wonderful if Matt really did find the right girl that Penny would be just as happy as Matt.
“Maybe…” Matt said, half trying not to betray anything.
“You do!” Penny exclaimed, “Who is it this time Matt? Anyone I know?”
“You’ll have to guess this time,” Matt said with a smile.
“Before I go any further, you have to promise me something,” Penny said.
“What?”
“That you ask her out. No chickening out. I want you to actually ask her out whoever she is.”
Matt hesitated for the slightest moment and then said, “Okay. I promise I’ll ask her out.”
“Good. Okay, so do I know her?”
“I think so.”
“Is she in one of your classes?” Penny pressed.
“Yes,” Matt replied.
“Which one?”
“If I told you it’d be too easy.”
Penny considered for a moment. “I’ll go with Biology.”
“No.”
“US History?”
“Yep.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere! Blonde?”
“Yes. And no more general questions.”
“Who’s in that class…” Penny asked herself. It wouldn’t be Lori since Matt had already asked her out. She sincerely doubted that Matt had a crush on Jenna Shcherbatsky just because everybody had a crush on Jenna and Matt didn’t go in for girls of Jenna’s caliber because they were just a bit too far beyond his reach. “Katie Evans?”
“No.”
“Then it must be Tina Westley!” Penny exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Matt said, as if slightly embarrassed he was admitting it.
“So you really like Tina Westley?” Penny asked with a note of surprise.
“Yeah. Do you not like her?” Matt asked.
“No no no!” Penny said quickly, “It’s just that…I wouldn’t have taken her for your type.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well…you know. Tina’s a little…thick,” Penny said, trying to put it gently.
“Okay,” Matt said, as if that was pretty obvious—which it was, “I still like her. Is there anything wrong with her being a little ‘thick’?”
“No! Not at all! Tina seems like a nice girl. When are you going to ask her out?” Penny asked.
“I don’t know yet. I always have trouble getting girls alone,” Matt said.
“Well, maybe you should try talking to her before class, let her get to know you a bit so she’ll like you and say yes. Maybe flirt with her a little bit,” Penny suggested.
“You know I hate flirting. It’s so obvious,” Matt complained.
Penny sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s one of the best ways to figure out if a girl likes you? It’s really fun too.”
“Says you. You don’t have to work up the nerve to talk to a girl. Boys just come up and talk to you. Girls don’t have to do anything,” Matt said.
Penny rolled her eyes. Apparently she was going to have to give Matt the “girls have it just hard as boys in dating” talk again.
***
“Any questions?”
“Nope,” Tina said.
“Well I realize it’s a lot of information, so don’t be afraid to ask any questions you may have later,” her manager said.
“Okay,” Tina replied.
It was her first day on the job at Chili’s and she’d just gone through all of her basic training. At this point it was pretty easy: just greet customers nicely and seat them as quickly as you could. There was of course more to it than that, but that was what it basically boiled down to. Tina was going to be working four days a week, mainly in the evenings after practice during the dinner rush until closing.
“If you don’t have time to eat dinner before you get here, that’s all right,” her manager had told her, “You can grab something from the kitchen on the house. One of the nice perks. We’ve got a lot of people who have something quick before they start their shift and something more substantive on their break.”
Tina found that perk to be a slight comfort. After all, Chili’s made good food and getting it free would be pretty nice. Furthermore, working at Chili’s was a step up from a fast food job, even in terms of pay. Though she still wasn’t thrilled to be working, there were worse jobs she could have been stuck with. In fact, as she settled into her first day, she found that her job wasn’t too hard. Still, she was on her feet all the time and she found her break to be incredibly restful.
She’d gone into the back and grabbed a quick chicken Caesar pita for her dinner. Before long, she was joined by one of the waitresses, who had gotten a country fried steak from the kitchen.
“So you’re the new girl,” the waitress said as she sat down, “I’m Wendy.”
“Hi, Tina,” Tina said to introduce herself.
“You haven’t broken anything yet, and you don’t seem to be shy about taking advantage of the food, so I think you’re doing a stellar job for your first day,” Wendy said.
“Thanks. The food part’s sort of a no brainer. There’s some great stuff on the menu,” Tina said before biting into her pita.
“Trying telling that to the girls who have salads every night. Sometimes they look like they want to hang themselves,” Wendy said, “The trick is to keep having a different thing every night until you go through the entire menu. Keeps stuff from getting old. Besides, if you ever get promoted to waitress, then you actually know what’s good and you can tell the customers so.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Tina said, “You start out as a hostess?”
“Nah, I’d waitressed at a Mom-and-Pop place for a couple summers, so when I found out they were looking for waitresses here I had enough experience they hired me straight in,” Wendy said as she tore into her steak. They really didn’t have much time to savor their food because of how short their breaks were.
Tina and Wendy chatted as they ate. Tina learned that Wendy was going to college nearby and found that the extra money from a night job really helped to pay the bills, along with other details like the fact that Wendy had grown up in the Central Valley and she’d once been part of a women’s a capella group.
Likewise, Tina shared how she still sort of thought of Madison, Wisconsin as her hometown and how she played water polo. The two hit it off wonderfully and though they’d only scratched the surface with one another and Tina was quite pleased with the fact she was already making friends her first day on the job.
The day didn’t turn out to be all fun and games, however. By the time her shift was over, Tina had decided she needed to find drastically more comfortable shoes by tomorrow evening.
***
Matt headed into US History with more trepidation than usual. Usually any nervousness a student had entering that classroom had to do with Mr. Hoffendahl, the stern, intimidating German man who taught the course and had a reputation for being harsh. Matt wasn’t even thinking of Hoffendahl right now—he was thinking about the prospect of asking out Tina. Last night Penny had given him the usual pep talk about how it wasn’t hard and he just had to get started and then things would be much easier.
“Don’t build it up in your head too much or else you’ll never overcome it,” Penny advised, “Just don’t be nervous. I know you can do it. You’re a nice person. The biggest problem a lot of guys have is that they get too nervous and then fall all over themselves trying to deliver some mythical perfect pick up line. So just be yourself, okay?”
Matt had agreed and, truth be told, he believed her. It was only as US History got closer and closer that Matt began to get nervous. He wasn’t as confident as he had been last night. The old fear of “what if I mess up?” was besetting him again.
As a result, by the time that Matt walked into class, he had a decent case of nerves that he was doing his best to control.
Upon entering the class, he found that Tina was already there and had taken her seat next to Katie Rollins. The two seemed to be pretty engaged in conversation, so Matt decided it was better to wait to approach her at another moment, like after class. He kept to his decision even after Katie and Tina seemed to end their discussion. Though he knew Penny would probably encourage him to go over and talk to Tina now, it just seemed like it would be too obvious and awkward.
Matt spent the entire class period alternating between anxiety and daydreaming. One moment he’d visualize himself talking to Tina and how she’d be totally enthralled by him, sighing and mooning over him as he eloquently delivered the wittiest lines. The next he’d imagine himself saying all of the wrong things and Tina turning away with a roll of her eyes.
To continually transition from ecstasy to agony was maddening, but no different from what Matt usually experienced in this situation. It was just such a sensation that helped to contribute to past instances where he’d just given up and not asked out his current crush at all.
Still, for some reason Matt was more determined this time. It wasn’t that he thought that there was something different about it. He always thought that maybe this time would be different since that would mean that the girl would just say yes. Perhaps Penny’s pep talk had had more of an effect than he’d realized. Maybe it was just a bigger crush than usual. Whatever the reason, as class drew to a close, Matt was gathering all his courage to talk to Tina as they filed out.
Throughout the entire class, Matt snuck furtive looks at Tina. Even though she couldn’t see him from where she sat, he still didn’t want somebody else to catch him starting at Tina. He’d admire a different part of Tina every time he looked at her. First it would be how beautiful her hair looked. Then it would be the gentle curve of her breasts. In the next look Matt would take in all of Tina and have to keep a romantic sigh from escaping. Just sitting there Tina looked pretty. She didn’t have to get dolled up or anything. She just looked beautiful every day.
As the seconds ticked down towards the end of class and the beginning of lunch, Matt could hardly wait for the bell to ring. At the same time, he was scared of the moment actually arriving. But it did and everyone got up to leave. Out of the corner of his eye, Matt kept a watch on Tina, trying to time his movements so he would wind up walking out next to her.
“Matt!”
Matt was forced to wrench his attention from Tina to Rob, one of his friends who he had a number of classes with this year. Though they were friends, right now Matt wasn’t much in the mood to talk.
“Yeah?” Matt said, unable to keep Rob and Tina in his field of vision at the same time.
“Did we have a response paper due in English tomorrow?” Rob asked.
“Yeah. She said it like three times during class,” Matt said, irritated that he could be losing his opportunity to chat with Tina over something as trivial as this.
“And we’re supposed to read to chapter 23 in Huck Finn, right?”
“No, chapter 25.”
“Hey thanks man. I’ll see you there tomorrow,” Rob said and before Matt could reply Rob had darted off to lunch.
Matt just sighed and hung his head. Now he was going to have to wait another two days to talk to Tina. And just when he’d been working up—
And there was Tina, just finishing up collecting her things. And they were both going to leave at the same time, with nobody else around. This was almost too good to be true.
“Hi Tina,” Matt said as they walked out the door.
“Hi Matt,” she replied with a smile, “How are you?”
“I’m all right. How about you?”
“Pretty good.”
And all of a sudden Matt didn’t know what to say. All his carefully thought out plans had suddenly fled his mind. This always happened to him and he always felt incredibly awkward whenever he had to think up something on the spot when talking to a girl he liked. Trying to minimize any sort of awkward silence, Matt simply said the first thing he thought of.
“So, when does water polo season begin?” Matt asked.
“It actually started a couple weeks ago,” Tina replied.
Matt wanted to bang his head into the hallway wall. He probably sounded like an idiot for not knowing that they’d already begun. Still, he did his best to recover.
“Really? I must be out of it then. Sorry.”
Tina shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t worry. It’s not like a lot of people follow it here, or at all.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking of going to a game some time,” Matt said.
“Really?” Tina asked.
“Yeah. I’ve heard it’s pretty fun and now that I know some girls on the varsity team, I thought it could be rather fun. You know, go out and support you guys,” Matt said, and then quickly added, “I mean you girls.”
Tina laughed lightly.
“So when’s the next game?”
“Thursday.”
“Are we going to win?” Matt asked.
He slightly regretted the question. If the team was doing badly, then it might be a sensitive issue. As it turned out, it wasn’t.
“Well, we haven’t lost yet, so we’re doing all right. I think we’ve got really good chances.”
Matt nearly sighed with relief.
“Well, I’ll be there then,” Matt said.
“That’d be great,” Tina said. By this point they’d reached the quad where everyone was having lunch, “I’d better get going. See you Thursday.”
“See you then,” Matt said before Tina left to join the rest of the water polo team for lunch.
Matt turned away and headed to go meet his friends. On the whole that had gone pretty well. After all, Tina had seemed to enjoy talking to him and he hadn’t put his foot in his mouth. She also hadn’t uttered that fatal single syllable of “No” yet.
Granted, he hadn’t yet asked her out, but Matt figured that it was a good idea to try and lay some groundwork. With a little bit more luck like that, this might just turn out all right.
(Click here for next installment)
