Curvy Girls Can't Date Bad Boys - Kelsie Stelting Page 0,9
was here with my dad and an actor talking about what it meant to be a teenager.
Hot take, maybe if you want to know about an average teenager, don't ask a twenty-year-old with a million-dollar net worth and a seventeen-year-old months away from getting married.
I went and sat back at the table, where Dad and Ryde were already deep into a conversation about the family business. Yet another reason why Ryde wasn't the best person for teenage lessons, but I wasn't going to bring this up to Dad. Apparently, Ryde had earned his place as the golden boy, and trying to debunk that would just make me the enemy. Which would be counterproductive, considering my whole goal for the lessons was to get Dad to understand me enough to let me out of a relationship with Ryde.
I took a long sip from my double shot latte, watching what was practically a bromance unfold before me. Ryde complimented Dad on the work they’d done on the movie Ryde starred in. Dad told Ryde he “got” his work. Ryde’s nose got even browner, and Dad’s chest puffed even bigger.
Could Dad not see what was happening? Ryde was outsmarting him in his own game. It made me dislike Ryde that much more.
With a chuckle, Dad said, “We probably should save the shop talk for the set. Let’s continue on the lessons. Let me have it.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but of course Ryde cut in first. “What you need to understand, Mr. Bhatta, is hormones. Teens are loaded with them, and they’re like a constant little nudge in your ear saying, have sex, have sex, have sex.”
Dad seemed disturbed. “Is that how you feel, Zara?”
“Absolutely not,” I sputtered. I’d never thought of sex much, but I was curious what it would feel like to become that close to someone. To fall in love and lose track of time and space.
Ryde lifted his eyebrows and raised his hands in defense. “I’m just the messenger.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not all teens are pigs.”
“Tell me, Zara. What are they?” Dad pressed, as if desperate to hear about anything other than hormones. That made two of us.
Taking a deep breath, I sighed. “I feel like the main thing you need to know is that teenagers are just regular people, but the difference is we feel like we're given the freedom of a child and the responsibilities of an adult. We’re constantly asked to choose our future, our major, our career path, when we can't even choose our own curfew.”
“You always come and go as you please,” Dad said. “Surely you’re not feeling imposed upon.”
Frustrated, I rolled my eyes toward the exposed ceiling rafters. “Dad, this isn't going to work if you're constantly second-guessing what I'm saying. You just have to take it as it is and think about it.”
With a sigh, he folded his arms and rested them on the table. He lifted a hand and twirled it through the air as if saying, go on.
Feeling hopeless, I looked down at the table. None of this was getting through to my dad, but maybe it was just good to get it off my chest. “The thing that the movies get wrong is that we're not just kids going to school. We have things that we want to do, goals. We haven't given up on our dreams yet.”
I choked over that last sentence, because my dreams seemed farther away than ever before during a time that should have been all about possibilities. I had always wanted to have a loving relationship like my parents had before Mom passed, but at what cost? Would it take years of suffering and trial and acceptance before I could love Ryde? Would it be worth it?
Ryde reached across the low table and put his hand on my knee. “Zara is so right. When I was in high school, I was just trying to pass trig and get some girls to notice me. I wasn't thinking about much else.”
“Oh, they noticed you,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“What?” Ryde said.
I rolled my eyes again. “You know half of the senior class and most of the juniors were interested in you. Remember after you got your first role your senior year that one girl offered to pay a thousand dollars to switch lockers so she could be next to yours?”
Ryde smiled in a self-satisfied way. “Oh yeah, I remember that.”