Curvy Girls Can't Date Quarterbacks - Kelsie Stelting Page 0,23

up on social media for everyone to see just how out of place I was. And when my best friend, who had stuck with me through all that, moved to New York, it was easy to just let it all go and focus on my art. On tutoring and school and the diets and exercise routines my mom gave me.

“That’s what I thought,” Zara said. “Look, I know it can’t happen in a day, but you need to understand that you are every bit as beautiful as Merritt Alexander.”

Now I rolled my eyes. “You don’t need to lie to me. We’re different, and that’s okay.”

“No.” Zara took my chin and made me look into her intense dark eyes. “You don’t need to make excuses for why you don’t deserve as good as Merritt has in life. Everyone’s different. That doesn’t mean less.”

Her words seemed so at odds with what I felt. How could I reconcile her opinion with the truth I’d accepted about myself?

“Look,” she said, dropping her hand from my chin. “Just try it, for a while. Act like Merritt. Pretend like the world owes you all the good it has. And tell that stupid voice in your head to shut up. Then see what happens. You might be surprised.”

My lips twitched as I nodded. “I’ll try it.” I wanted to be the girl Zara said I was. Believe I was the type of girl Beckett could be attracted to. “But how am I going to get Beckett on his own?”

Zara smiled at us, a devious twinkle in her eye. “Be there.”

Jordan and Ginger gave each other a look, and Jordan said, “That’s our master plan?”

“’Proximity doesn’t breed familiarity,’” Ginger quoted from Let it Snow.

Callie shrugged. “But it does give her an opportunity for more.”

“So, I shadow him,” I said. “Then what?”

Zara smiled. “You act like the prize you are. Callie, can you get Beckett’s schedule from Carson? And can he tell us about parties they’re having?”

Slowly kicking her feet in the water, Callie said, “Since the last party got busted, no one’s wanting to have one at their house.”

Zara frowned. “Maybe we could have one?”

Ginger shook her head. “My parents would end me.”

“Ditto,” I said.

Callie nodded. “Carson would tell my dad.”

I scrunched my eyebrows. “Like, to get you in trouble?”

“No, they’re just weirdly close,” Callie explained. “So my house is out.”

“And there’s no way I’m having anyone out to my apartment,” Jordan said. “Couldn’t we have it here?”

Zara shook her head. “Security would tell my dad, and that would be the end of it.”

We each frowned at the roiling water of the hot tub.

“Seaton Beach!” Jordan said. “It’s the perfect spot.”

Ginger wrinkled her nose. “Really?”

Jordan nodded. “There’s this spot that’s out of sight, and the townies always have their parties at the pier, so there’s no way we’d get caught or compete for space.”

I chewed over the idea. “But getting people out to Seaton might be kind of hard...”

“It could work.” Zara’s eyes lit up. “I can get Zach to send some booze out there. That should be incentive enough.”

“Zach?” Ginger asked.

Zara rolled her eyes. “This guy my dad’s trying to set me up with. He’s all about the grand gestures.”

“Your dad’s trying to set you up?” Callie asked. “I’m pretty sure the only reason my dad even lets me hang out with Carson is because he’s practically my brother.”

Some of the light left Zara’s eyes. “It’s in my culture to have an arranged marriage.”

If I had a drink in my mouth, I would have spat it out. “Marriage? You’re still in high school!”

She nodded slowly. “I’ve begged, kicked, and screamed, and none of it’s worked. So let me focus on you. It’s easier.” She reached over the side of the hot tub and started tapping into her phone. “The word’s out. Party tomorrow night.”

Fourteen

I stared at the outfit hanging over Zara’s glass shower door. The tags were still on from our shopping spree earlier today, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the cost. The mid-length pleated skirt stared back at me in all of its mustard-yellow glory. But so did the navy-blue and white striped crop top.

When Zara had pulled the items out of one of our many shopping bags, I’d balked immediately. I’d never worn a crop top in my life. Mostly because I thought my boobs would hang out the bottom. Partially because the idea of something not covering my stomach made me want to crawl and hide in my room. But she