“I have no idea how we’re going to find something,” I said to Carly. We were at the mall, and we had worked our way through three shops already. Nothing I found worked for me. It was either too casual or too dressy, or it didn’t show off my ass or bunched around my waist.

“It’s not your wedding, Hailey,” Carly said, frustrated. “I’m sure we can find something if you’ll be a little less fussy.”

I turned to her. “Were you less fussy when you went out with Brad?”

She shook her head. “Fine,” she said because she knew I had a point. If it was a date, it wasn’t the same as any other event. And this wasn’t any old date, either. This was a date with the boy I had dreamed about during my entire high school career. This was a fantasy about to come true, and when it had all been perfect in my head for so long, it was hard to match that.

“Besides,” I said. “He doesn’t recognize me. Which means I get to start from scratch with him. This time, I get to do it the way I want it to be.”

Carly frowned and abandoned the dresses she had been combing through. She came to me, her hand on her hip. “Explain that to me,” she said. “What do you mean he doesn’t recognize you? You tutored him, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “I did, but I had ugly duckling syndrome.”

“What the hell is that?” Carly asked.

“You know the story of the Ugly Duckling, don’t you? Where the duckling is born so ugly, everyone rejects him only for him to come back a beautiful swan?”

“I know the story,” Carly said.

“Right. So, I was the ugly duckling. I only became all this,” I gestured to myself, “after high school. In school, I looked terrible. My hair was an absolute mess, I had these hideous braces, and my skin was horrible. All of that without makeup, which my mom wouldn’t let me wear, and a couple of pounds extra made me look a lot different than I do now.”

Carly blinked at me. “Are you kidding me?”

I shook my head. “I’m serious.” I laughed. “You wouldn’t have recognized me either, and we’re friends. Nick barely looked at me then. I guess a part of me isn’t surprised.”

“You have to show me,” Carly said.  “Do you have a photo?”

I laughed. “God, I don’t think I can handle you seeing me like that. I couldn’t handle anyone seeing me like that.”

“No, show me!” Carly insisted, and we bantered back and forth until I rolled my eyes, still laughing, and conceded. I took out my phone and logged onto Facebook. I had deleted all the photos of my younger self in my profile, but there were friends who still had class photos posted. I found one and enlarged it for Carly to see.

She took the phone and squinted at the screen. When she looked up at me, her eyes were shining.

“No way,” she said.

“I know.” I laughed. “If Nick didn’t even look at me then, he wouldn’t recognize me now.”

“I don’t blame him,” Carly said. “You’re hot now. I can figure out the braces and the weight, but how did you get your skin to clear up?”

I pulled up my shoulders. “After school, I finally found a skin care regime that worked, and I figured out that if I cut out dairy products, it makes a difference. I put a lot of effort into my skin. That and exercise and a lot of water apparently turned me into a swan.”

Carly shook her head, disbelieving.

“Incredible.” she said. “Well, you have no excuse not to be able to buy any dress right off the shelf for this date because no matter what you wear, you’ll look amazing.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “You’re a great friend, Carly.”

“Oh, believe me, I know.”

We laughed and continued to flip through the racks.

When I got ready for my date later, I was nervous. I’d had a crush on Nick for ages. I’d always wanted to go out with him, but I had never thought this day would come. It was a fantasy I had given up on a long time ago.

Now, it was finally happening.

When Nick arrived to pick me up, he wore suit pants with a teal green shirt, unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up halfway. He looked semi-formal and absolutely stunning. When he saw me, he grinned, and it was the melt-into-my-panties grin that I had seen on him in high school. My stomach erupted in butterflies.

“Well, don’t you look stunning?” he said, and I blushed.

I had found a dress that worked perfectly. It was a black dress with a lace overlay that covered my low neckline enough to leave something up to the imagination. It showed off my curves. It was short enough to be sexy but not so short as to be slutty, and I felt amazing in it.

And judging by the way Nick looked at me, he thought it looked amazing too.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Nick took me to Zuma, a Japanese Restaurant that looked out over the Miami River and to the islands across. The restaurant was something different than usual, and it was classy, the atmosphere perfect for a first date where we would start to get to know each other.

And dinner was spectacular, not only the food but the company. It was comfortable with Nick right away, as if we had been friends for years. I had never felt this at ease with someone, and I knew it wasn’t because I had known him before. It wasn’t because of the saké we tried, or the wine we drank when we didn’t like it either. It was because we got along on a level I didn’t think either of us had anticipated. We talked and ate and drank, and I felt like I was walking on air.

When dinner was finally over, neither of us wanted to head home. I didn’t want to end the night already, and I didn’t have the feeling Nick wanted it to end, either.

“I know it’s a little forward, but do you want to come back to my place and have another drink with me?”

I nodded. I knew what it could look like, but I didn’t usually do sex on a first date. I was a virgin, after all. And I wanted to spend more time with him.

Nick drove us back to his place and led me to the kitchen. I didn’t focus on my surroundings. All I could see was Nick and the way he looked at me like I was the most exotic thing he had ever seen. I loved the way he looked at me. It made me feel hot, a little flustered, but sexy.

He poured us each a glass of wine, and we stood on either side of a breakfast counter in the kitchen. We talked, but neither of us paid attention to the conversation. Nick leaned forward, interrupting me mid-sentence, and kissed me.

Desire tackled me, and I wanted him. God, I wanted him so badly. I may not have had sex, but I had done a hell of a lot of other things with men, and I knew what it felt like to be horny.

When Nick broke the kiss, his eyes were hungry, suggesting he felt the same way I did.

“I don’t usually voice things like this, but tonight is getting serious,” Nick said. “I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do.”

I was surprised at how open he was about it and how easy it seemed to answer him.

“I don’t think anything we’ll do would be something I don’t want,” I said and realized how coy it sounded. “I mean, I do want it.”

Nick grinned at me fumbling my words.

“But there’s something you must know,” I said. I took a deep breath. “I’m a virgin.”

Nick’s eyes widened, his lips parting in surprise. “How is that possible?” he asked. “Do you mind me asking why?”

I shrugged. “Because the right guy never came along, I guess. It’s got nothing to do with morality or religion or anything. It just never happened for me.”

I couldn’t tell what was going through Nick’s mind, but I didn’t get the feeling it was bad. In fact, it looked like it was very, very good.

“Okay, but any moment you don’t want this, you’ll tell me, right?” he asked. “I don’t want to rush you.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you. But we’re safe, I’m on the pill and everything.”

I realized how silly I sounded saying it like that, and I covered my mouth with my hand.

“I’m sorry, that was an overshare,” I said.

Nick laughed. “No, it’s fine. If you’re a virgin, why are you on the pill?”

I blushed. “It’s to regulate my periods. I don’t think I need to elaborate on that too much.”

Nick shook his head. “No, I get it. Well, I think it’s good you mentioned it. It’s good to know you’re safe.”

“I’m pretty sure it was a turn-off.”

“Let’s make it fair, then,” Nick said and leaned against the counter. “I had to do an STD screening for training, and I haven’t been with anyone since then. So, I’m safe too.”

With Nick sharing that with me, it made me feel better about what I had blurted out. He was a genuinely nice guy, going out of his way to make me feel better about it. I was pleasantly surprised at the person he had become. I had watched him grow from a boy to a young man, but he had had something reckless about him then that wasn’t there now.

What was left was all good. It was confidence and authority, and he had a goal and had worked toward something. At dinner, he had told me about how serious he was about his football career, and I admired it when people were serious about something and dedicated themselves to it.

Nick had also grown up as a man where his body was concerned. He wore semi-formal clothes now, but the shirt failed to hide how big his arms were, stretching across his muscle. His shoulders were wide, and when he had turned away from me now and then, I had caught a glimpse of a delicious ass, an ass I was sure was tight and muscular because of all his running. I had never been serious about someone’s looks, as an ugly duckling myself, I hadn’t ever had the right to judge. But there was something about a perfect body that was a complete turn-on, and Nick’s body was in peak condition.

Heat flushed through me and pooled between my legs. The alcohol in my system relaxed me enough to let go, and I was hot and horny and not scared to show it.

Nick leaned closer and closer, and I wanted him to kiss me again. I wanted him to do it all to me, to kiss me and touch me and taste me and fuck me.