The Military Life

The guitar man and shopping.

Paco. That's what everyone called him. An amazing guitarist with the looks and personality any girl in her right mind would kill for.

He was tan, that perfect shade of bronze you think you could only get from a can? Oh yea, that was humans it was real. Dark brown, almost black hair that went to his eyes. It looked thick, soft and lush. His large brown eyes were always smiling and you couldn't help but smile back. His body was muscular but not in a gross beefy way. If any word could fit him better than perfect I think the world would end.

"Lila. Nice to meet you, Paco!"

"yea, you too!" he smiled. 'pearly, straight whites. A smile that could make you faint."

He turned back to his work then. I grinned and looked out the window. Another very attractive boy with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. Pale complexion and quite thin, Jace. was sitting right in the center of my view. Adjusting my view so I could look behind his head and into the trees.

"don't you know it's rude to stare?" he asked with a mocking look on his face. Proud he had caught me. I simply raised my eyebrow and turned my eyes even farther away. He wasn't worth the comeback. But I couldn't help the lusty thought filling my head that included him.

Class slowly came to a dull and boring close. I walked to lunch to sit with a few friends. Becca and Kate. "hey Lila, you want to go dress shopping next week for homecoming?"

"sure. When and where?"

"let's meet at the hauptstraße, k?"

"alright I can be there by noon on Saturday?"

"awesome!!"

The week went by slowly. I finally got the guts to ask Paul to homecoming. I was sitting at the bus stop when he rounded the corner across the street. He saw me and walked over giving me a small smile. I couldn't tell if it was polite or shy though. "hey umm, Paul." I started nervously." would you want to go to homecoming with me? It's a dance that my school is holding and I wanted to invite you." I somehow managed to retain eye contact with him. A feat if I say so.

"when is it?"

"about 2 weeks from now. On a Saturday."

"I could have a game that day. I will need to ask my soccer coach." he looked away.

I nodded in understanding. "okay. Umm. I'll ask you about it in a few days then."

"okay." he responded in his German accent. No matter how sexy it was. I think, looking back, I always knew he wouldnt go.

The day before we were to go shopping, it was Friday and we didn't have school. I got up early and showered. Leaving my hair wet and just throwing my hood up I trudged my way to the bus stop. He was standing there, looking delicious. "hi Paul."

"I thought you did not have school today?"

"oh, I don't. I was just wondering about the dance. I need to know so I buy tickets."

"I do not know yet. My coach has not said anything to me."

"right. Okay. Well, I need to go back then. Sorry for bugging you." I turned and slowly made my escape. What confidence I had gained was shattered in that moment and I lost a bit of faith as well.

'don't sulk. Just get over it. You don't need a date anyways. You're gonna rock it on your own.' I thought. And it helped.

My day was spent listening to music and cleaning.

The next day. Goodness it was crazy up here on a Saturday. The hauptstraße was flooding with people. I had caught an early bus up to Heidelberg and managed to get to the meeting area fairly quickly. But it was cold and I still had quite a while to wait. About half an hour before noon I started to walk up and down the crowded shopping plaza, hoping to find becca and Kate. on about my 3rd trip down I finally saw them and a guy I hadn't ever really talked to. "finally" I almost yelled when I got within reach of them. "where should we start?"

"wherever you want." we already have our dresses so today is just you." Kate responded.

"okay. Any suggestions?"

And we walked. From one end to the other. At the first store I found several very cute dresses. All were 30€ out of my price range.

"Tom said he'll give you the rest." Kate told me.

"no. I couldn't do that. It's not fair. Thank you though." I hated pity, and I hated help.

And so we walked. Again.

After another 3 dead ends on the perfect dress we walked into one store. It was bright and lively. I had hope. So the search began. I tried on 3-4 dresses. The first was a simple lacy black dress with a metallic gray fabric underneath. And let's just say, it showed way too much in the areas that didn't need any limelight.

My second dress was a short strapless dress that was all, and I mean ALL sequins. The bust was tight but fit loose enough that the heart cut sagged just enough to reveal a large amount of completely bare cleavage. But I loved it. Everyone agreed. The sales lady even went as far as saying my chest looked perfect.

My third dress, the dress I chose was a strapless, knee length, royal purple dress. It fit tight around the bust and upper waist before flaring out in a tutu-esque way. It fit perfectly and suited me.

The rest of the day was spent finding accessories and ended in a delicious cup of coffee from Starbucks. Homecoming was next week. And I damn sure was ready to rock it.