Note to Little Miss Hot Pants WRITER | Nikki Igbo
ILLUSTRATOR | Catlin Scroggie
ear Young Lady Who Appears to Be Suffering from Heat in Both a Literal and Figurative Sense,
are barely covered by your shorts. I know why you felt comfortable enough wearing that get-up to school.
I’m not mad at you. I want to put my arm around your shoulders and give you a friendly squeeze. The truth is that I see a bit of my younger self in you. While some of our fellow classmates may whisper behind upheld palms or shake their heads in disapproval, I know exactly where you’re coming from. I know why you chose today’s fashion ensemble despite the cool temperatures predicted in today‘s forecast. I know why your butt cheeks
You were a late bloomer in high school, weren’t you? While other teenage girls had cleavage, hips, boyfriends and hickies you were a card-carrying member of the itty bitty you-know-what committee. Your face was pretty. Your hair was long and luxurious. But from the neck down, it wasn’t difficult to mistake you for a boy. You were a gangly collection of sharp angles and flat surfaces both coming and going. You hid your lack of
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feminine wiles in unnecessary layers of baggy clothes. With each passing year of your adolescence, you willed your body to take a curvier shape. You imagined yourself in tight little black dresses, tight little turtleneck sweaters, tight little skinny jeans with zippers at the ankles. You, however, lacked the appropriate form to fit into any of those things. Still you hoped. You did your bust-increasing exercises in the bathroom mirror. You made sure to sleep on your back or your side at night. You did step aerobics to round out your backside. You