A Work in Progress

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses anti-fat bias, bullying, body dysmorphia, disordered eating, and self-harm.

From his seventh-grade perspective, Will reminisces on fourth grade in his journal. He was chatting in the hallway with friends when Nick Fisher derisively called him “fat” and began to bully him. Will’s friend Dave tried to step in, but Will ran away.

These words stayed in Will’s brain, sneaking up out of nowhere until they were so internalized that he didn’t “even need / the Nick Fishers of the world” to make him feel inferior (10).

After Nick’s insults, Will’s friends Dave, Andrew, and Devin found him crying in a bathroom stall. They cheered him up by calling Nick a “jerk” and a “loser.” Will could tell they thought the situation was behind them, and Will went along with it. Only in retrospect does he realize that he felt subliminally thankful that they still wanted to be friends with a “fat kid.” He thought if he revealed his negative emotions, his friends would cut him out. He learned how to “hide in plain sight” (19).