TOM

Have you ever run your fingers along the pages of a brand new magazine? I like to feel the smooth, perfect pages…not a dent. I trace my finger along the lips, eyes, mouth, nose…of each beautiful woman. Loreal. Chanel. GAP. CVS. If I could dive into the pages and live there, I would. And I would never look back.

RONAN

I just got back from GNC. I spent a lot on protein shakes. Tryin’ ta bulk up, ya know? (Small laugh). My brothers and I are going skiing with my Dad. Don’t wanna get let behind on the slopes. It’s not all bad, really. I just sometimes wish I could be like them. That would be a hoot.

AMIR

I dream. I dream of seeing my toes. Just for one blissful second. To look down and see. Nails. Feet. Ground. But I am not this man. And as the food slides down my throat, I float further away from him—this man who can see his toes.

TOM

Sometimes I know that no matter what I eat, I will never be full. I will never be…filled. So why even bother?

AMIR

I’ll never pass the presidential fitness test, I think while laying awake at night—pretending I can’t remember that there is box of twinkies under my bed…two boxes.

RONAN

I imagine that I could grow so tall, so impossibly tall, that everyone would look up and think “what is blocking the sun” and that thing would be…me.

TOM

Sometimes I push my food around my plate and spell my name. The peas say “Tom” the mashed potatoes-- “Tom”, the ground beef, “Tom”. And with the gravy I write it in cursive.

AMIR

I broke a chair once in the third grade. I told everyone tt was broken before. But I know the truth. I broke that chair. With the weight of the world. My weight. My world.