Ego Strokes

“Narcissism is not fundamentally about self love, but about an escape from love.” Chuck DeGroat

Standing at the vending machine in our school’s cafeteria, my crumpled dollar finally accepted, I punched the code for Funyons and reached down to retrieve my delicious fake onion rings. I stood up and found myself face to face with a high schooler. My 8th grade frame froze.

“So did you get any?” he asked.

My mind spun into motion trying to make sense of his question. I took it this was not about the sna...