Starfish

by Lisa Fipps

It’s unknown how many students’ lives librarians have saved by welcoming loners at lunch.

“You’d be so pretty” —and all the big girls in the world can finish this sentence in unison— “if you lost weight.”

A friend hears what you say with silence.

Fat people have one superpower. Their eyes are rulers, measuring spaces to see if they’ll fit.

But they think I’m unhappy because I’m fat. The truth is, I’m unhappy because they bully me about being fat.

You’re a little overweight as a kid. People hurt your feelings about it. You eat to bury the shame. People hurt you more. You eat more. Infinite loop.”