Page 59 of The Ground Beneath Our Feet
“Jessica?”
I didn’t answer.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me in.”
I didn’t say anything at first. And then, “Okay.”
She opened the door and looked down and saw me on the ground. Trevor peeked over her shoulder, then disappeared.
She entered the tiny dressing room and sat down next to me. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I said, giving her a small smile.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I know.”
“But I think you should.”
No.
“There are times when I need to push people, and this is one. If I let you walk out of here, you’d feel worse than if you did it.”
I shook my head.
“What’s the worst thing that can happen to you?”
“You make fun of me. The pictures make me look fat. But they will, because I am fat.”
“I’m not going to make fun of you.” She reached over and touched my cheek. “Trust me. I’ll show you. Do you want Trevor to go?”
No. He made me feel beautiful. I shook my head.
“Give me a second.”
Summer came back holding some photographs. One by one, I looked at them. They were pictures of big, beautiful women that she’d photographed. All skin colors. All hair colors. Different ranges of dressing or undressing. A few were amputees. One wore a military uniform.
They all looked strong, sexy, and attractive.
“You want to do this?”
I shrugged.
She looked over at Trevor. “Do we need to do this the old-fashioned way?”
“What’s the old-fashioned way?” I asked.
“He and I can do this in our underwear too,” she said.
I burst out loud laughing. “No, that’s not necessary.”
“Both of us have things we love and hate about our bodies. Everyone has things they love and hate about their bodies. It’s part of society, part of what makes us human. But you don’t have to buy into it. You can just love your body as it is.”
“Okay.”
