You know, society is kind of like that friend you have who argues about every decision you make. A frienemy. A big, giant, fat frienemy. She pressures you and pressures you and then yells if you don’t do something she likes. She likes to mess with girls a lot.


So, Society and I have this mutual friend. We’ll call her Kate. Kate weighed a happy 154 pounds. She was fine with her weight; I was fine with her weight. However, Society wasn’t. Society told her, “You know, you’ll be turning sixteen soon. Don’t you want a boyfriend?” Kate did want a boyfriend. She’d been talking about this guy, Connor, for the past few weeks. I said, “Just go for it.” Society told her, “Lose some weight and you’ll be fine.” Because Society was thinner and prettier than me, Kate believed her. “Don’t you see, Kate?” Society sneered. “You’re fat.”


“I am,” Kate replied. So she stopped eating. She started exercising every day. I told her she was going to kill herself so she stopped. She got some meat back on her bones and some color back in her face. She looked nice.


Summer came and Kate was bikini ready. Well, she wasn’t tan. In fact, she was really pale. I said, “Don’t worry, Kate, you look great.” Society said, “Kate, don’t you want to be tan? Everyone will love you.” Society was tanner than me so Kate believed her. “Don’t you see, Kate? You’re pale.”


“I am,” Kate replied. So she laid out every day. I told her she was going to kill herself so she stopped. Summer left and her tan faded. She looked nice.


Kate was bullied at school by people who didn’t know a thing about her past her name. They told her she was fat, pale, gross, and dumb and she believed it all. She hurt herself trying to be accepted by Society’s posse.