We Never Made The Headlines – Stephanie Bennett-Henry

I was born beautiful. I was born capable of conquering the world with tiny feet and cheeks blushed over with dreams. Chunky monkey, you have it all. I believed it. I believed in everything. Hands filled with stars that I threw up in the sky myself… and I watched the first one fall when I learned that perfection wasn’t something that stayed as an unconditional promise of inner beauty… no. Fingers pointing at me like a built in radar alerting me to the fat. The fat. Fat. Fat. It’s ugly. It’s gross. But fat wasn’t fat on the football team. Big fat ass… muscle! Power! Man! Roar! Tough guy… run that ball. Worship you. You don’t see any fat cheering on the sideline, do you? Of course not. But if you did, you can bet that’s what everyone would be talking about. And the sluts… the sluts that can’t…