The Pink Ghetto. Liz Ireland

      “For dinner, or a movie, or…”

      “You know what?” he said. “The truth is, I’m not even gonna be around much this summer.”

      She darted a look at him. “But—” She bit her lip.

      “No, see…I, uh, I’m going to be working on my uncle’s farm this summer. In Pennsylvania. I might be around occasionally, visiting…I mean, if you happen to run into me or something, that’s probably the explanation…”

      She faced forward. “I see.” He thinks I’m too fat to be his girlfriend. Her face burned.

      But maybe he wasn’t lying. Maybe he’d decided to turn down the country club job…

      Over the summer, her brother mentioned Jake in passing several times. He was a golf caddy at the country club all summer.

      Renata vowed that the next time a guy slept with her, he wouldn’t want to toss her away like an old tissue afterward. And the next time she saw Jake, she swore she’d knock him off of his feet.

      She waited until she had starved down thirty pounds, and then squeezed into a pair of shorts and went to the country club to see her brother. She happened to pass Jake, who walked right by her without recognizing her. He did a double-take, but by that time, she had noticed that he had a sunburn and a piggy nose. And she recalled that he wasn’t very bright.

      Besides, she’d spent a lot of time in the library in June, and after researching some back issues of Cosmo, she was fairly sure that sex was supposed to last longer than five seconds.