Angus Bethune (narrator) is an overweight football player at Lake Michigan High School who, through dubious means, is nominated the King of the Winter Ball. The crush of his life, Melissa Lefevre was nominated Queen, and Angus is forced to either show up and risk embarrassment, or stay home and face humiliation. Angus goes to the dance and Melissa not only handles the situation with grace and kindness, but admits that she has her own body image issues and is in treatment for bulimia. Body image and social perception are strong themes in this short, upbeat story where the guy does get the girl. Advice from Crutcher through Grandpa Bethune is, “Screw ‘em. Anybody who doesn’t like the way you look, screw ‘em.”
