It wasn’t only his size they mocked. His eating habits—burgers, fries, and endless fast food—became the perfect ammunition for bullies. One harsh Wednesday, Lucas tried to escape it all by eating lunch in the library, the one place he thought was safe. But even there, torment found him. Derek, the ringleader of the cruelest group in class, cornered him with a half-eaten cheeseburger.
“Hey, Lucas, want a bite? Oh wait, looks like you’ve had enough already,” Derek sneered, sending the group into hysterics. Lucas’s face flamed red as he scanned desperately for an escape. He felt trapped, humiliated, and utterly alone.
He tried to laugh it off, but the sting lingered long after. At night, when the house grew quiet, he drowned his pain in food. A large pizza and a bottle of Coke became his silent companions.
Lucas hadn’t always been this way. He had always been a little bigger than the other boys thanks to his sweet tooth, but things spiraled during middle school. While his peers shot up in height and muscle, his body grew sideways. Self-consciousness grew into a constant weight on his shoulders, and friendships became harder to hold onto.