Dumplin

Mitch mentions that Willowdean didn’t return his texts over the weekend, and she tells him that she was studying for the World History exam. Mitch also references the pageant and wants to know if Willowdean wants him to be her escort. Knowing she is being selfish because she needs an escort, she says yes.

Millie tells Willowdean how great she thought their pageant practice session with Lee was and admits that because her family is religious, she always thought people like Dean and Lee were “living in sin” (294), but she now realizes they are good people. Millie has Willowdean, Amanda, and Hannah sleep over her house one Friday night. Bo drops Willowdean off at Millie’s house and tells Willowdean that he thinks she is “ten times hotter than any beauty queen” (299).

While at Millie’s, the girls can’t talk about the pageant because Millie’s parents don’t know she has entered. Millie admits to forging her mother’s signature on the form. Millie asked her parents if she could enter, but they said no. Hannah makes a snide remark, and Willowdean asks Hannah why she is even there hanging out with Will, Millie, and Amanda. Hannah says that she could say the same thing about Willowdean, and that Will only hangs out with Millie, Amanda, and Hannah because she got into a fight with Ellen.

Later that night, Willowdean, who sleeps on the couch in Millie’s living room, wakes up to Hannah drinking beer from the fridge in Millie’s house. Willowdean talks to Hannah about Bo, and Hannah talks about not getting her teeth fixed because her parents couldn’t afford it. Hannah says that she wanted to ruin the pageant when she entered, but then her mother found her pageant welcome packet and was so proud of Hannah for entering that Hannah is stuck competing.

Willowdean’s mother works on Willowdean’s dress for the pageant. Will likes it, but her mother thinks it is too tight and won’t give her approval. Additionally, she says that she thought Will would lose weight before competing. Will tells her mother she is happy with her body and if her mother isn’t, then she should try harder. Additionally, Willowdean’s mother returns to cleaning out Lucy’s room and Mrs. Dixon and Will again fight. Willowdean thinks her mother is trying to get rid of any memory of Lucy, while her mother thinks Willowdean is holding on too hard to Lucy.

Mitch visits Willowdean at Harpy’s to drop off magic supplies for Willow’s talent show performance. When he walks into the Harpy’s break room, he finds Willowdean wrapped in Bo’s arms. Bo leaves, and Mitch asks Willowdean if she likes Bo. She admits she does, and Mitch leaves. When Bo drives Willowdean home that night, he asks her to be his girlfriend. He tells her that she is beautiful, but Will’s insecurities still get the best of her: “Beautiful, he says. Fat, I think. But can’t I be both at the same time?” (317). Willowdean says, “I can’t” (317), as her insecurities take over again.

In school, Mitch tells Willowdean that he doesn’t think that he should be her pageant escort, and Will tells Mitch that she didn’t mean for him to get hurt. In the hall on the way to class, Willowdean sees Ellen crying, but Ellen runs away before Will can ask her what is wrong.

Willowdean has decided that she can’t do the pageant. She texts Millie, Amanda, and Hannah telling them this and apologizing for the short notice. Hannah goes to Willowdean’s house to convince Will to change her mind. She tells Willowdean that Millie’s parents found out about the pageant and told Millie that if Willowdean was in the pageant, Millie could be too.