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while they ate, their heads down in conspiracy.
    From what he could overhear, all of the guys they’d dated dumped them after finding out they threw up after said date had paid for a meal. Guess they were annoyed to find out their hard-earned dollars were being flushed down the toilet.
    “Jerks,” Teresa said.
    Mary-Jane played with the fake braid clipped above her ear. “Assholes.”
    Lard didn’t say much when he ate because he was really into his food. He actually liked it. Bones rolled on his gloves. He didn’t say much either, partly because he never talked with food in his mouth, but mainly because he didn’t want to do anything to make the ordeal last longer than necessary.
    Bones gagged on the disgusting sounds of people chewing. The rest of his egg-soaked toast would fit in his pocket if Unibrow and a nurse he’d never seen before weren’t circling the tables. He stared at his hands. His fingers were getting fatter. Another forty-three minutes and there wasn’t anything left on his plate but half a grapefruit rind.
    “I could’ve remained a wonderfully content anorexic with a future as an attic crawler,” Bones said.
    Lard looked confused.
    “The guys who work in attics fixing insulation and stuff,” Bones said, then joked, “or maybe I could’ve been a laxative salesman.”
    Lard smirked. “You’d soil your skivvies, man.”
    “That’s why washing machines were invented,” Mary-Jane added.
    Bones wanted to die.
    He needed a red M&M.
    When most of the plates were empty, Unibrow and the nurse let down their guards, chatting in the corner. Bones took a chance and stashed two knives under his shirt, praying like hell no one in the kitchen counted utensils.

9
    Most of the time, most of the girls wore pajamas to group session. Bones had to admit he liked it. Today, though, Teresa had on jeans that hung a little loose and a sweatshirt that read Worries Go Better with Bagels . She’d done something fluffy with her hair and had on lip gloss. She sat next to Lard, her thigh touching his. He seemed okay with it.
    Bones thought of Alice and wondered if she always wore tights. They were so thin, almost like a delicate layer of skin. It suddenly seemed so simple he was surprised he hadn’t thought of it before. Having a girlfriend who looked at the world the same way he did was just what he needed to improve his mood.
    “Who finished their writing assignment about emotions?” Dr. Chu asked.
    “Part of it,” said Sarah, a girl who reminded Bones of a friend of his sister’s because she also used her sunglasses like a headband.
    “Sort of,” said Nicole, a girl his age with braces.
    “Anyways, I finished mine then went to get a snack,” Elsie said, as obnoxious as ever. “And a mouse ate it. Then a cat ate the mouse. Like, seriously , I checked the litter box.”
    Everyone laughed.
    Dr. Chu passed around rainbow markers. “Reread your assignment, then highlight every word or passage that expresses a feeling.” He emphasized feeling with air quotes.
    “Literally or figuratively.”
    “What is this anyways?” Elsie asked. “Dumbbell English?”
    “I don’t mean to be disrespectful,” Mary-Jane added. Her feet were on the rung of her chair, knees poking through intentionally ripped pj’s. “But what’s the point?”
    Dr. Chu had a far-off look, like he was trying to come up with an intelligent answer. “Consider the word sorrow ,” he said. “It might mean a person is depressed or maybe heartbroken. Using general terms to describe a feeling can remove you from a more intimate experience of said emotion. So whenever possible, try to be specific.”
    It was hard to listen to someone who continually talked out of his ass. Especially someone with gravy stains on his tie.
    “Who’d like to share?”
    Lard frowned, took off his glasses, rubbed his nose.
    Bones picked lint off his sweats. Teresa bent forward like she might have something to say then changed her mind and leaned back.
    Sarah