Dumplin

It’s summer vacation and Willowdean loves swimming. She and Ellen swim in Ellen’s community pool. The two go to the pool on an especially hot summer day and have to share one lawn chair because of the crowd. As Willowdean floats in the pool, a young boy tells her that she looks like she is “dead” (29).

Ellen has met up with a guy and girl, and the three are talking around the one shared lawn chair when Willowdean reaches the grass after leaving the pool. Ellen introduces “[her] best friend Will” (29) to Callie and Callie’s boyfriend, Bryce. Callie works at Sweet 16 with Ellen, and Ellen tells Will that Callie is taking part in the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant. She tells Callie that Will’s mother runs the pageant. Callie laughs at the idea of Will entering in the pageant, to which Will replies: “Why wouldn’t I?” (30). Callie remarks how it is obvious that Will wouldn’t compete.

After the exchange about the pageant, Will tells the others that she needs to use the bathroom at Ellen’s house. Ellen reminds her that there are public restrooms at the pool, but Will has already run off. Ellen follows her. Upset that El didn’t say anything when Callie laughed at the idea of Will in the pageant, Will insults Callie to Ellen. Ellen tells Will that Will doesn’t have to be friends with Callie but that she should be nice to her.

After the meeting with Callie at the pool and spending time helping Ellen pick out lingerie to wear the first time she has sex with Tim, Willowdean has to go to work. When Marcus makes a comment about Willowdean’s attitude, mumbling something about PMS, Bo stands up for Willowdean telling Marcus that Marcus doesn’t need to make up an excuse for Willowdean to have a bad day.

Earlier in the day, Callie had told Ellen and Willowdean that Bekah Cotter was the stiffest competition at this year’s pageant. That night, Bekah Cotter comes into the restaurant, and Will thinks: “Callie’s right. Bekah will enter the pageant, and she’ll probably win. She’s one of those pretty girls you try so hard to hate. But she’s nice and kind of talented. Well, if you count baton twirling a talent” (38). Willowdean can’t help but notice that Bekah is helping Bo pick up trash in the dining room. Millie and her friend Amanda also come into Harpy’s Burgers & Dogs that night.

When Willowdean goes on break, she finds a “red sucker” in her work locker: “It’s one of those fancy ones that sits in the wooden stand at the grocery store checkout” (30). She knows that it is from Bo because Bo is constantly sucking on red suckers and his lips are always stained red. She thinks about texting Ellen about the gift, but she doesn’t because she thinks that Ellen could be having sex at that moment. Willowdean thinks about Ellen talking to Callie about sex with Tim, noting that Callie has “probably done it” (40), so she could give Ellen advice that Willowdean, a virgin, couldn’t. Even though she has completed her work, Willowdean finds ways of staying at Harpy’s while Bo cleans up. At the end of the night, Willowdean thanks Bo for the red sucker.

The next time Willowdean goes to work, Ron, her boss, informs her that they will be using new cups that read that Harpy’s is an official sponsor for the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant. At closing time, Ron and Marcus quickly leave to go home while Willowdean and Bo clean up. Outside, Bo tells Willowdean that there’s a meteor shower that night and suggests they wait for it.

While waiting, Willowdean asks Bo about his family. He remains silent. Willowdean apologizes for asking, and Bo admits that he likes talking to her but that he doesn’t do a lot of talking. Bo admits that his mother died five years ago. He takes Willowdean’s hand while the radio plays behind them and the meteor shower starts.

When Willowdean wakes up the next morning, she feels she should call Ellen and tell her about her night with Bo. Willowdean decides not to call because she isn’t ready to share her night with anyone.

Callie and her boyfriend show up at Harpy’s on a Saturday night. Callie tells Willowdean that she forgot Willowdean works at Harpy’s and that the Harpy’s uniform is “the worst” (50). After ordering, Callie asks Willowdean if one day, Ellen and Callie could come to Willowdean’s house to talk to her mother about the pageant. Callie also references Ellen and an “oral mishap” (50) between Ellen and Tim. El has not told Willowdean about what happened, but Willowdean plays it off as if she knows all about it when talking with Callie.

Willowdean and Bo take out the trash at the end of the night. Outside, Bo tells Willowdean that he liked hanging out with her when they watched the meteor shower together. Bo kisses Willowdean, and Willowdean thinks: “My first kiss. It’s the fastest thing that lasts forever” (52).

Willowdean leaves work quickly. All she can think about is her first kiss with Bo. As she drives home, Bo pulls his car aside from Willowdean’s car and apologizes for kissing her. He convinces Willowdean to follow him. As she follows Bo's car, she thinks about whether to trust him:

I probably shouldn’t follow a guy I only kind of know down a dark road in the middle of the night. Because he could, like, kill me, and then it wouldn’t matter if I was fat or if my first kiss had been next to a dumpster, because I’d be super screwed (53).

Willowdean follows Bo to a playground at the edge of town. When Bo again apologizes for kissing Willowdean, she asks why he kissed her. Bo says he couldn’t help but kiss her. He also says that he thinks she kissed him back. Willowdean downplays how she feels about the kiss and lies to Bo: “It didn’t suck. It just wasn’t, like, explosion” (57). It starts to rain, so they get in Bo’s car. They start kissing and Bo apologizes, but this time, Willowdean tells him not to be sorry. Then Bo says he shouldn’t be dating anyone right now.

When Willowdean’s mother sends Willowdean to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, the only parking place Willowdean can find is in front of All That Shines, the jewelry store that provides Texas with its Blue Bonnet pageant crowns. The sign above the parking spot indicates that the space is for customers only, so Willowdean stops at All That Shines to ask if she can park there as she quickly runs to the pharmacy. When asked if she wants to see the crowns for that year’s pageant, Willowdean can’t help but say yes. Donna from the jewelry store asks Willowdean if she wants to try on the crown, and Willowdean agrees.

Meanwhile, Willowdean has been telling herself over and over that she “will not kiss Bo Larson” (67) even though she feels electricity every time her hand accidently touches Bo’s hand while they work together on an especially busy night at Harpy’s. Despite her promise to herself, she and Bo kiss in the parking lot after work that night.