While his friends are all making out, or so he imagines, David reflects that he has never had a girl- or boyfriend, never kissed, never even held hands. During those rare moments when he is left alone in the house, he dresses up as a girl before wiping away the makeup and feeling like a stranger in his own body once more. David measures himself obsessively, is dismayed at the thought of stubble and covets his mother’s curves. Time is against him as a rising tide of testosterone elongates his skinny frame, lengthens his penis, makes his pale, blue-veined feet ugly and huge (“Kate Winslet is a size nine” offers his friend Felix encouragingly). Biology is sabotaging his longing to be petite and feminine. It is David’s isolation and quiet desperation that Williamson captures so well. Picturing their disappointment and distress, David cannot bring himself to confide in them. David has loving middle-class parents who suspect that all is not well with their son. The popular kids, in particular, show no compassion. With the exception of best friends Zoe and Felix, David’s fellow pupils display a predictable lack of understanding.
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