In the morning, before school, Jeremy does what he calls an Appearance Check on himself in the mirror. He focuses on his physical features as unattractive. He mentions that his hair has dandruff, which used to be a source of fun for him and Michael when they would compete to see who had more of it but now causes him to feel shame and disgust with himself. He considers getting plastic surgery to change his appearance. His father enters the bathroom while Jeremy is looking in the mirror. Jeremy is embarrassed by his father’s shameless nudity and his overweight body. When his mother opens the door to check on them, he looks at the wrinkles in her face that are not yet hidden by makeup. Jeremy’s dislike of his own appearance transfers onto his parents, and he decides that they look like “an example of people who shouldn’t breed and what their offspring would be” (40).

Jeremy walks to school. He explains that at Middle Borough High School, any person in a class above freshman is cool only if they have a car or get a ride with a person who has a car. Poor students ride the bus, and “dorky” students ride to school with their parents.