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Fat Girl On A Plane
Kelly deVos
In the world of fashion, being fat is a cardinal sin.Nothing about Cookie’s new life is turning out like she planned. When the fashion designer of the moment offers her what she’s always wanted—an opportunity to live and study in New York—she finds herself in a world full of people more interested in putting women down than dressing them up. Her designs make waves, but her real dream of creating great clothes for people of all sizes seems to grow more distant by the day.Will she realise that she’s always had the power to make her own dreams come true?From debut author Kelly deVos comes an unforgettable novel about smart fashion, pursuing your dreams, and loving yourself.
FAT.
High school senior Cookie Vonn’s postgraduation dreams include getting out of Phoenix, attending Parsons and becoming the next great fashion designer. But in the world of fashion, being fat is a cardinal sin. It doesn’t help that she’s constantly compared to her supermodel mother—and named after a dessert.
Thanks to her job at a fashion blog, Cookie scores a trip to New York to pitch her portfolio and appeal for a scholarship, but her plans are put on standby when she’s declared too fat to fly. Forced to turn to her BFF for cash, Cookie buys a second seat on the plane. She arrives in the city to find that she’s been replaced by the boss’s daughter, a girl who’s everything she’s not—ultrathin and superrich. Bowing to society’s pressure, she vows to lose weight, get out of the friend zone with her crush and put her life on track.
SKINNY.
Cookie expected sunshine and rainbows, but nothing about her new life is turning out like she planned. When the fashion designer of the moment offers her what she’s always wanted—an opportunity to live and study in New York—she finds herself in a world full of people more interested in putting women down than dressing them up. Her designs make waves, but her real dream of creating great clothes for people of all sizes seems to grow more distant by the day.
Will she realize that she’s always had the power to make her own dreams come true?
A third-generation native Arizonan, KELLY DEVOS can tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about cacti, cattle and climate. She holds a BA in creative writing from Arizona State University, and her work has been featured in Normal Noise and 202 Magazine. All proceeds from this book will be used on shoe subscription boxes and designer sunglasses. Follow Kelly on Twitter, @kdevosauthor (https://twitter.com/KdeVosAuthor).
Also By Kelly Devos (#u7655f012-796f-5f0f-a838-79072f14cb21)
Fat Girl on a Plane
is Kelly deVos’s first title
with Harlequin TEEN!
Fat Girl on a Plane
Kelly Devos
Copyright (#u7655f012-796f-5f0f-a838-79072f14cb21)
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Kelly Devos 2018
Kelly Devos asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Ebook Edition © June 2018 ISBN: 9781474084048
“Bold, unique, and completely original, Fat Girl on a Plane is unafraid to stand up and take action. A debut both spirited and inventive, much like its indomitable heroine.”
—Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of Firsts
“A savvy, smart, and funny book about embracing your body and taking control of your destiny.”
—Kathleen Glasgow, author of the New York Times bestselling novel Girl in Pieces
Contents
Cover (#ub28d29b7-1af0-5b57-9a41-082e7a1a9a3f)
Back Cover Text (#uca2d7400-03ad-580a-9ad8-bb91d4e75db5)
About the Author (#u83926ca4-b402-56dd-85a8-29d9e5dc3a12)
Booklist (#u98ba1fb9-bd6c-5311-a4b2-4e23d46a7766)
Title Page (#u49f18f96-95cb-5937-922a-c0267696b20e)
Copyright (#ucb949060-4626-569f-9820-711eacbead99)
Praise (#ua3ac4aad-5c8d-5676-a3c6-8670d553aa7a)
AUTHOR’S NOTE (#u740dea95-269b-508e-853b-00fce1661487)
SKINNY: Day 738 of NutriNation (#u31074fa5-0fc8-556e-87f6-8dee13c4c3d7)
FAT: Two days before NutriNation (#u83566dd4-97ac-5613-a610-aa933a56ee62)
SKINNY: Later on Day 738 (#ubcdd0826-8f2a-5bd1-9225-a09f01328068)
FAT: Two days before NutriNation (two seats take me to New York) (#u22759ece-ccdd-5dfe-a3b9-2361fcc0cf15)
SKINNY: Day 738...details (#uc49a5199-d741-54ea-ae6b-6745c4cfa65e)
FAT: Two years before NutriNation (#u82069547-0849-53d5-b535-c7950c40fb88)
SKINNY: Day 738 and strange benefactors (#u9b56d771-aac6-5cc0-898c-f91d1fca3938)
FAT: Three years before NutriNation and fat camp sucks (#u851104aa-7525-54cc-9c2a-fca75e41d3ba)
SKINNY: Day 738 of NutriNation and there’s nothing to eat (#uaa98c91d-be3b-54fd-aee5-31a5e2414a7f)
FAT: One day before NutriNation (#ufa5e12a4-69c5-5467-92a1-d26186d11560)
SKINNY: Day 739 of NutriNation (#ubdba8997-991f-5cb9-b91f-6fcc7d094aca)
FAT: Days 1–2 of NutriNation (#u52b1794e-8f2d-5f8b-9f29-3c55933ca73d)
SKINNY: Days 739–740 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Day 6 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Day 740 of NutriNation...the fine print (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Day 9 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Days 741–742 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Day 13 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Day 749 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Day 15 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Day 752 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Day 28 of NutriNation...the middle of the night (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Days 757–772 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Days 31–32 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Days 780–781 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Day 48 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Days 816–822 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Days 98–104 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: The odyssey of Day 822 continued (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Days 111–114 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Days 824–847 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Days 119–122 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Days 847–848 get even weirder (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Days 265–266 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Days 848–855 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Days 294–312 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Day 855...a wake (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Days 326–353 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Days 856–863 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
FAT: Day 737 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
SKINNY: Day 866 of NutriNation (#litres_trial_promo)
Day 1 of the rest of my life (#litres_trial_promo)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
AUTHOR’S NOTE (#u7655f012-796f-5f0f-a838-79072f14cb21)
This is not a Cinderella weight loss story.
I can remember the exact moment I knew I wanted to write this book. Like my character Cookie Vonn, I was declared too fat to fly on a trip from Phoenix to Salt Lake City. As I sat there clutching my copy of Vogue magazine, terrified that I might not be allowed to board the plane and that I might never see my luggage again, I was struck by certain aspects of my situation. First, that airplanes, by nature of the cramped spaces they create, can become places where some reveal their intense dislike of plus-size people. But also that so many industries, like fashion and beauty, thrive and profit not by elevating the girls and women they are supposed to service but by making them feel bad about themselves.
So I wrote the first chapter, where Cookie boards her first plane. I decided to tell this story using dual timelines that show her before and after a major weight loss to demonstrate, by direct comparison, how differently society treats those considered thin and those it views as “overweight.”
I have a long history of dieting, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Often, I was motivated by a desire to fit into that “perfect dress” for a special event or to make myself more attractive to someone else. I was convinced that being fat was holding me back. But I’ve realized I was holding myself back. I kept myself from meeting new people, going places I wanted to go and doing the things I wanted to do.
I had to let go of that.
And here I am living my dream of becoming a published author.
I don’t know if I will decide to lose weight in the future, but if I do, my efforts will be wellness focused and will not be the result of pressure or shaming. If you decide to diet, that’s okay. If you don’t, that’s okay too. Your body is no one’s business but your own. We are more than just our bodies.
We are the sum of our abilities and accomplishments and hopes and dreams and friendships and relationships. It’s what we are inside that matters.
Kelly
SKINNY: Day 738 of NutriNation (#u7655f012-796f-5f0f-a838-79072f14cb21)
No. You can’t just buy two seats in advance. That would be easy.
Let’s say you weigh five hundred pounds and know for a fact you can’t fit into a single seat on the plane. It doesn’t matter. One person equals one seat reservation. You can thank global terrorism for that one.
I’m waiting for my flight to New York to start boarding.
I watch the fat girl at the airline counter. She’s about the same age as me, with a cute pink duffel bag that’s covered with patches.
The girl’s talking to the flight attendant, trying not to cry. “What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to get home?”
Maybe I should tell her how it works. Two years ago, I was her. Two years ago, I weighed three hundred and thirty pounds. They said I was too fat to fly.
