Dumplin' (Dumplin', #1)

Mitch mentions that Willowdean didn’t return his texts over the weekend, and she tells him that she was studying for the World History exam. Mitch also references the pageant and wants to know if Willowdean wants him to be her escort. Knowing she is being selfish because she needs an escort, she says yes.

Millie tells Willowdean how great she thought their pageant practice session with Lee was and admits that because her family is religious, she always thought people like Dean and Lee were “living in sin” (294), but she now realizes they are good people. Millie has Willowdean, Amanda, and Hannah sleep over her house one Friday night. Bo drops Willowdean off at Millie’s house and tells Willowdean that he thinks she is “ten times hotter than any beauty queen” (299).

While at Millie’s, the girls can’t talk about the pageant because Millie’s parents don’t know she has entered. Millie admits to forging her mother’s signature on the form. Millie asked her parents if she could enter, but they said no. Hannah makes a snide remark, and Willowdean asks Hannah why she is even there hanging out with Will, Millie, and Amanda. Hannah says that she could say the same thing about Willowdean, and that Will only hangs out with Millie, Amanda, and Hannah because she got into a fight with Ellen.