Future Perfect

Ashley Maria Perkins. 50 pounds for a trip to Disneyland.

Ashley Maria Perkins. 75 pounds for a shopping trip in Paris.

Ashley Maria Perkins. 80 pounds for a new car.

Every year on her birthday, Ashley Perkins gets a card from her grandmother. Pretty standard, right? But like clockwork, every year, Ashley’s card also contains a promise: lose enough weight, and I will buy your happiness.

Ashley doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the way she looks. She knows exactly how she fits into her life, wide hips and all. But no amount of arguing can persuade her grandmother that “fat” isn’t a dirty word—that Ashley is happy with her life, and her body, as it is.

But Ashley wasn’t counting on having her dreams served up on a silver platter at her latest birthday party. She falters when Grandmother offers the one thing she’s always wanted: tuition to attend Harvard University.

Ashley wants it—she can’t deny it. But their annual negotiation has upped its stakes—Grandmother wants her to get weight-loss surgery in return for the money.

As Ashley grapples with the choice that little white card has given her, she feels pressured by her friends, her family, even administrators at school. They all believe that Ashley could be her best self if she would just listen to them. But what’s a girl to do when the reflection in her mirror seems to bother everyone but her?