Openmouthed, Ashley looked at Melissa. Melissa stared at her. Ashley shut her mouth, stepped out of the car, and slid into the backseat with me. She looked up at Melissa and then scooped up the puke with Melissa’s expensive sweater. I felt as though I had won some unnamed battle, that this round in the invisible fight was mine. Although it seemed impossible, I had found a way to hide. (144)
In this paragraph, the reader sees how Emily, at the age of sixteen, feels vulnerable to the speculation of boys and other people who are outside of her group of friends. She shows the reader how she truly feels during this tender age in her life by writing about a situation in which wearing a revealing skirt makes her feel extremely conscious about her prosthetic leg. She doesn’t want to feel as though she stands out at the party she and her friends are going to. This paragraph does a wonderful job at explaining just how important Emily’s appearance is to her at this stage in her life. Emily is so nervous about going to her first party, that she throws up in order to save herself from a situation of potential humiliation. Rapp says that she, “felt as though [she] had won some unnamed battle” (144) in which the battle was finding a way out of her mini skirt. “I found a way to hide” (144) Pertains to that way in which Emily feels like her prosthetic leg is what defines her, and by hiding it from view, she also feels like she is hiding the vulnerable and emotional part of herself as well. Although throwing up in her skirt is embarrassing all in itself, Emily finds it a rather appealing outcome in comparison to the humiliation she might have felt if she had gone into the party exposing her leg. This paragraph is an effective and necessary part of the story because Emily portrays her feelings about her appearance in a away that many young girls can relate. This excerpt evokes a feeling of empathy from the reader, which, in turn, creates a relationship between the narrator and the reader. The reader can easily visualize the situation at hand, and is able to feel as though he/she is there with Emily, experiencing the situation as she experiences it.