In these condescending moments Travis thought Iris was being a bit too much like a girl. But what confused her was that when Iris was at her girliest, Travis would feel a pleasant gnawing sensation in the pit of her stomach. When Iris and family unexpectedly returned to Boston (father had danced a little too closely with his mambo teacher) Travis took to her bunk bed, refusing to speak to anyone, refusing to eat. The gnawing in her stomach became a rhythmic spasm, and Travis imagined it was a giant sea anemone, digesting itself from the inside out.

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