My eyes level with the Sports Illustrated model while standing at the grocery checkout. We were in a staring contest just below the conveyor belt. Her tanned body was twisted, her hands were touching her thighs and she wasn’t smiling. I would yell “cheese” when a camera pointed my way, so it was odd that someone at the beach wouldn’t be happy.
Why are you lying on the beach like that? It doesn’t look comfortable.
Mom chatted with the clerk, and the beep of the scanner started.
Do you like to swim in the ocean?
“Credit or debit?”
Have you ever seen a shark?
She never answered me. Maybe because she couldn’t talk, or maybe she could but not to me. The eggs were put carefully into a bag because if no one was paying attention they could easily break.
My mom said “Thank you,” took my hand and led me away from the mysterious magazine girl.
The next time at the checkout counter, a similar girl on a similar beach wearing a brighter bathing suit sat in a magazine at my eye level. I watched the man ahead of us pick her up, scroll through her pages and buy her.
I wondered if she answered his questions. I wonder if he asked her any.
This article is a part of The Ubyssey's 2023 creative non-fiction supplement, beauty.