Alfonso sat on the porch trying to push his crooked teeth to where he thought they belonged. He hated the way he looked. Last week he did fifty sit-ups a day, thinking that he would burn those already apparent ripples on his stomach to even deeper ripples, dark ones, so when he went swimming at the canal next summer, girls in cut-offs would notice. And the guys would think he was tough, someone who could take a punch and give it back. He wanted "cuts” like those he had seen on a calendar of an Aztec warrior standing on a pyramid with a woman in his arms. Why does Soto most likely open the story with this characterization of Alfonso?

a. to establish the idea that Alfonso cares a lot about how other people see him
b. to show that Alfonso has an unrealistic view of what makes people beautiful
c. to establish the idea that Alfonso is often in conflict with the people around him
d. to show that Alfonso has to work hard to look as good as other people do