Heather then begins to sob on her bed. She follows this bit of drama with a half-hearted apology to Melinda, saying she is the person Heather can trust.
Melinda never says a word in response even when Heather plans that they will first work their way into a good group and make them like them. She just leaves without saying goodbye. The fact that Melinda barely says a word to Heather, even when the conversation is appealing, shows how immersed she has become in a world of silence.
She asks Ivy why she said Andy Evans was a creep, and Ivy says she has heard he will sleep with anyone. Melinda asks for one of Ivy's markers and starts a comment thread on the wall. She makes a list of "guys to stay away from" and puts Andy at the top of it. The school is aflutter with talk of senior prom. Andy invites Rachel to go with him, making Melinda sick to her stomach. Heather shows up on Melinda's doorstep a few days before the prom, whining about her life with the Marthas.
The Marthas have made her responsible for decorating for prom and she begs Melinda to help her. Melinda says no. Why or why not? Does Heather become corrupted by the sick scene at Merryweather High, or has she always been somewhat mean and shallow? Parents Home Homeschool College Resources. Study Guide. By Laurie Halse Anderson. Previous Next. Heather Heather is from Ohio and is the new kid in town.
Connors Hairwoman Ms. Keen Mr. What's Up With the Ending? She thinks it must be a joke. Someone wants to make her look stupid. So, she avoids opening it. She fantasizes about who might have left her the note. Maybe David Petrakis, her lab partner? When she finally gets back to her locker, the note is still there.
She opens it and something drops from the card. She reads the note. Good Luck!!! Melinda hears a cracking inside of her. Melinda arrives at the Lady of Mercy Hospital by accident. She was heading for the mall but fell asleep on the bus.
She determines that nothing is wrong with her since the patients in the hospitals all have sicknesses that can be seen. She heads to the bus stop. A tense meeting is held to discuss the fact that Melinda is failing her classes and has been absent a lot. Both parents respond with foul language. In her head, Melinda questions the intelligence of the people at the meeting. Melinda receives In-School Suspension of which Mr.
Neck is in charge. Melinda freezes, hoping to disappear in plain sight. IT sits next to her and blows in her ear. He introduces her to the art of Picasso. Revitalized, she begins to draw. Freeman looks on, approvingly. Melinda is meeting the expectations set for her: attend class, do the work.
While standing at the bus stop, a blizzard rips through the town. Freeman pulls up in his car and offers her a ride which she accepts. They talk, and Mr. Freeman shares his philosophy and insights about it. When he drops her off at the mall, he tells her that, if she ever needs to talk, he is there. Melinda is shopping for jeans on her own. She peers at her bleeding, crusted lips, and wonders what it would be like to walk in new skin. Her feelings, she realizes, are chewing her alive.
In biology, the class has finished its unit on plants, and the test, Ms. Keen suggests, will certainly cover seeds. Melinda is amazed at the process of seed germination and finds it nearly miraculous that any survive after what they have to go through.
She sits in the corner alone, the bologna girl, trying to ignore the possibility that others are laughing at and talking about her. Melinda lives in Syracuse, so eight inches of snow overnight does not warrant a snow day. In English class, Hairwoman wants to discuss what snow symbolized to Hawthorne. The class groans. Melinda, for one, appreciates the quiet of the snow after the blizzard. After school, unable to bear the thought of the bus ride home, Melinda retreats to her closet to take a nap.
She awakens to screams from the gymnasium and goes to the gym in time for the last few minutes of a close basketball game. The Hornets win by one point, and she celebrates with the crowd, feeling a sense of belonging. David Petrakis sees her and invites her over to his house for pizza, to celebrate the win.
At long last, Melinda recounts to the reader the events that she has been trying to forget all along. He pulls her close, his hands wandering down her back. They kiss, his teeth so hard against her lips that she can barely breathe. Officers track the location and arrive at the scene. But the student council pushes back. Spring is here, and seniors are receiving their acceptance letters for college and preparing for graduation.
Melinda attends most of her classes, most of the time. Melinda runs into Ivy at the mall toward the end of spring break. She hands Melinda the sketchbook. Melinda tells her the drawings look kind of spooky, in an unexpected, but not creepy way. Unsure of what to say next, Melinda offers Ivy a Lifesaver, and tells her it might have been a mistake to sign up for art.
Ivy encourages her to ditch the linoleum block idea and instead just draw. The biology class has moved on to the study of genetics. She sketches a willow tree, and when Ms. Even though Rachel is her ex-friend, Melinda is worried about her. Melinda retreats to the closet, her burrow, and wonders what she should do. She decides to write an anonymous note, warning Rachel to be wary of Andy, who, it is rumored, attacked a ninth grader.
Freeman criticizes the tree Melinda has been struggling with. Frustrated, she throws the linoleum block in the trash. Neck is stricter than ever, failing most of the class. The thought of giving an oral report terrifies Melinda. She and David Petrakis devise a plan. Before class, she writes a note on the blackboard that expresses how the suffragettes stood up for their beliefs, and withstood attacks, arrests, and jail time to do so. No one should be forced to give speeches.
I choose to stay silent. When class starts, she rips down the poster, reveals the note, and hands out printed copies of her report to each student. David and Melinda debrief what happened with the oral report. Their conversation borders on flirtatious, and David tells her that he might call her over the summer.
Melinda works on her tree sketches after school, supported by Mr. When he leaves for a faculty meeting, IT appears. He sits on the table, smearing her drawing. Luckily, Rachel and Ivy come into the room.
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