Woke Up Like This

When Char comes to, she is on the gym floor again. J. T.’s face is now clean-shaven. He asks if she’s hurt and tells her that she looks “like total shit” (210). Char wonders if it was all a dream, and she’s tempted to kiss him to see if he kisses like he did as an adult. When she insists that she’s fine, he demands that she listen to him this once so that he can get the nurse. His tone is strict but includes a tinge of warmth, so she does. When the nurse asks Char how she fell, she doesn’t want J. T. to say something that gets her in trouble, so she blames him for holding the streamers far away on purpose. J. T. is appalled. Char’s mom picks her up to go to the emergency room, and the doctor says that she has a minor concussion. She goes home to rest for the day.

J. T. is ignoring Char. He doesn’t race her to their lockers, they don’t sign each other’s yearbooks, and he’s even been quiet in class. She tries to figure out why he’s acting like this, and she remembers that adult Renner told her that yesterday was the anniversary of his sister’s death.