The Beginning of Everything

On Monday, the entire school knows about the incident. Luke says he’d heard the joke that Ezra had fought the whole football team, so Ezra shares his side of the story. When Toby says he would have been too afraid to confront Connor, Ezra says that Connor is just “like a big drunk puppy.” Toby gently lets Ezra know that Connor was a prolific bully in middle school. The conversation drifts to the football team’s track record. Luke makes a snide comment to Ezra, who is listing the football team’s scores, to which Ezra replies, “Screw you” (217). The brewing hostility from Luke boils over and Luke shoots back, “Screw your girlfriend. […] If you can get your crippled dick to work” (217). Silence descends over the table. Phoebe slaps Luke and storms off. Ezra follows Phoebe and finds her sitting outside crying. Ezra tries to cheer her up, thanking her for defending his honor. Phoebe is a year younger and insecure. She worries about not belonging at the lunch table and implies that she is dating Luke because she is afraid of him but really doesn’t like him. Ezra reassures her that the rest of the group love her and are there for her. The lunch table is emptier for the next few days, Luke and Sam being noticeable absent. When they return, Luke is wearing a purity ring on his finger and has a new “holier-than-thou attitude” (222). Phoebe assumes this is for the benefit of some girl at his church. Ezra senses a shift, with Sam and Luke splintering off from the group.

Friday morning brings the second pep rally. Announcements are made for the homecoming court nominees. As their names are called out, each nominee must go to the stage to take their “Royal Rose.” For homecoming queen, the nominees are Jill Nakamura, Charlotte Hyde, Sara Sumner, and Anamica Patel. Charlotte has a cruel tradition, nominating a joke candidate to humiliate, and this year it is Anamica, who is academically focused and earns straight As. The nominees for king are Evan McMillan, Jimmy Fuller, Luke Sheppard, and Ezra Faulkner. Ezra freezes and thinks, “Oh God, I’m Anamica Patel. I’m the joke vote” (227). Ezra gets his rose without remembering how he made it up to the stage, miserably wishing everyone would stop staring at him. He receives a stream of congratulations all afternoon but is confused about the nomination, thinking it is either a joke or a pity vote. Either way, he is uncomfortable with it. At the lunch table, Luke is more hostile to Ezra than usual, seeing him as competition for the crown. Toby is cheerfully telling Cassidy about school’s homecoming dance when Charlotte interrupts to ask Ezra to join her at his old table. At that table, Jill mocks Anamica and Luke, implying that Luke is the other joke vote; then Evan invites Ezra to join them and cohost a post-dance party. Ezra is stunned that they are seriously inviting him and his date to “get plastered with them” (231). Ezra makes his excuses without accepting the invitation and returns to Toby’s table.

Ezra formally invites Cassidy to the dance, and Cassidy accepts. Toby tells Ezra that he and Phoebe are going as friends and that Austin is asking a girl from his SAT class. When Ezra expresses surprise that Toby and Austin are not going together, Toby drily tells Ezra that he is not gay. Ezra is embarrassed that he suggested it, but Toby dispels the tension by elaborating: “I’m not gay. I mean, I think I am, but I’ll figure it out in college” (232). He continues to tell Ezra that he dates his left hand a stack of Japanese anime DVDs, returning them to a friendly banter. On a slightly more serious note, Toby thanks Ezra for being understanding and points out that Ezra’s old friends would have called him a faggot—and they already have.

Ezra’s plans for the dance are coming together. They have a dinner reservation, Phoebe and Cassidy have their dresses, and Ezra has just bought Cassidy’s corsage. Cassidy calls Ezra at the florist to make sure he didn’t buy the joke lei he’d texted her about. As they are talking, a friend’s car screeches by Ezra, honking his horn in greeting, making Ezra jump and swear. Cassidy, worried, asks what happened. Ezra explains it was just a friend, and when Cassidy reminds him humorously not to die before tonight, Ezra replies: “If I see a big black SUV that looks like it’s going to blow though a stop sign, I’ll hit reverse,” jokingly referencing his accident (236). Cassidy doesn’t understand the reference, so Ezra briefly explains what happened before moving on, joking that he has named his Volvo “Voldemort.” To Ezra’s surprise, Cassidy doesn’t laugh but sounds distracted and suddenly says she must go.

Ezra gets dressed and sets his alarm for the homecoming announcements. Ezra reads while he waits for Cassidy and doesn’t realize how late it is until his mother suggests that he check on Cassidy. Cassidy doesn’t answer Ezra’s text or phone call. Ezra’s mother, who is excited for the dance and ready with her old camera, comes into his room again to ask what is happening. Frustrated with her, Ezra pretends that he needs to pick Cassidy up from her house. No one answers the door, and her phone goes to voicemail. Confused, Ezra calls Toby and Phoebe, but neither has any idea where Cassidy is. He sits in his car listening to the new playlist he made and waits for Cassidy. After a few songs, Ezra’s sinking feeling grows, and he worries that Cassidy has been in an accident. Unable to continue waiting, Ezra drives around Eastwood. Something makes him stop as he passes the castle park, and sure enough, he sees Cassidy on top of the highest turret in her green sweater. Heart pounding, Ezra calls across to Cassidy, who jumps down and walks toward him. She is wearing jeans and sneakers and asks Ezra coldly what he is doing there. Ezra is dumbfounded as Cassidy tells him that she is not going to the dance and that he is the “last person” she wants to talk to right now (243). Her eyes are full of tears, adding to Ezra’s confusion. Cassidy cruelly tells Ezra that dating him has been a temporary amusement and that she has a boyfriend in San Francisco who has come to surprise her. She says that this boyfriend has just gone to buy cigarettes, so Ezra had better go before he returns. When Ezra hesitates, Cassidy delivers the final blow: “How could it have been you? My God, Ezra, look at yourself. You're a washed-up prom king who lost his virginity to some cheerleader in a hot tub” (244). Ezra, feeling as though he is having a nightmare, stares at her and then turns and walks away. As he leaves, he hears Cassidy call out his name, sounding desperate and sad, but he does not turn around. Ezra drives home, walks past his worried mother to his bedroom, and lies on his bed with Cooper, just staring at the ceiling. The alarm for the homecoming court rings on his phone, but Ezra ignores it, crying and whispering, “I hate you, Cassidy Thorpe” (246).