Praise

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of transgender discrimination, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual content, and cursing.

A week later, Charlie has not seen Emerson since she left his house and feels “grief and shame” while thinking of their relationship (255). At Sophie’s exhortation, Charlie takes her sister out for dinner, where two teenage boys mock Sophie. (The novel implies that they mock her for being transgender.) Sophie dismisses them, and Charlie praises her confidence. Sophie claims that she learned her confidence from Charlie. She also admits to knowing that Emerson is Beau’s father, but she says that neither she nor Gwen saw any issue with the relationship because Charlie was happier than she had been in a long time. Charlie explains what happened between her and Emerson, giving her teenaged sister “the PG-13 version” (257).

Sophie contends that Charlie did not lose her identity with Emerson but rather regained her confidence. Sophie contrasts Emerson with her father, who wanted Sophie to hide her true self; Emerson, by contrast, let Charlie freely explore her curiosity. Sophie also contends that Beau will “get over it” (258).

Later, Charlie looks at her unanswered messages from Emerson. He says that he told Beau the truth and does not want to choose Beau over Charlie.