The Beginning of Everything

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-20

Chapters 21-24

Chapters 25-28

Chapters 29-32

Chapter 33

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 13 Summary

That night, Ezra tells his mother about the tournament in San Diego. When Ezra tells her that Toby is the captain, she lowers her voice and asks if he turned out to be gay. Ezra chokes on his tasteless, “healthy” cookie and ignores the question. Then, seeing an opportunity to spend some quality time shopping with her son, she points out that Ezra will need a suit for the tournament. Ezra quickly says that he’ll go shopping with Toby, to which his mother replies, “That’s a great idea. […] Gay boys have such wonderful taste in clothes!” (118).

Ezra finds a suit with help from Cassidy and Toby, after which the three of them study at a café, something Ezra has never done before. After they get their work done, they decide to eat at In-N-Out Burger. As they are chatting about the supposed secret menu and other fast food mysteries, Toby notices that their classmate Justin works there. Ezra hears Charlotte’s distinctive laughter at the same time as Toby spots her sitting with Evan and Jimmy in the best corner booth. Toby, Ezra, and Cassidy huddle, trying to figure out how to get and eat their food without being noticed by the other group. Justin calls over to Ezra, “I had Angelo bring your food over to your table” (124), clearly under the misguided impression that Ezra, Toby, and Cassidy intended to join Jimmy, Evan, and Charlotte. Cassidy grins, enjoying the conundrum Ezra is in. Evan spots Ezra and calls over, cheerily telling them to “pop a squat” (125). Ezra knows things are going to be awkward when he sees that “Charlotte’s smile dripped venom” (126); she sweetly says that this will be a nice opportunity to get to know Cassidy. They talk about the drunken antics at Jimmy’s party, then Charlotte turns to Cassidy and asks where she moved from, “Chino? Compton?” (127). Cassidy smiles at the insult and replies that it was San Francisco, but that she has lived in many places, including Louisiana, London, and Zurich. Charlotte then asks Ezra why he no longer sits at their lunch table. An awkward silence follows as Ezra considers the reasons: They were “lousy friends”; they only asked out of pity; Charlotte cheated on him right before the accident, and he partially blames her for it; he doesn’t want to watch her make out with Evan. Ezra cannot say any of those things, so he stays silent. Toby rescues the situation by telling them that Ezra is on the debate team now, which makes everyone laugh.

Charlotte, speaking to Ezra in private, calls the debate team losers and begs Ezra to come back to his old lunch table, saying that he can even bring his “snotty prep-school girlfriend” (130). Ezra tells her that Cassidy is just a friend and thinks Charlotte is teasing him with her flirtations, but she rolls her eyes and tells him that for some reason “dark, deep, and twisty totally works for you” (130). She invites Ezra to a party the following weekend, and he replies that he’ll be at a debate tournament. When Charlotte says he cannot be serious, Ezra takes great pleasure in telling her that he is “as serious as a car crash” (131).

As Ezra walks back to his car with Cassidy and Toby, he looks back at his old group still sitting at their booth. He remembers being there, taking up large tables and staying long after finishing the food, oblivious to the inconvenience this caused the restaurant or other guests. He remembers joining in but giving apologetic looks to the servers, feeling guilty but not guilty enough to stop. Back at the car, Cassidy sums it up: “Well, […] that was exquisitely unpleasant” (132), and the conversation drifts happily back to their usual teenage banter, this time about whether the word mullet can be a verb.

Chapter 14 Summary

In the lunch line at school on Friday, Toby broaches the subject of Cassidy with Ezra. Toby is worried for Ezra, telling him that she leaves a “trail of broken hearts” behind her (135), but the conversation quickly moves on to whether the lunch chicken is General Tso’s or “generally disgusting.” The weekend is uneventful for Ezra, apart from the flashes of Morse code from Cassidy’s bedroom window on Saturday night: “HI HI.” Ezra flashes back the same, but Cassidy’s window stays dark. Cassidy flashes “HI HI” every evening to Ezra, nothing more, nothing less, leaving Ezra wondering what their relationship is and dreaming about taking it further.

The following week, the debate team practices mock debates, with Cassidy coaching them. Ezra is relieved to discover that he is not much worse than Phoebe, despite being new to debating. The school team used to be competitive but has become a “nerdy hangout destination,” with few recent trophies to show for their efforts (137).

Chapter 15 Summary

At the San Diego tournament, Ezra changes into his suit with the rest of the team. When Cassidy arrives, she is wearing a full Harry Potter uniform, complete with a Gryffindor tie, which—she explains grinning—is still within dress code. Ezra is nervous, but strangely, he is more nervous about finding out that he doesn’t belong with this group of friends than about failing at debate. Ms. Weng questions Cassidy’s outfit, but Cassidy gets away with it. Ezra notices that for the first time, Cassidy seems on edge and looks pale. When Ezra asks if she’s OK, Cassidy smiles, says she’s fine, and wishes Ezra good luck as he leaves to find his debate room. Ezra gets lost and overhears Cassidy talking to a coach from a different team. The conversation looks serious, and he catches snippets of the woman saying that it is good to see Cassidy back again. Cassidy startles when she sees Ezra, and as she helps him find his room, she explains that the woman mistook her for someone else. After his first round, Ezra is not sure how his debate went. Austin knows that he lost, and the conversation quickly descends into immature but funny plays on the phrase “master debater” (146). Cassidy makes sure Ezra gets to each of his rounds; her helpfulness surprises Ezra but he doesn’t complain. Ezra loses in the second round. Losing is not something Ezra is used to, having spent so many years as the school’s tennis champion, so he finds the experience frustrating.

Chapter 16 Summary

Ms. Weng gives the team their room keys and a list of rules: single-sex rooms only, back in the rooms by 8 p.m., and no smoking. She shares her room number in case of an emergency, causing Cassidy to burst out laughing—Ms. Weng is in the room next to a team that is planning an all-night alcohol-fueled party. The team has two rooms next to each other with a connecting door. Ezra quickly realizes that the single-sex rule will be broken because Phoebe and Luke intend to share a bed. All of them eat out using the team funds, and Ezra gets to hear hilarious stories about other tournament weekends. Everyone on the team (apart from Ezra) has brought party supplies: gin, whiskey, wine, speakers, cheese, and a baguette that Phoebe pulls out of her mini suitcase intact. Another team from Wentworth shows up with prosecco and joins the party. Ezra is enjoying himself and has two whiskeys in quick succession, despite still being on strong painkillers.

Cassidy talks to a girl from Wentworth. She introduces Ezra to the girl as her baby brother before imploring him to dance. Fortunately, an elaborate drinking game led by the two team captains starts before Ezra can answer. The game is a mock debate between the two teams, arguing ridiculous subjects, such as whether the Pope could defeat a bear in a fistfight. Everyone must drink, regardless of who wins. Cassidy wins her debate about whether vampires should have voting rights, holding forth intelligently and hilariously so that she has the whole room laughing. Cassidy and Ezra snuggle together on the bed but don’t venture into the make-out fort, constructed out of blankets. Eventually the party ends, and beds are allocated. Sam and Austin share, Phoebe and Luke share, and since he is the captain, Toby gets his own bed. This means that Ezra and Cassidy end up sharing a bed, and they fall asleep entwined with Cassidy’s head on Ezra’s shoulder.

Chapters 13-16 Analysis

Schneider’s tone throughout the book is humorous, so even when taboo subjects are broached—such as Ezra’s mother saying, “Gay boys have such wonderful taste in clothes!” (118)—it is meant as a lighthearted observation about generational differences rather than an indicator of deeper conflict. This contrasts with the treatment of Charlotte, who is portrayed as insensitive and oblivious to social norms, but not in a humorous or intentional way. She tries to insult Cassidy by suggesting that she came from Chino or Compton, two California cities she clearly looks down on, and she has no qualms about calling people losers. She refers to Ezra’s destroyed knee as a “sprain” and is desperate to get back together with him purely because other girls in school find him attractive. Ezra’s characterization of Charlotte is dripping with distain and disbelief that she takes no responsibility for his accident. He has never forgiven her but thinks so little of her that it almost doesn’t matter. However, from Charlotte he learns that girls do not pity him as “the kid who almost died at Jonas’s party. Used to be a star athlete, but he’s, like, crippled now. Isn’t that so sad?”—which is what he thought up until Charlotte spells it out: “Ohmigod, Ezra! Get a clue. […] You could have anyone you want” (130).

Cassidy is an itch that Ezra can’t scratch. She has expanded his worldview and by doing so has highlighted the “dreariness” of Eastwood. Until this point, Cassidy has kept Ezra just out of reach, leaving him guessing as to the true nature of their relationship. However, at the tournament their relationship takes a definitive step forward, and Ezra begins to see her as his girlfriend. Another important tuning point happens at the tournament: Ezra expresses that he is “deeply, horribly nervous,” but he is not nervous about debating (141). He is nervous about discovering that he “didn’t really belong with this group of friends after all,” nervous that he will never find a place that he fits in now that he is changed and that he’ll be “lost forever at seventeen,” following the theme of the importance of Knowing Where You Belong (142). This fear is dispelled after the incredible party the team has that night, which secures his place in their group and in his mind.

Cassidy’s eccentricity is highlighted at the tournament when she shows up wearing a Harry Potter costume, bending the rules but not breaking them—a carefully planned decision. At this point in the narrative, Cassidy is presented as naturally quirky and spontaneous, but her deflections when asked about why she left debate and the occasional “haunted” expression on her face hint at something deeper than just quirkiness.