Audre & Bash are Just Friends

Audre lies on the couch, morosely reflecting on how her plans for the summer and her relationship with her mother have both been derailed. She’s angry at Eva for hastily judging Bash and realizes that the anxiety she felt about Ellison has finally begun to ease because Bash defended her. However, doubt and fear begin to creep back in as she asks herself whether their kiss was special to him, given his reputation with girls. Audre has a panic attack and climbs onto the fire escape so her family won’t hear.

After she calms down, Bash calls and apologizes for causing problems between Audre and her mother. She tries to reassure him that this isn’t his fault, but he says that they should do as she requested and stop seeing each other outside of challenges. He tells her that he likes her “too much to start ruining [her] life” the way he ruined someone else’s (262). Audre questions why he’s so secretive about his past and reveals that she knows his legal name is Sebastian Wallace and that he’s one of the nation’s top sprinters. Bash says that he needs to stay away from her because he wants to be more than friends and would never forgive himself if he hurt her.

The narrative shifts to Reshma’s perspective. She takes Clio to the rooftop pool of a luxury hotel, where the authentic Clio stands out among the wealthy and artificial crowd gathered there. Reshma seems wise beyond her years to Clio, and the 16-year-old explains that this comes from having neglectful parents and feeling out of place. Their conversation turns to Clio’s boyfriend, whom she is considering dumping because she finds him annoying. Clio shares that she’s never dated a girl before but is drawn to Reshma: “I’m not here because of an experiment thing. I’m here because of a you thing” (271). The girls feel a spark when their hands touch.

The narrative moves back to Audre’s point of view. Audre’s father calls her and tells her that her baby brother will be born soon. She’s still angry with him for not letting her spend the summer with him and has no interest in hearing about her new sibling. She mentions that her mother is hiding things from her and that they’ve been arguing frequently. Her father suggests that the stress of writing a memoir might have Eva on edge, and Audre realizes that the manuscript likely contains the answers she seeks.

While her parents are out, Audre sneaks into their bedroom and finds the manuscript on her mother’s laptop. The prologue describes how Eva and her mother frequently moved throughout her childhood. Lizette told Eva that their family was cursed. Eva never knew her father, grandfather, or great-grandfather. She describes her teenage self as “a self-destructive addict” and a “lost girl haunted by darkness” (276). The chapter ends with the 10th rule in Audre’s self-help book, which advises people not to look for truths they aren’t ready for.

In a daze, Audre goes to Rockaway Beach. She thinks about how her mother’s secrets and expectations have pressured her into a relentless pursuit of perfection and left her terrified of risk. Under the anger, she also feels a measure of awe towards her mother for being such a bold, defiant teenager. Audre recalls the Smurf lunchbox that Bash looked for at the beach and decides to search for it to prove that she can do something for herself rather than for others’ approval.

The narrative moves to Bash’s perspective. He arranges to go to South Carolina and audition for a job at Fifth Angel the first week of August, but his excitement is dampened by how much he misses Audre. He feels conflicted because he didn’t plan to form any attachments in Brooklyn, and he feels guilty because he didn’t offer her a proper explanation when he ended things between them.

To Bash’s surprise, his mother comes home. His shock grows when she hands him a Smurf lunchbox that was left outside their door with a note: “Challenge #5, completed. I faced a fear: diving deep into the ocean. These sell for hundreds, so consider this payment for a job well done” (286). 

Thinking about the courage that Audre demonstrated by retrieving the lunchbox from the beach where she had a panic attack gives Bash the strength to finally confront his mother for abandoning him. Jennifer accidentally breaks the lunchbox while she’s fuming over Bash’s words. Bash is devastated because the object encapsulates all the memories he’s made with Audre. He calls Audre, who sounds unsteady, and tells her that he’s on his way to her. The chapter ends with the 11th rule in Audre’s self-help book, which says that “reaching into the past” can help people find healing (293).