53 pages • 1-hour read
Finally
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 5-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary
Rory wakes to find her bedside light still on. She remembers watching a Friday the 13th horror movie the night before—one of the items from her list—and being too scared to turn off her light. Her computer dings—it’s her first-ever IM from Sari, a friend that Rory knows through Annabelle. Sari saw Jake Harrison in person and nearly fainted. He reached out to catch her.
Rory’s mother comes in and tells her to get off the computer, because they need to talk about their plans for the day. She hands Rory her own house key and tells her that, if she thinks she is ready, she can stay home alone for the first time right now. Rory’s mother has to take Sawyer to a birthday party, and Rory’s father has to go into work. Rory is delighted, imagining eating her mother’s hidden chocolate, listening to loud music, and watching television.
As soon as she is alone, she hears a creaking noise and then a slam. Afraid, she calls her mother, who tells her that sometimes a breeze slams the bathroom door. A few minutes later, Rory hears the noise again. She calls back her mother, who asks if Rory needs her to come home. Rory says no and assures her that it was probably nothing. After she hangs up, she texts Annabelle, who tells her to stop imagining things and find something fun to do. Still frightened, Rory retreats into her bedroom and locks the door. She gets an IM from a popular girl at school, Alexa. She cannot believe Alexa is IMing her—but it soon becomes clear that Alexa mistakenly believes she is messaging another kid at school, a boy whose name is also Rory. When Alexa confesses that she has feelings for the boy, Rory ends the conversation as quickly as she can, not wanting Alexa to realize what has happened.
Feeling even more stressed now, Rory decides to take a hot bath. She slips on headphones and relaxes into the water. Just as she is beginning to feel calm and sleepy, she sees a foot come crashing through the bathroom door.
Chapter 6 Summary
Rory is grounded from the computer for a week. Her mother and father tried to call her several times, but in the bath with headphones on she did not hear the phone. Worried because of her earlier calls about the noises in the house, they hurried home. When she didn’t answer when they banged on the bathroom door, they panicked and kicked the door in. Rory feels terrible about worrying her parents.
One of Rory’s new privileges is an upcoming class on babysitting. Although Rory is a little nervous about this after the disaster of staying home alone, she really wants to earn some money to buy the rabbit, so she agrees that she is ready.
The next morning, she walks to school instead of being driven for the first time. When she arrives, she sees the film crew setting up equipment. Rory finds Annabelle and Sari near the hair and makeup trailer; they all jump up, trying to see through the trailer’s windows until the bell rings.
From the morning announcements, Rory learns that auditions for extras will be held on the following Monday. Annabelle immediately texts her that they need to go to the mall to get makeovers and new clothes—both for the auditions and for Natalie’s upcoming party.
Rory stumbles into a new boy who is struggling to find his next class. She explains a tricky part of the building and offers to walk him there, even though it will mean being late to her next class. At lunch, her excitement over buying her very first school lunch fades when she realizes how long the line is. Annabelle offers to wait in line with her, but Rory sees that Sari is looking miserable alone at their table, so tells Annabelle to go eat.
In line, she is surprised when Leo Fitzpatrick and Amanda Ellerby strike up a conversation, because usually other students seem not to notice her. They ask why she is buying hot lunch, and she explains about her list. Amanda warns her not to buy her lunch from the smallest of the lunch workers, because “she always gives the smallest portions” (107). Rory gasps: The smallest worker is the elderly woman from the reservoir. She is so surprised that she accidentally knocks another girl’s lunch off her tray; by the time everything is cleaned up, the elderly woman has disappeared. Rory asks Amanda and Leo whether they have ever noticed a duck-shaped mark on the woman’s cheek. They say no, but exchange a meaningful look.
Chapter 7 Summary
Rory’s mother picks her up after school to take her on a surprise errand. On the way, Rory gets more calls for the pizza shop, so she asks her mother to let her turn her phone off during the day. Her mother will think about it. Rory is surprised when they pull into the bank parking lot and go inside to get into the family’s safe-deposit box. Rory’s mother shows Rory some jewelry that was left to her by her own mother. She gives Rory a pair of emerald earrings that Rory’s grandmother left specifically for Rory to have when she turned 12. She offers to take Rory to get her ears pierced that Saturday. Rory is delighted, imagining how she will look with pierced ears and the new contact lenses she plans to get.
Back at home, Rory remembers that one of the features of her new phone is parental control over the numbers that can call the phone. She asks them to use it to ensure that only her friends can call her—that way she will stop getting calls for pizza. The next scheduled babysitting class is on Saturday, so they will postpone getting Rory’s ears pierced until the following weekend.
At school that week, everything is disrupted by movie preparations. The girls are disappointed to learn that Jake Harrison’s girlfriend, Madison, will also be in the movie. Rory, Annabelle, and Sari decide to try to sneak into Jake’s trailer when the actors arrive next week.
On Saturday, Annabelle’s mother drives Annabelle and Rory to the community center for the class. Also there is a shy girl named Kira, who just moved to town. The instructor, Rosemary, stresses the serious responsibility of babysitting, scaring Rory with her warnings about all of the terrible things that can go wrong. She gives each student a handbook that goes into great detail about how to be prepared for any contingency.
Rory notices Kira looking at a scrapbook. Kira has meticulously cut out photos of Jake Harrison at various events and pasted her own photos into each scene, so that she appears to be his date instead of Madison. Kira is embarrassed, but Rory reassures her that it is “very cool” (128) and agrees not to tell anyone about it. Rory’s mother calls shortly before the end of the class: Rory will be babysitting for the first time that very evening. On her way out of the community center, she sees Leo and Amanda. Amanda surprises Rory by winking at her for no apparent reason.
Chapter 8 Summary
Rory is babysitting 10-year-old Emily St. Claire, the daughter of one of her mother’s friends from her book club. She thinks it is weird to be watching someone so close to her own age, but her mother points out that this will be an easy introduction to babysitting. Mrs. St. Claire tells Rory that Emily’s bedtime is 8:45pm. When Rory follows the St. Claires to the front door to lock it behind them, and they joke that from now on they will insist that all of their babysitters attend the class at the community center.
Rory offers to help Emily finish her homework, but Emily is in a very advanced math class. Rory is intimidated, but Annabelle would tell her to “Man up” (138). At 6:45, Rory takes nail polish, cards, and some comic books from her backpack and asks whether Emily is interested in any of these potential activities. Emily is surprised to learn that Rory’s father allows her to read his comic books. She shows Rory the room where her father keeps his collectables—there are thousands of pristine comic books, toys, games, and other objects that Mr. St. Claire buys and resells.
Rory suddenly realizes that Emily may be a genius from a privileged family, but she is also a lonely little girl whose house “doesn’t really feel like a home” (141). Feeling sorry for Emily, Rory lets her choose their next activity: watching several High School Musical films, which Rory dislikes intensely. Rory is surprised at how slowly time seems to be passing. She also wonders how they can have watched so many of the films already, but Emily tells her that they are much shorter than most other movies. Finally, Emily shakes Rory awake, panicked because her parents are coming in the door. Emily rushes off to bed as Rory realizes that Emily has been turning back the clock so that Rory did not realize it was past her bedtime.
Chapters 5-8 Analysis
Chapters 5-8 continue the story’s focus on The Expectations and Reality of Growing Up, as Rory works through several more items on her list and encounters mixed results. She is finally allowed to watch a Friday the 13th horror movie—and is so frightened that she thinks she “may never sleep in the dark again” (69). She stays home alone—and ends up causing a minor domestic disaster when her parents panic at her lack of contact and break down the bathroom door. She babysits for the first time—and gets outwitted by a ten-year-old. Her first solo walk to school goes well, and is actually pleasant, but her first hot lunch results in a chaos: she knocks another student’s lunch to the floor and does not even enjoy the food when she finally gets it. Part of her wishes that her mother would make her lunch again. Rory is still in the process of maturing; she finds that some of her new privileges do not suit her as well as she imagined they would.
Rory continues to be a kind and supportive person who demonstrates The Gift of Really Seeing Others. She helps the new student at school, even though she risks getting in trouble for being late to class. When Annabelle offers to wait with her in the lunch line, Rory puts Sari’s need for companionship ahead of her own. When Kira is embarrassed about her Jake Harrison scrapbook, Rory instantly reassures her that there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Rory is quick to understand that Emily’s apparent brilliance and wealth do not make up for her isolation and the coldness of her home and is willing to sit through several High School Musical movies despite disliking them.
This part of the story continues to show the importance of Support from Family and Friends During the Tween Years. Annabelle offers to wait in line with Rory even though her own food will be getting cold and she will have less time to eat. She attends the babysitting class with Rory, despite having no interest in it. Annabelle and Sari are both more tuned in to the school’s gossip pipeline, so they make sure to keep Rory informed about the upcoming movie. Annabelle plans a trip to the mall with Rory for clothing and makeup, even though Annabelle already has all of these things at home. Both Annabelle and Sari tease Rory about the kicked-in bathroom door, but their teasing is good-natured; Rory clearly knows that she can share all of her recent trials and tribulations with her two friends and count on their understanding.
Rory’s parents establish fair boundaries and keep their promises about her new activities, even when they have reason to be upset at how she is managing this phase of her life. They punish her for the worry she causes when she stays home alone, but they do not overreact and are gracious about accepting her apology. Her mother acknowledges that she and Rory’s dad had a role in the incident. They are even willing to push Rory a little to stand on her own two feet: When Rory offers to let her mother check her homework, her mother refuses, reminding Rory that she is now old enough to take complete responsibility for it. She also shows support for Rory’s growing maturity by giving her the emerald earrings and arranging for her first babysitting job.
In Chapters 5-8, the story’s movie subplot becomes more prominent as the film crew arrives at the school and auditions for extras are scheduled. This subplot supports the story’s themes by showing Rory’s friend group scheming together to meet Jake Harrison, following Rory’s growing interest in romantic relationships, and creating an occasion for Rory to really observe and show kindness to Kira. It also creates some narrative tension as the question of whether Rory will get to meet her crush becomes more immediate.
Also creating narrative tension is the reintroduction of Angelina’s character. The novel offers readers reminders that something slightly outside of normal reality is happening in Rory’s life. Angelina’s reappearance in Rory’s life is odd and helps to create a slightly eerie atmosphere. Rory again thinks about Angelina’s mysterious prediction at the reservoir, which creates a sort of “ticking clock” effect, raising questions about whether things will keep going wrong in Rory’s life indefinitely or whether she will “see what [she needs]” (109) in time to fully enjoy this new part of her life. Likewise, Amanda and Leo’s quick glance in the lunch line when Rory mentions her birthmark shows that they are aware of Angelina’s otherworldliness as well. This is an allusion to the first book in the Willow Falls series, 11 Birthdays, in which Angelina is the driving force behind Leo and Amanda’s magical adventures. While Rory is confused, Amanda’s wink at Rory communicates clearly to readers that Amanda recognizes that Rory is involved in a situation similar to the one she and Leo were in, and she hopes that Rory will enjoy her adventure.
Unlock all 53 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs