Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute

“Celine”

Celine blushes when one of Brad’s teammates, Donno, loudly laments Brad’s luck at being forced to sit near Celine. She thinks back (baffled at the choice) to her previous best friendship with Brad, prior to his burst in popularity. Celine’s friend, Sonam, greets Brad pleasantly, annoying Celine with her “betrayal.” As their teacher begins to introduce the syllabus, Brad and Celine bicker until they are reminded to pay attention to class. She struggles to pay attention, distracted by Brad’s note-taking practices, which she feels contain “indiscriminate highlighting.”

When they are put into a pair to discuss a passage, Celine ignores the assignment to badger Brad about his university plans, relieved when he expresses no interest in Cambridge due to its dearth of Black students. Celine thinks Brad’s lack of family pressure (as his family is all successful) enables this lackadaisical attitude toward applications, while framing herself as the only family member who can “pay back” her mother for the hard work of raising two daughters as a single mother. She needles him about being afraid of rejection, pointing out that her grades are marginally better than his.

Class ends, but their teacher has overheard their conversation; he knows they didn’t do the assignment. He directs them to the library to write their thoughts, instead, despite Donno’s protests that Brad is needed at football practice.

“Brad”

Brad is annoyed with both himself and Celine as he heads to the library. She needles him about being behind on university applications, but he isn’t worried, as his aspiration is to attend a more modest school than Celine. He also plans to study law, though he’s unenthusiastic about the subject. He prefers writing but calls law the “sensible option.” As they descend the uneven concrete stairs to the library, Brad experiences intrusive thoughts about falling and dying.

Brad and Celine are surprised to find the library door closed. They both press their ears to the door to listen; Brad is surprised, when he comes face-to-face with Celine, to learn she is shorter than him. The last time they stood this close, years prior, she was taller. They hear teachers, including Brad’s coach, arguing inside. When the teachers abruptly open the door, the two teens stumble. Operating on instinct, Brad grabs Celine then abruptly releases her, causing her to drop to the floor. She doesn’t believe his insistence that this was accidental.

Celine’s wrist is injured, so Coach takes her for first aid. Brad frets over hurting her. He picks up Celine’s textbook and finds the pamphlet for the Breakspeare Enrichment Program, the sight of Katharine Breakspeare causing him to recall a time when he and Celine were friends.

A text message thread between Celine, her sister Giselle, and their mother reveals the two sisters are waiting for an x-ray. Their mom believes Celine to have fallen because she was paying attention to her phone instead of watching where she was going.

“Brad”

Brad uses an anonymous account to check Celine’s social media, which shows that she is receiving medical treatment. He experiences intrusive thoughts about all the potential complications from an arm injury, which he laments as one of the most unpleasant side effects of his OCD. Brad’s father is home; he has already heard of Celine’s injury, as Brad’s mom and Celine’s mom are best friends. When Brad realizes that Celine did not disclose his role in her accident, he is concerned instead of relieved, assuming the only reason for his enemy not to try to get him in trouble is that she is “completely addled by agonizing pain” (50). Brad’s father notes how strangely Brad is acting in his efforts to be nonchalant.

Brad’s father recounts an encounter with their neighbor, who praised the Graeme children for their academic aptitude. His lawyer father gleefully calls Brad “a chip off the old block” (51), which makes Brad uncomfortable, as he doesn’t have a passion for law but wishes to retain the look of pride his father gets when he speaks of Brad’s future in law. He doesn’t want to resume being a source of stress for his parents, as he was before his OCD was properly treated.

In his room, he sits down to write, despite his abiding conviction that all his writing is terrible. He attempts to edit a draft of his science fiction story before deciding to delete the entire thing and start a new draft. He checks social media, disappointed to find no update on Celine.

“Celine”

Celine’s sister, Giselle, enters her room, waiting while Celine finishes filming for her conspiracy theory TikTok channel. Celine is cranky because her wrist is fractured, necessitating a cast for six to eight weeks. She finds this an annoying discrepancy from her “Steps for Success” plan (55), which outlines her plan to get into Cambridge, study hard to succeed at the university, and get a “training position” at the law firm of her choice. This firm, Sharma & Moncrieff, is the second-best in corporate law in her area of England; the top firm is her father’s. Celine dreams of joining Sharma & Moncrieff and helping them surpass her father’s firm. She blames Brad (who she still thinks dropped her intentionally) for presenting a complication to these goals via her wrist.

The two sisters banter until a knock at Celine’s door reminds Giselle that Brad has arrived. Brad and Celine look at one another awkwardly. Brad looks at Celine’s room with interest, noting the differences since the last time he was there. He produces a container of cupcakes, made by his father, Trevor. This causes Celine to reflect on her jealousy over Trevor Graeme, “a caricature of a perfect father who was put on this earth to taunt [her] with what [she doesn’t] have” (59). He also produces her philosophy book and leaflet.

Brad anxiously insists that he did not intentionally drop Celine, frustrated when she doesn’t believe him. He stuns Celine by offering a sincere apology and promising to make amends. He asks about the informational meeting for the BEP. Celine intends to attend and will take the bus to get there. Brad, who has a car, is upset over the idea of her taking the bus with an injury and offers to drive her. Celine is confused and suspicious but accepts his offer. Brad departs.

Celine’s mom, Neneh, comes home, tired from a long day teaching. Celine thinks with pride of Neneh’s determined quest to get her family financially stable after Celine’s father left them. Even so, Celine resents the exhaustion she sees on her mother’s face, which she ascribes to herself, Giselle, and their father. Celine fantasizes about earning enough money to purchase her mother a life of luxury.

Neneh asks about Brad’s visit, clearly hoping Brad and Celine will become friends again. She looks at the BEP pamphlet while Celine frets that the reference to her father’s firm will upset Neneh. Neneh grows distracted by reminiscing about Celine’s academic accomplishments, and Celine hides the pamphlet.

“Brad”

On Thursday, Brad meets Celine, reluctantly admiring her looks. Donno approaches, making rude comments about Brad needing “a rescue” from Celine. Brad is embarrassed, but Celine seems unaffected. Brad tries to apologize for his friend’s behavior, but Celine retorts that Brad is worse than Donno. He then accuses her of being rude as well.

When they arrive at the meeting, Celine is annoyed that Brad wants to come inside. They bicker and Brad reflects that he has fun bantering with her. He notes the attendees are divided between those who seem academically motivated (like Celine) and those who are “sporty types.” He knows, due to his past friendship with Celine, that she dislikes the outdoors because her father used to take her camping.

Celine drags them to seats in the back of the room and Katharine Breakspeare enters, causing the attendees (except for Brad) to cheer. He is skeptical until Katharine reveals that she is dyslexic, which caused her schoolteachers to disregard her potential. He is further impressed by Katharine’s promotion of their region as one with future career potential (as opposed to moving to London for lucrative careers). She highlights the cache of being a BEP graduate and the program’s connections with local employers.

The program teaches survival skills that are then practiced independently in the Scottish woodlands. Both the practice and independent session will be scored, with a maximum of five points available. The best score ever achieved, Katharine reports, is 4.88. This piques Brad and Celine’s competitiveness, as does the announcement that only 20 students (a fraction of those present) will be accepted into the program. He finally decides to apply upon learning that three program participants will receive full university tuition. This would enable Brad to spend more money on accommodations during his university years, which would aid his mental health.

He speaks his intention aloud, infuriating Celine. She accuses him of effortlessly taking whatever he wants, which misaligns with Brad’s perception of himself as someone who is always frantically working for the things that seem to come so easily to Celine.

In a group text thread with his family, Brad reports his interest in the BEP. His brother, Mason, mocks him, but his parents are more supportive, especially when they learn about the scholarship.