Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute

“Brad”

The group reaches the camps with half an hour to spare, having located five Golden Compasses, three of which Brad located. He feels optimistic about his chances at a scholarship and about university in general. He plans what he will say in his evening interview, aiming to better his chances at winning one of the scholarships. He approaches Celine, and the two briefly hold hands before Raj draws their attention to a play area. She pulls away, leaving Brad uncertain about her feelings. Sophie groans over their transparent flirting.

“Celine”

Aurora, Sophie, and Celine huddle together against the cold, listening while another campsite member snores loudly. Their conversation is interrupted by Brad, whispering Celine’s name from outside their tent. Celine looks out, finding Brad exceptionally beautiful in the moonlight. At Brad’s invitation, she quickly redresses and heads over to the small play area, breaking curfew. They creep through the dark and Brad asks about Celine’s strange mood. They sit in a small playground castle, Celine rebuffing his question with banter, lest she confess her love for him. He sighs his wish for her to trust him, and she bites back the truth: She trusts him and she loves him.

Instead, Celine talks about the upcoming Explorer’s Ball and how she knows she must tell Neneh about Celine’s father’s presence there. He commiserates; he hasn’t yet told his parents about his writing. He comments on his ability to locate Golden Compasses, and they chat easily for hours. They return to their tents, Brad kissing her goodnight. Inside Celine’s tent, Sophie is asleep, but Aurora is still awake. She claims that she knew that Celine cared for Brad from the start, gleeful over their growing relationship. Aurora’s delight makes Celine worry that her feelings are transparent.

“Brad”

After a few hours of sleep, Brad wakes, resolved to tell Celine the truth about his feelings. After their night on the playground, he feels optimistic that she will be open to a romantic relationship. He considers that even if she rejects him, he would rather be honest than keep his feelings secret. Sophie and Raj both grumpily note Brad’s uncommonly good mood for so early in the day. Sophie reports that Celine is down by the bathrooms. Brad cheerily heads in that direction.

“Celine”

Celine frets over Brad discovering her feelings before she’s ready, shocked when she emerges from the bathroom to find him standing nearby. She grows even more nervous when he asks to talk. Believing he is going to break up with her, she blurts out that they should stop kissing, commending herself for making things easier on Brad. He looks crushed and Celine immediately recognizes she’s done something wrong. They end up arguing and Brad storms off. When he’s gone, she realizes that she didn’t let him speak to make things easier on him; she did it because she’s afraid of being left. She runs after him.

“Brad”

Brad realizes he is being unfair by storming off, as Celine never promised him a romantic relationship. He cries, overwhelmed with hurt. When he hears Celine coming, he tries to run away, afraid talking to her will make things worse. He spins, loses his balance, and falls down a hill.

“Brad”

Brad lands at the bottom of the hill, breathless and in pain. He’s lost his glasses, but he can see Celine descending the hill toward him. He urges her to stop, but she ignores him. At the urging of BEP staff members, he drags himself into a seated position. Celine cries when she reaches him. Brad, still dazed, tells Celine he doesn’t think they should break up and asks if she likes his hair. His questions alarm her and she sobs apologies while Zion, a BEP staff member, calls an ambulance. Brad protests, wanting to finish the expedition and earn the scholarship, but is overruled.

When the ambulance arrives, Celine insists on going with him. Brad tells her not to, worried about her chance at the scholarship. She reluctantly agrees. At the hospital, Brad learns he has cracked his ribs and has a concussion. He broods, frustrated with himself for the accident and for running away from Celine.

Brad’s family arrives, his parents fretting over his treatment. Mason steals Brad’s food. When Trevor asks how Brad is feeling, he confesses his physical aches and then adds that he won’t be studying law. He has applied for English. His father is dazed by this revelation. Mason, however, chimes in that Brad was never excited by law. Mason and Brad both express feeling like disappointments to their parents. Both parents exclaim they are not disappointed in either son and apologize for making the boys feel that way. Brad apologizes for keeping his true feelings from his parents.

“Celine”

Celine frantically texts Brad apologies until she finds his phone in the grass. She sullenly completes the day’s expedition, certain that Brad telling her not to accompany him in the ambulance means that he no longer wishes to be her friend or her boyfriend. When they take the bus ride home, Aurora is shocked to see Celine is crying. Celine brushes her off, promising to text her later.

Neneh meets the bus and soothes a still-crying Celine as they drive home. She reassures Celine that Brad is recovering at home and will be fine to attend the Explorer’s Ball. This only makes Celine feel worse, which alarms Neneh. She tells her mom the truth about seeing her dad before Christmas, how his firm sponsors the BEP, and her intent to shame him by being so successful. Even though she’s nervous at her mom’s reaction, she feels better for having told the truth.

Celine apologizes for keeping secrets, and Neneh regrets choosing a partner that would treat his daughters so poorly. Celine rejects this, believing her father’s behavior isn’t Neneh’s fault. They both admit it can be hard to remember that they cannot control others’ behavior. Neneh thanks Celine for telling her and says that Celine should feel however she wants to feel about her father. She is not beholden to Neneh’s feelings about the man. Celine asks if Neneh thinks counseling (for Celine) is a good idea, and Neneh allows that she considered it in the past, but felt it unnecessary, since Celine and Giselle seemed “fine.” She no longer feels confident in that decision and offers to support Celine in whatever she needs.

Neneh also says she will support Celine at the ball happily, but offers that she suspects Celine’s father won’t attend, as he is ashamed of his behavior. Neneh says that if Celine is still worried, however, she will tell her ex-husband not to attend. They joke about Neneh’s bold defense of her daughters, leaving Celine feeling grateful for her wonderful family.

Celine texts Giselle, cryptically telling her she “was right.” 

“Brad”

Brad struggles with the boredom of concussion recovery until Celine comes to visit. Still stuck in bed, he frets about his appearance as she comes in. They’re briefly uncomfortable with one another, though quickly turn to joking. She presents him with his phone and a personalized notebook since he can’t use screens during his concussion recovery. She also thinks handwriting might help curb his tendencies to compulsively edit. He tells her to stop making such thoughtful gestures, as he still has romantic feelings for her.

In a rush, she admits that she didn’t want to break up with him; she was just afraid of losing him. Brad is happy but also incredulous that her fear led him to fall off a cliff. He says he, too, fears losing her, but the risk is worth it, to him. She says that he is also worth the risk, then mumbles something. When he pressures her to repeat herself, she admits that she loves him. While Brad stares at her in delight and shock, they are interrupted by Trevor, who stands at the doorway with a tray of muffins. He awkwardly leaves. When they’re alone again, Brad confesses that he loves her, too, and they kiss.

A group chat between Minnie, Jordan, Sonam, Celine, Brad, and Peter confirms plans for the following day. Only Brad doesn’t understand what this references.

A separate group chat with their friend group from BEP shows Celine inviting Raj, Sophie, and Aurora to meet them at McDonalds after school the following day. Brad remembers he knew this plan, asking for allowance for his bad memory, which he blames on his concussion.

“Celine”

Celine arrives at the Explorer’s Ball with Neneh and Giselle. Celine adores her dark dress, found by scouring secondhand shops with Minnie. She feels nervous, entering the ballroom, uncertain if her father will be inside. She seeks Brad and is heading toward Sophie and Aurora when Katharine interrupts her for a private moment. Katharine tells her she has not won a scholarship but allows that “extenuating circumstances” affected the latter part of Celine’s expedition. She offers Celine a summer internship shadowing her, which Celine joyously accepts. She is processing this when Brad steps out from behind her, startling her. He congratulates her for her internship and they each compliment the other’s appearance.

“Brad”

Brad holds Celine’s hand as they head to the stage, where they’re honored as part of the ball’s programming. Sophie teases Brad for his clear adoration of Celine. Brad is certain he will not win a scholarship, as he didn’t finish the expedition, and so is shocked when he is named the third winner, after two other Explorers named Vanessa and Nick. Katharine explains that the staff averaged his scores across the time he managed to complete, bringing him to a record-breaking 4.9. In a daze, he heads offstage to hug Celine, proud when she admits her love in public.