My Life with the Walter Boys

The morning after their sleepover, Jackie admits to Riley that she feels a little disoriented by the unpredictability of the Walter household. Riley tells her that it is okay not to always be prepared for every possible scenario, reminding Jackie that mistakes can be good learning experiences.

After Riley leaves, Jackie decides to explore the tree house on the property. When she climbs up, Alex is already there, and they startle one another. Alex asks about her family, and Jackie realizes that this is the first time any of the Walters has asked her directly about her family. She notices that there are purple bags under Alex’s eyes and a folded-up photograph next to him. Jackie picks it up and unfolds it, revealing a photo of Alex with his arm around the blonde girl from their anatomy class.

Alex tells Jackie that the girl’s name is Mary Black and that she was his girlfriend up until three weeks ago when they broke up. When Jackie asks what happened between them, Alex tells her that Mary broke up with him for another guy, only to discover that the guy was Cole. In keeping with Cole’s reputation, he soon broke things off with Mary, and she called Alex on Friday, asking to get back together, but Alex does not want to be her “consolation prize” (138). Jackie asks why Alex is telling her all this, and he explains that they have each shared their baggage and are now even.

For the rest of the day, Jackie cannot stop thinking about how Cole “stole” (139) Alex’s girlfriend. That night as she is doing her homework, she sees Cole make his way to the garage and decides to follow him. She sees a black car with its hood propped open and Cole putting tools away. Jackie asks Cole what he is doing here, startling him, and he says that no one is allowed in the garage. Jackie turns to leave, and Cole stops her, apologizing and telling her that Alex has been angry at him all day and he took it out on her.

Feigning ignorance, Jackie asks Cole what is wrong between him and Alex, and Cole admits that he does not know, only that Alex has been “a prick” toward him for the last few weeks (141). Cole shows her the car he is restoring, which used to belong to his grandfather. He tells her that he works at the mechanic’s shop in town to help pay for parts and that in the last year he has made the project a priority, an allusion to the injury that sidelined his football career. Cole abruptly tells her that he wants her to leave so that he can continue working before dinner. Embarrassed, Jackie shows herself out, noting that Cole remains seated in the car, staring off into the distance, lost in thought.

Cole asks Isaac to drive everyone to school because a friend is going to pick him up. He invites Jackie to join them. She decides to ride with Alex, whom she deems more “trustworthy” (144). When they arrive at school, Jackie feels anxious to face Cole, who is standing on the front steps staring at her. She turns to Alex, inviting him to eat lunch with her and her friends and asking him to pick her up outside of math so that she does not have to walk to the cafeteria with Cole.

For the next two weeks, Cole and Jackie avoid each other, and she becomes closer to Alex. As her friendship with Alex grows, she feels like he is the “brother I never had” (148) and finds herself opening up to him more.

One morning, Jackie wakes up to Cole in her face, telling her that she overslept and that everyone else has left for school already. Jackie thinks that this is impossible as she always sets her alarm, but when she looks at her clock, she sees that it is nearly 7:30. Jackie begins to panic, worried about what she will wear to school and not wanting to miss her anatomy test. Cole leaves the room, returning with a pair of Katherine’s jeans and an old football jersey.

On the ride to school, Cole’s friend Nick asks Cole if he is planning to go to the warehouse today, and the boys discuss some prior plans. Deciding that whatever they are planning sounds like trouble, Jackie refocuses her attention out the window. She thanks Nick for the ride and quickly exits the car as soon as he parks. Arriving at anatomy just as the final bell rings, Jackie asks Alex what happened this morning. Not meeting her gaze, he tells her that Cole said Jackie wanted to ride to school with him that morning. Jackie realizes that Cole must have turned off her alarm to make her late for school so that she would have to ride with him. Alex is relieved to hear that Jackie did not want to ride with Cole, but his relief fades when he realizes that Jackie is wearing one of Cole’s old football jerseys.

As the morning wears on, Jackie becomes increasingly self-conscious about the jersey. Jackie arrives at math class early, wanting to ask Cole why he gave her his jersey, but Alex’s ex-girlfriend, Mary, appears. Mary compliments Jackie’s jersey, asking if it is part of her mother’s new fashion collection before pretending to suddenly remember that Jackie’s mother is deceased. Before she walks away, she tells Jackie to stay away from Alex. Mary leaves Jackie standing in shock and disbelief at her cruelty.

Cole arrives at class and asks Jackie what is wrong. Jackie refuses to tell him what happened, so Cole invites her to skip school with him, and she agrees. They drive to an abandoned warehouse an hour outside of town. There are a few more people there when they arrive, and soon Jackie realizes that the sun has set, and she has had more beers than she can count. The group tries to convince Jackie to play Spin the Bottle, but she does not want her first kiss to be part of a drunken party game. Cole suggests that they play something else because Spin the Bottle is too much for a “goody two-shoes” (169) like Jackie, which convinces her to play.

Cole spins the bottle, and it lands between Jackie and another girl. Cole walks across the circle and kisses Jackie. She leans into the kiss for a moment before pushing Cole away, worried that she may in fact be falling for him. Jackie stumbles outside, feeling more drunk than she anticipated, and falls. She cries as she thinks about how much she misses her family. Cole sits down beside her and pulls her head into his lap, apologizing to her. She says that he wants to go home, and he immediately helps her in the car.

When they get home, Alex appears on the stair landing, asking what is going on, and Katherine instructs Alex to take her upstairs. Inside her room, Alex asks if Jackie wants a glass of water and she laughs, declining but asking for a kiss. Alex gives her a short kiss on the cheek before wishing her goodnight. The next morning, Katherine informs Jackie that she and Cole are grounded for three weeks. Jackie cannot help but think about how freeing it felt to skip school with Cole. This renews Jackie’s feelings of guilt, and she promises herself to use this time to refocus on her priorities.

Alex avoids Jackie until she confronts him during anatomy. He says that he cannot believe she skipped school with Cole. Jackie tells Alex to stop taking out his anger toward Cole on her, telling him that his ex-girlfriend is the reason she decided to skip school. Jackie refuses to tell Alex what Mary said to her, and at the end of class Alex bolts from the room. After math class, Cole offers to buy Jackie lunch, but she decides to distance herself from Cole after her fight with Alex. She tells Cole that they should just “chill out” (179).

Jackie finds herself in the auditorium. She is about to leave when she hears Danny practicing a monologue from Romeo and Juliet. Danny tells her that Romeo and Juliet is the spring play and that he is hoping to get the lead. Jackie is impressed with Danny’s acting and compliments him. He admits that it feels easier to pretend to be someone else, and Jackie asks him why he cares about what other people think. He turns the question around on her. When she asks what Danny means, he breaks eye contact and thanks her for her help before leaving the auditorium.

As the Walters prepare to go on their annual family camping trip, Cole and Jackie stay behind to help take care of Alex, who is recovering from the stomach flu, and end their punishment early. Cole and Jackie watch a movie that evening. As the movie reaches a climactic moment, the power cuts out, causing Jackie to scream. Alex comes downstairs and Cole asks him to go look for candles while he tries to get the generator working. Jackie joins Alex and he leads her to his dad’s workshop, and they become locked inside due to the faulty door. Alex finds a candle and lights it, searching for his cell phone to text Cole to let them out but realizing he does not have service. Jackie left her phone upstairs, so while they wait for Cole to come find them, Alex suggests they play cards.

After playing in silence for a few minutes, Jackie asks Alex if he is still angry at her. He admits that he is not mad anymore but that he would still like to know what Mary said to upset Jackie. Before Jackie can respond, they hear Cole’s voice calling out for them. Cole unlocks the door, and they go back upstairs. Cole suggests that they all sleep in the living room since the power is still out, and Alex immediately agrees, but Jackie senses that this could lead to trouble.

Jackie finds herself unable to sleep, too aware of Alex and Cole’s presences. A drop of water falls on Jackie’s head and they realize that the ceiling is leaking. Jackie re-makes her bed on the floor, and Cole lies down next to her, claiming that he does not want her to sleep on the ground by herself. Alex seems suspicious of this and fidgets in his chair, claiming it is uncomfortable, until Jackie tells him to lie down next to her. Soon, the brothers fall asleep, inching closer to Jackie in their sleep until she finally drifts off to sleep with one of their arms around her stomach and the other holding her hand.

Jackie spends most of the next day in her room away from the brothers and receives a phone call from Sammy. She confesses to her friend that she does not know “what to do” (199) about Cole and her feelings for him and confesses that she feels guilty for having feelings for Cole amidst the tragedy of losing her family. Sammy suggests that developing feelings for someone might help Jackie heal from the trauma of the last year.

At school on Monday, Danny strikes up conversation with Jackie, asking about her weekend and telling her that he imagines himself living in a city one day. They bond over their shared love of cities, and Danny abruptly changes the subject, telling her that he got the part of Romeo in the spring play.