Levi is Dani’s love interest and the narrator of one chapter of the novel. He is a round, static character who provides Dani with the love, support, and stability to process her grief, mature, and admit her love for him. In addition, he wrote the book of poems that has the same title as the novel, illustrating his importance to Dani’s journey. He and Dani have been best friends since ninth grade, their relationship sealed through a shared understanding of loss after both of their fathers died. Dani says, “Levi had lost his dad a few years prior, so he understood what it was like. He understood that fear of forgetting and the struggle to be happy as if it were a betrayal” (56). Everything changed in their senior year when Dani realized that her feelings for Levi had changed. Prom night was supposed to be her chance to finally say something, but because of the alcohol and the confusion of the situation, Dani believed that she confessed her feelings and was rejected. At the same time, Levi walked away thinking she was talking about someone else entirely.

Levi is warm and understanding, and throughout the time he’s been in Dani’s life, he’s been a consistent support for her. Even during their separation, the result of miscommunication and Dani’s instinctive withdrawal, he maintained his connection to her by writing poems that express his love and process his feelings for her. Although lack of communication led to four years of silence and pain, Levi illustrates his continued desire to have Dani in his life when he runs into her at a bar and suggests that they fake-date. Throughout the novel, he shows his continued interest despite the fact that Dani continually misinterprets his actions and insists that they’re just friends. Levi also shows an accommodating nature as he slips back into the role he once had in her life, becoming her closest friend again in order to be close to her.

Levi is dedicated to his family, which is something Dani admires. She notices, “He was the constant moving gear that kept everyone working together. But as much as it made him independent, it also turned him into a puzzle, made of pieces of each woman” (67). He shows the same care to his family and to Dani. He calls her “Daisy,” a nickname tied to their past, revealing a level of comfort and affection that goes beyond the act and hints at feelings that Levi hasn’t said out loud.

As Dani’s stress builds with the approach of her final project, Levi continues to be a steady source of support. Instead of letting her second-guess herself, he consistently pushes her to be braver and trust her own instincts. He sees her talent clearly, even when she can’t, and encourages her to take risks rather than play it safe, acting as her mentor and guide in her journey toward maturity. Levi reminds her that she already has the skills and knowledge she needs and that holding back is limiting her. He offers consistent support that helps change the way Dani approaches both her work and herself.

Ethan is Dani’s collegiate advisor and one of the antagonists in the novel. He’s a source of manipulation and a power imbalance in her life that stands in the way of her growth and maturity. Ironically, although he’s supposed to act as a mentor and offer academic guidance, he consistently uses his authority to exploit Dani’s emotional vulnerability, especially as she wrestles with uncertainty about her future and graduate-school applications. Instead of supporting her growth in an honest or constructive way, Ethan pushes her in directions that benefit him and his own agenda, often disguised as professional advice.

With his manipulative and self-serving behavior, Ethan is a foil to Levi. Where Levi encourages Dani to trust her instincts and lean into her own talent, Ethan pushes her toward nepotism and shortcuts, specifically telling her to rely on her mother’s name and connections to get ahead. Ethan is the physical manifestation of Dani’s internal self-doubt: His voice gives life to the negative thoughts she already has about herself and her work and represents the part of Dani that questions whether she’s good enough on her own.

Ethan inappropriately crosses physical and emotional boundaries, becoming a reminder of everything that Dani is already struggling with internally. She’s already unsure of herself, making his manipulation harder to immediately recognize and resist. When Dani pushes back, chooses not to follow his advice, and later actively removes herself from his control, she takes a significant step toward regaining control of her narrative. Dani’s experience with Ethan’s toxic energy helps her learn to separate guidance from control and separate external validation from genuine belief in herself, another piece of her movement toward Listening to One’s Instincts as a Path to Self-Discovery.