Michael is the story’s deuteragonist, named after The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield. The name is somewhat ironic, as Tori’s traits and storyline more strongly resemble Holden’s. Michael, by contrast, becomes the “catcher” that Holden wished to be: the person who disproves Tori’s cynical worldview. Michael is introduced as an eccentric and unconventional person whose distinctive appearance (“a pair of large, thick-framed square glasses that sort of make him look like he’s wearing 3D cinema glasses” [9]) immediately separates him from the crowd that Tori disdains. He refuses to change himself in order to fit in, which Tori admires. At the same time, his enthusiastic and sometimes overwhelming personality contrasts sharply with Tori’s introspective, withdrawn nature, making him both a challenge and a catalyst in her life. He is highly observant and seems to understand Tori’s thoughts and behaviors before she can articulate them, and he is not afraid to confront her directly about her pessimism and emotional detachment.

Michael’s depth emerges gradually and reveals layers of vulnerability. For instance, during his outburst at the national speed-skating competition, he shows a raw side rarely visible to others, admitting to Tori that he’s often angry but usually conceals it. Through these moments, Michael demonstrates a moral and emotional courage that mirrors Tori’s growing awareness of responsibility and shows her what it means to feel deeply and act authentically. This contributes to Michael’s role in helping Tori find light in the darkness, as does his ability to make Tori laugh and let go.

His relationship with Tori centers on emotional honesty and the dismantling of Tori’s defenses. The two share important moments like their snowball fight, where Michael introduces joy and vitality into Tori’s life. Through him, she begins to see that connection with others does not require her to suppress her true thoughts and feelings. Michael represents both the possibility of genuine companionship and the transformative power of embracing imperfection, and he serves as Tori’s emotional anchor and guide through the chaos of adolescence.

Becky is Tori’s best friend before she meets Michael and a foil to her negative and introspective nature. Becky is lively, confident, and socially skilled; to Tori, she is an archetypal “popular girl” who embodies the pressure to fit in. Becky’s frankness and friendliness emphasize Tori’s self-doubt and social detachment, which Becky herself often draws attention to either directly or indirectly (as when she’s shocked to find Tori conversing with Lucas or calls her out for being sad).

While Becky can seem self-centered, her role is complex; she represents both the pressures of social conformity and the reality of emotional honesty. While Tori’s narration often lingers on the times Becky has hurt her, there are hints that Tori has hurt Becky as well and even misjudged her. In moments of crisis, Becky shows growth, particularly when she steps in to prevent Lucas’s plans from escalating, demonstrating that she can set aside superficial concerns and change as a person. She also defends and compliments Tori in this moment while revealing that she, too, feels pressure to maintain a particular image. Ultimately, the novel implies that Becky is also struggling to navigate adolescence and that Tori’s perception of her is distorted by her general contempt for others.

Lucas is an antagonistic figure in the story. His attempts to reconnect with Tori are frustrating for her, as they force her to confront how she has changed since childhood, mostly in ways she views as negative: “I thought that it’d be nice to try and rekindle this friendship, but it’s too hard. I don’t want to talk to anyone” (99). Tori therefore describes him as “some ghost who doesn’t want to be forgotten” (99), emphasizing his fixation on the past rather than Tori’s present reality.

Lucas ultimately is revealed to be the instigator of the Solitaire pranks. He rationalizes his extreme actions as a means of reviving Tori’s spirit and taking revenge on the system. This destructive effort to recapture who Tori used to be reveals the dark side of nostalgia for the past; it also suggests that Lucas is acting from a place of selfishness masked as concern. His arc thus illustrates how misplaced intentions and unexamined emotions can lead to harm, contrasting with Michael’s authentic and grounded influence. Lucas’s actions also inadvertently push Tori to overcome her inertia and act, thus influencing Tori’s journey toward being the start of change.