“As they walk down the aisle, people who were my middle – school lab partners… glare at me. I close my eyes. This is what I’ve been dreading, I am sitting alone.”(pg.3)
“Rachel Bruin, my ex – friend. She stares at something above my left ear. Words climb up my throat… If there is anyone in the entire galaxy I am dying to tell what really happened, its Rachel. My throat burns.”(pg. 4-5)
“Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits the square in the center of my chest. All conversations stop as the entire lunch room gawks, my face burning into their retinas… The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can’t read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.”(pg.8)
The first pages of the novel are part of the exposition in which the main character’s histories and conflicts are revealed. The struggle between Melinda and the people on the bus is an external conflict. This quote shows the theme of isolation and abandonment. She feels lonely and has no one to sit with on the bus. Melinda feels abandoned because these people that knew her- act as she doesn’t even exist anymore. The significance from this quote in relation to the entire novel is that Melinda knew something like this was going to happen, in fact she’s feared this day. As she sees these people walking down the aisle she notices that they look at her with anger as if she’s done something wrong. I guess that’s why she fears this day because she thinks she’s made people angry.
There is a lot of imagery in this part of the novel, the imagery itself also shows the external conflict that both Melinda and Rachel had a strong bond at one point but ever since the party incident, their relationship has faded. This quote really focuses on the theme of loyalty and friendship including communication. Many people can relate to this because they maybe lost a friend that they probably won’t be able to speak to again. The significance in this...