FF #3: Mary Anne's Big Break-Up Pt 2
Part One
Okay guys, I’m back with the next installment of Mary Anne’s Big Break-Up. Hopefully there’s more to snark on this part. Otherwise, my entries are going to continue to be a bit bleak until Ann gives me something to work with. I think after I finish all of the Friends Forever series, I’ll be going straight back to classic BSC. It’s much easier to snark.
So when last we left off, Mary Anne had told pretty much everyone that she and Logan were over for good. People were mostly supportive. Let’s see how this plays out.
Chapter Six
Mary Anne spends all day Sunday hiding in her room. Her friends are actually good friends for once and offer to come over and spend time with her but she claims she has homework. You know, I’ve been there. I’ve been where I just want to hide in my bedroom and pretend the world doesn’t exist. Being an ostrich is far easier than dealing sometimes, and I think that Mary Anne totally deserves a day to hide after her breakup.
Monday, she has to emerge from her bedroom and go to school. When she gets there, she feels like everyone is ignoring her because a few of Logan’s teammates look away when she passes or give her angry glances. She asks Kristy if everyone knows and Kristy confirms that they do. News travels fast in a small town. Trust me - I know. I grew up in a teensy town. This actually happens.
Mary Anne moans that it’s no one’s business and Kristy agrees. Then Kristy pokes her hard enough to make Mary Anne drop a book. Why did Kristy poke Mary Anne that hard? As a warning that Logan is approaching. Hey, K. Ron, just whisper that Logan’s coming. It’s less painful and will not cause her to drop a book which probably embarrassed her. And because its Mary Anne, she probably wanted to cry even if the book didn’t say anything about it.
Anyway, Logan greets her all stilted like while the two guys flanking him glare at Mary Anne. She notes that he looks injured before Logan and his friends walk off. Mary Anne feels drained and says that the track team probably hates her. Kristy helpfully points out that the football team and baseball team probably hate her too.
Don’t worry Mary Anne. You can still find some jocks to ride on the basketball team.
Mary Anne feels all bitter about the fact that Logan’s friends are supporting him through this break up and mocks how he said ‘Hello Mary Anne’ and says that it feels like Logan’s making her out to be some kind of villain. Excuse me, what? Did I miss something? Because it seems like Logan walked down the hallway and greeted his ex-girlfriend. God I do not miss being thirteen with a persecution complex and extreme paranoia.
Then Mary Anne gets annoyed that Kristy defends Logan and more annoyed that Kristy says that she’s both of their friends. Apparently, Mary Anne was sure that she got the BSC in the divorce. She snaps at Kristy who tells her not to be mad and Mary Anne claims she’s not. Internally, she feels a bit betrayed. OMG Mary Anne, why are you suddenly acting like a real thirteen year old. It’s weird when these girls act their ages.
Stacey meets her outside the cafeteria to check in and teases about the fact that the baseball team is now protecting Logan. Mary Anne spots Logan looking dejected in the cafeteria and notes that he looks like a little boy lost in the department store. That’s fucking creepy MA. The image makes her want to tell him everything will be okay and makes her feel lonely because she just realized that Logan is no longer a part of her life.
Codependent, party of one.
Chapter Seven
Time for a BSC meeting. It starts with Mary Anne remembering she’s supposed to babysit at Logan’s the next day and kind of freaking out. Claudia points out that he won’t be there. Stacey offers to bring Charlotte over to help her. Claudia offers to leave Mural Club (wtf Stoneybrook) early. Kristy volunteers to skip studying. They’re all offering to take the job for her which is sweet and supportive. Especially since K. Ron seems to be allowing this. Can we please have our dictator back? I’m scared.
The next day, Logan and Mary Anne have another awkward encounter in the hallway. After school, Mary Anne has to pass her old house to get to Logan’s and she notes that there’s nothing left except for a giant hole that was formerly the basement. I dont’ remember them having a basement. Mary Anne wonders if her whole life changed with the fire and pushes the thought away because its uncomfortable.
She finally gets to the Brunos. Mrs. Bruno is nice to her but Kerry and Hunter are nowhere to be seen. When they appear, Kerry acts a bit like a little bitch. Mrs. Bruno notices, but says nothing beyond giving instructions. The moment Mrs. Bruno leaves, Kerry and Hunter shout at her for breaking up with Logan and Mary Anne calmly says they should talk and takes them to the living room. Kerry starts out saying that if Logan’s not good enough for MA, then neither are they. MA disputes this and tries to explain the break up in kids terms.
It seems to work a little and the kids warm up. Maybe a little too much because when Logan gets home early, Hunter declares that Mary Anne still likes him and that gives Logan false hope. Mary Anne skidaddles and goes home and locks herself in her room.
If I were Mrs. Bruno, I’d be kind of pissed that my baby-sitter left before I got home, even if they did leave with their brother. Plus, how is MA going to get paid since she left early? I know it was probably only fifty cents or something, but in Stoneybrook’s economy, that’s practically a new car.
Chapter Eight
The chapter opens with some guy named Lew Greenberg pretending Mary Anne doesn’t exist. I get it Lew. We all want to do it sometimes, but because you did, now I have to read about her bitching to Kristy about how she thought you were her friend too.
Jim Poirier, another person we’ve never heard of, does the same thing. Then Dave Griffin, another person we’ve NEVER heard of, actually approaches her. There’s an awkward silence and Kristy is like ‘you’re on your own’ and bounces because we know she has no interest in boys that are over the age of ten and completely under her mind control.
Anyway, Dave asks MA to the Fall Fling because this is Stoneybrook and there must be a thousand dances a year. It’s actually a school board mandate and that’s why they have to keep repeating the 8th grade. They haven’t had their 1000th dance yet. MA is completely shocked that Dave is asking her about the dance… shocked to the point that she honestly thought he was going to ask her to be on some kind of committee because the idea of a boy who isn’t Logan being interested is a strange concept to her. David takes her confusion to mean that she maybe didn’t actually break up with Logan and that he misheard and actually asks.
MA politely turns him down and he’s not a manipulative ass about it. He just says its cool and if she changes her mind to call him. He tells her how to find his number in the phone book (his dad’s name is Dave too) and waves good-bye. MA thinks to herself that he’s actually a nice guy and realizes she’s not really noticed any other guys in Stoneybrook because of Logan.
She’s so busy thinking about this that she doesn’t realize Logan is coming down the hall towards her. Logan stops and says she didn’t have to run out of the house and lay on some more emotional manipulation when she says the whole thing is really confusing. Logan thinks it means she’s confused about breaking up with him and that it means she doesn’t want to be broken up. She says that she did mean the break up but she would like them to be friends. She also says she’s sorry she hurt him because she wouldn’t be MA without a massive guilt complex. He says whatever and walks off because he’s not getting his way.
Once again at lunch, Logan is looking depressed in his group of people and Mary Anne feels like crap over it. MA sweetie, I’m pretty sure he means for this to happen.
Claudia waits for MA at her locker at the end of the day to check in on her. They walk by Jeremy and Stacey and Claudia gets annoyed seeing them together. Mary Anne again asks if she could just forget about it but Claudia can’t. She thinks about Jeremy all the time and cannot believe that Stacey used to be her best friend. Honestly, I can’t believe that events from previous books are taking an effect on the current one, but that’s because I’m way too used to the main series. Back to the snark.
MA remembers thinking that Logan was her best friend and also gets a little passive-aggressive about Dawn. “There was also a time when I’d thought of my stepsister, Dawn, as a best friend. Then she’d moved away.” Damn MA, that’s harsh. Not that I blame you because Dawn is a hosebeast but still!
Claudia comments that at least they were being honest. Claud could pretend that she wasn’t angry with Stacey and MA could pretend to still be happy with Logan, but they aren’t. Which leads to more internal monologuing on Mary Anne’s part. They both agree that it takes guts to be honest when it can hurt someone and MA says it might be interesting to figure out who she is without Logan.
Chapter Nine
The next day, Stacey stops MA after lunch to suggest that she go out with Pete Black. I’m likely to agree, but that’s because my little kid self still has a crush on Pete Black. Stacey mentions that Pete is a good guy when MA hesitates and says that they got to know each other better during the whole movie making class thing from the regular series. Again, freaky to hear actual specifics from the regular series mentioned.
Stacey is happy when MA agrees that Pete is nice and mentions that she thinks he’s interested in her anyway. Pete even mentioned that he didn’t think MA would be single long. Who knew that so many eighth graders thought that a girl who cries too often and spends too much of her time with either a cult or small children was so attractive? Stacey drags MA past Pete’s locker, and MA vaguely contemplates going out with him before remembering that she already turned down Dave. Once they get there, Stacey not so subtly leaves MA alone with Pete who asks her to the dance.
Again, MA is polite and the boy she turned down isn’t a dick about it. She leaves Pete and then she sees Kristy and Logan talking in the hallway. Not just talking -- LAUGHING! And this makes MA think that Logan is going to ask Kristy to the Fall Fling. She’s bothered by this but then realizes that he has every right to ask whoever he wants. Normally, I’d agree, but if you and your long term girlfriend just broke up a few days ago, asking out her best friend is a dick move. MA reasons that Kristy was probably just trying to cheer him up but doesn’t like that either.
Then she realizes that if Kristy and Logan did start dating, she’d probably lose Kristy as her best friend. Seriously, MA do you really think that Kristy would a) start dating Logan and b) ditch you for a boy? You two were talking about how ridiculous it was that it happened between Stacey and Claudia! Again, I do not miss being thirteen in the slightest.
Dave catches her mid-angst and asks if she’s okay. Then he offers to walk her to the cafeteria. He straight up asks if he should bother asking her to the Fall Fling again and says that he doesn’t understand why she doesn’t want to go. He’d understand why she wouldn’t want to go with him, but not why she wouldn’t want to go at all.
And then Dave loses all respectability in my book by saying that MA is different than most girls because most girls would be out looking for a new man immediately. MA gains respect by disagreeing and by saying that she and Logan were really close and that you don’t get over that easily. Dave concedes to her point and says he still thinks she’s unusual in a good way. Clearly, he doesn’t know that she spends all her time with people under ten or has an unhealthy obsession with her cat that I can’t mock because I also have one. She realizes that she enjoys talking to Dave and he makes her laugh.
But the laugh from some joke about a frog getting a loan from a bank (what even?) is ended when she turns to see she’s face to face with Logan. She stops laughing and Logan disappears into the cafeteria.
No wonder they were together so long. They’re both passive aggressive shits!
Chapter Ten
This chapter starts with MA having a headache and a stomachache. Sharon decides she should skip school. I wonder what Richard the Overprotective would say about that. Sharon brings her tea before leaving for work and MA falls back asleep. She has a dream that she’s marrying Logan and Logan comments about everything she’s wearing and what’s wrong with it all. Mary Anne yells at him in her dream and wakes up shaking.
That literally sounds like something an abuse victim would dream and I’m more than a little afraid to find it in a children’s book.
Richard is there when she wakes up. He had a meeting downtown and decided to come check on her. He tells her that the building inspector approved plans to begin converting the barn to a new house. MA is understandably excited and Richard invites her to go with him to meet with the contractors the next day if she’s feeling any better. MA ponders going to the football game even though she’s not dating Logan anymore and decides instead to go with her dad to meet the contractors.
I think this is supposed to be symbolic of not thinking about her past with Logan and focusing on her future instead? I don’t know.
Anyway she agrees and then goes downstairs to eat lunch with her dad.
They meet with the contractors at 10 AM the next day. What kind of football game starts at 10 AM outside of kids’ leagues? The contractors are already there and make a really insensitive joke about how Burnt Hill Road smells like its name. Hot damn guys! These people just lost their home in a fire and you’re cracking jokes. I’d be getting new contractors! Anyway, they say that they’ll need to bring by a dumpster and a cleanup crew to get rid of the debris and this actually makes MA happy. The parents walk around with the man contractor and MA talks about gardening with Ellice, the female contractor.
This leads to a motivational speech about not boxing yourself in and relating it to gardening but honestly, I kind of skimmed this part because motivational speeches bore me. But it reaches MA and when she and Sharon leave (Richard has to go to the office with the contractors to discuss specifics), she asks if Sharon likes change. Sharon says that she sometimes likes it, when they’re good changes. MA admits that she wants change lately.
Sharon actually doesn’t live up to her Stoner Sharon reputation and says that it means that MA is growing up. “At your age, things have to change so you can see what the possibilities are.” Pretty sound there honestly Sharon. Maybe the new dealer you have is giving you weed that makes you sensible? Anyway, the chapter ends with MA pondering what her possibilities were.
And I’m going to end this section there. Once again, this book is actually a lot harder to snark than I thought. Its making me nostalgic for the normal series, but I committed to this series and I intend to finish it! So thanks for reading and stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion.