Crescendo: Chapter 3
ZeldaQueen: In which dinner is served and Nora continues to be a bitch.
Also, a happy belated birthday to morri_delrae, nix501st, raetekusu, and shaolina! Also, a very belated happy Valentine's Day to you all!
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 3
ZeldaQueen: When we catch up to Nora in the next chapter, she is in the depths of despair. Oh yeah, did any of you think she'd actually come to her senses and realize that Patch was a douche and she was far better off without him? Certainly not! No, she's busy going on like this
"The anger was beginning to wear off, but I almost wished I could stay caught up in its fever forever. The emptiness it left behind ached more than the sharp, fiery pain I’d felt when Patch walked out"
ZeldaQueen: Because the loss of her boyfriend of two months is just so horrific. They clearly had such a deep and meaningful relationship, full of good times. My head hurts.
Nora continues to wibble about the breakup, wondering if it's permanent and whether nor not there is "no way around fate or, more immediately, the archangels’ threats".
ZeldaQueen: Pardon me. That was a knee-jerk reaction to that twit blaming all of her relationship woes on fate. God forbid there be problems that stem from issues like their personalities or choices or refusal to recognize and correct their flaws. No, clearly Nora and Patch are such perfect people that their relationship can only be hindered by fate itself. Fucking-a.
So yeah, this leads to Nora getting all pissy about the archangels, bitching about how unfair they are. Yes, you read that right. Nora is complaining that heavenly beings are being unfair because they won't let her do whatever she wants. REALLY
"I felt my anger reignite. Why couldn’t they leave us alone? Why were they so bent on destroying Patch? Patch had told me he was the first fallen angel to get his wings back and become a guardian angel. Were the archangels angry over that? Did they feel Patch had somehow tricked them? Or that he’d cheated his way back up from the bottom? Did they want to put him in his place? Or did they merely not trust him?"
ZeldaQueen: Gee Nora, why in the world would those mean old archangels ever want to send Patch to Hell? He's such a wonderful, fantastic person, only someone really evil would wish harm on him! I mean, it's not like he completely turned his back on his many responsibilities and duties in Heaven because he wanted to hook up with a human chick, basically giving God the finger in the process (which I think the monotheistic religions would agree would go over with God and the other angels about as well as a lead balloon). It's certainly not like he spent his days on Earth, as a fallen angel, doing nothing but gambling, coveting a human body, lusting after women, and generally acting in a way that is considered disgusting by human standards, let alone what angels would judge by. It's really not like he freaked them all out by trying to go through with a forbidden practice, which involved his attempting to ritualistically murder Nora. It definitely is not like he responded to their attempts to go back to actually being useful and helpful by laughing at the offer, seducing the angel delivering the message just to get her to tell him what he was after, and paved the way for said angel going crazy and ultimately having her wings ripped out. And it isn't as if he made it extremely clear that he viewed his job as Nora's guardian angel as little more than a way to sleazily hit on her and make out with her and not actually do his job of protecting humanity.
As for the rest of Nora's rant, why would she think that the archangels are angry he became a guardian? It was outright stated in the last book that they wanted him to become a guardian, presumably because keeping him in Heaven was an easier way of keeping an eye on him! They sent Dabria to tell him how to be a guardian! Why would Nora think that they are jealous of him becoming a guardian angel? I'd personally go with the idea that his pre-guardian behavior was so disgusting that of course they've got him on a tight leash! Fuck, I'd say it's a miracle they kept him out of Hell for this long!
Also, I find it fucking rich that we're supposed to think that knocking Patch down a few pegs is a bad thing.
So yeah, Nora goes back to being all dramatically sad, complete with a single tear running down her face. No, I'm not exaggerating with that. She contemplates calling Patch, but worries that the archangels will spy on that and somehow...do something. I'm not sure what. Seriously, she never gives any thought to how there are many ways to call Patch and say "We need to talk" that don't involve romantic vibes.
Oh, but there's another reason for Nora to not just get off of her ass and call Patch and sort things out (aside from the usual contrivances and it being laughable that a girl have a spine and take initiative). She has her pride, you see. Yes, really, she pulls that card
"I also couldn’t let go of my pride that quickly. Didn’t he realize he was just as much in the wrong? The whole reason we’d fought in the first place was because he’d refused to tell me what he was doing at Marcie’s house last night. I wasn’t the jealous type, but he knew my history with Marcie. He knew this was the one time when I had to know"
Sweet jumped-up Jesus, where to begin?
First of all, Nora, if you had an ounce of pride, you would not let Marcie's lame jibes and insults reduce you to a puddle of tears every time you two cross paths. And you wouldn't have let that waitress jerk you around and extort all of your money. And you wouldn't have let that bag lady extort half of the clothes off of your back, plus your cell phone. And you wouldn't have let that sleazy guy running the check-out desk at that motel enable Patch's disgusting behavior and make lewd comments to you. And you wouldn't have let your Biology teacher humiliate you like he did, or put up with him forcing you to work with Patch. And you WOULDN'T HAVE LET PATCH STALK AND HARASS AND BE A DICK TO YOU FOR SO MANY CHAPTERS! That's not even getting into how much people are going to walk over you over the rest of this book and the rest! For fuck's sake, you haven't had your pride since the first chapter of Hush, Hush!
Second of all, you're an insane yandere who is more concerned that your boyfriend is cheating on you than the fact that he's stalking and spying on unsuspecting girls. Go get more therapy, or possibly a padded room.
Third of all, you're not the jealous type?
ZeldaQueen: Ah, that's the funniest shit I've heard all day, I swear. *wipes tears from eyes*
Fourth of all, well it's a good thing someone knows about your history with Marcie, because we sure as heck don't! Seriously, she has done nothing to warrant us thinking that Nora is justified in reacting like this.
Fifth of all, Nora's little "This is the one time I must know!" schtick really loses ground when it was not two chapters ago that she also expressed a desire to know what material Patch's bedsheets were made out of and probably where his dirty underpants were so she could sniff them.
And then, for no reason at all, Nora jumps from there to being all suspicious as to why Marcie was in Bo's Arcade. She wonders for what Earthly reason Marcie could possibly have gone there. How about to get drunk, you nitwit? We've already established that she likes to hang out on beaches populated by drug dealers. How is a bar that much of a jump. Nora provides "evidence" that this is weird by telling us that no other students from her high school have ever been to Bo's that she has heard of, and that she herself had never heard of it before meeting Patch. Considering that we're to believe that Nora was totally average and boring before meeting Patch, that really doesn't say a lot.
I'd also like to point out that this sounds like more of Fitzpatrick having no idea what high schoolers can get up to. My lovely hometown of Pittsburgh is where there's an under-21 nightclub called Club Zoo, where the kids from my high school would get into all kinds of shenanigans. Granted Bo's is supposed to be an actual bar, but clearly they don't care about enforcing age limits, since Patch and Nora can get in all the time. Given that Marcie was drunk, they also clearly don't care about checking IDs or being caught by the police selling alcohol to minors, but since when has Fitzpatrick let reality get in the way of her bad boy fantasies? Point is, if a high school girl who already has proven herself to frequent less-than-fashionable places shows up in a bar, why would anyone think there was some ulterior motives besides getting hammered?
But no, Nora immediately jumps to the conclusion that it's too much of a coincidence that Patch was staring in Marcie's window one evening and then just happens to be at the same bar where she was shanked the next day. Granted that is a bit odd to buy as a coincidence. Nora, however, does not come to the obvious conclusion that Patch is stalking Marcie. Instead, Nora decides that it's all Marcie's doing, because Marcie is an evil, evil tramp who surely has decided that she wants Patch's heavenly, bad-boy wiener, and will stop at nothing to get it
"And Marcie was many things, among them seductive and persuasive. Not only did she not take no for an answer, she didn’t accept any answer that wasn’t exactly what she wanted.
What if, this time, she wanted … Patch?"
YOU FUCKING WHORE: 18
ZeldaQueen: All I will say is this - thus far, Marcie has been as seductive and persuasive as a dump truck. Fitzpatrick, it doesn't work if you want to make a femme fatale and then do nothing but make her hammy with a generous side of cheese.
Speaking of food, guess who happens to show up at this point? Yes, Scott and his mother are here! And batten down the hatches folks, because this is not going to be a pleasant rest of chapter. It's just an endless procession of Nora whining and trying and failing to be clever. I'm also fairly certain that we're supposed to find this scene, funny, but I can't say for certain. Like with Meyer, I honestly have a hard time knowing if Fitzpatrick is trying to be funny or not.
So. Onward!
Nora hears knocking at the door and calls her mother, because apparently her telephone is connected to a wormhole and causes time to stop while she talks on it. Yes, I'm still pissed about the last chapter of Hush, Hush. What of it?
Nora's mother tells her to let them in. Nora proceeds to be a whiny little bitch and says that she'll let them in, but she doesn't know them so she'll just let them sit by themselves in the living room while she mopes in her bedroom. Yes, she pretty much says just that. Nora also is a passive aggressive bitch, trying to sound as wounded and unhappy as possible. You see, she feels that because her pour, tender soul was ripped in twain by Patch's departure, it's unreasonable to expect her to entertain company. She doesn't just tell her mother this though, for contrivances. Also, because "it wasn’t like I could confide in my mom. She hated Patch. She wouldn’t sympathize. I couldn’t take hearing the happiness and relief in her voice. Not now".
Putting aside the fact that Nora's mother disliking Patch is as understandable as Charlie hating Edward, when has Mrs. Grey ever given the impression that she'd show pleasure in the face of her daughter's grief? I mean, okay I'm sure she'd be happy. I'd be happy if my daughter had a boyfriend like Patch and then dumped him. But we're supposed to believe that Nora's mother is such a comforting presence, that she's been so kind and so loving to her daughter, and yet this one time, Nora simply can't confide in her? Bullshit!
But, like I said, it's all contrivances. Nora uses her being upset at dumping Patch as a convenient excuse to be a rude fuckwit during dinner, and we're supposed to think it's legitimate. We do not. We are not stupid.
Nora's mother predictably does not take well to Nora's declaration, which we're apparently supposed to think is oh-so-insensitive of her. Nora is bitchy and acts like a bratty child, complete with an exasperated "Fine, I guess I'll do it!" and throwing her phone across the room. She marches downstairs and answers the door and we get... um, this...
"The guy standing on the doormat was tall and well built- I could tell, since his T-shirt fit on the snug side and blatantly advertised PLATINUM GYM, PORTLAND. A silver hoop ran through his right earlobe, and his Levi’s hung dangerously low on the hips. He wore a pink Hawaiian-print ball cap that looked fresh off a thrift store shelf and had to be an inside joke, and his sunglasses reminded me of Hulk Hogan. Despite all this, he had a certain boyish charm"
ZeldaQueen: Erm... Fitzpatrick, I think your fetishes are showing. I mean, seriously? Oh no, he has a hoop earring and low-rise pants! What a bad boy! And a... um, pink baseball cap! Really! And a tight-fitting shirt! All of which, except for the earring, Patch has! Christmas, Fitzpatrick, expand your repotoire!
Anyway, this fellow is Scott Parnell, and he will be our Jacob expy for this series. He steps inside and takes off of his sunglasses - are you shitting me? Fitzpatrick's hitting all of the checklist points here, isn't she? - and asks where Nora's mother is and what they're having for dinner. Nora's response is to turn to the audience and be a rude little shit
"I didn’t like his use of the word 'we.' There was no 'we.' There was the Grey family, and the Parnell family. Two separate entities that happened to be sharing the same dinner table for one night"
ZeldaQueen: Jesus Christ, why is she so angry at the Parnells? Okay, I could almost buy her being angry that her mother is trying to set her up with someone else. Yes, her mom wouldn't know she and Patch broke up, but I could still buy her being irrationally upset. But the Parnells have nothing to do with this, and she's nothing but cold and bitter towards them! What happened to her saying before how she'd be a good hostess?
Scott tries to make small talk with Nora, and Nora shoots him down. He apparently decides that talking to her is a waste of time (smart fellow) and asks if there's any beer in the house. Because he's a bad boy (the only type of guy Fitzpatrick seems capable of writing) and bad boys all drink beer.
At this point, Nora's mother comes in with Scott's mother, Lynn Parnell. We are told that Mrs. Parnell is "A round woman with a bad pixiestyle haircut and heavy pink makeup followed her in", and I can already tell that Fitzpatrick is fixing to make her as obnoxious as possible. Mrs. Parnell takes one look at Nora, declares how much she looks like Mrs. Grey, and adds "And look at those legs! Longer than the Vegas strip".
... Do many people make bizarre comments to their friend about the legs of said friend's sixteen-year-old daughter?
Nora makes a lame attempt to excuse herself and Mrs. Grey glares at her. Nora is pissy in response, and I'm wondering what sort of reaction she was expecting. Her mother doesn't know what's going on! What, did Nora think her mother would be all "That's fine dear, just wander off and ignore our company, who are going to be here a few hours at most!"?
Nora's mother starts trying to talk Scott up, and for some unfathomable reason thinks that bringing up Nora's story about him making her eat roly-polies is a good idea. No, I don't know why she does this. All it does is bring up memories which make Nora angry and Scott uncomfortable. What sense does that make?
Oh, right, sense has no place in here. And because that is the case, instead of sweeping that incident under the rug, as any sane person would do, Nora, Mrs. Grey, and Mrs. Parnell keep dragging it around in front of Scott. Nora complains about it, and Mrs. Parnell tries to pass it off as some great accomplishment.
Scott tries to move the conversation to a different topic, and while I'm sure I'll be hating him later on, I feel sorry for the poor bastard right now. He scratches his chest as he talks, and Fitzpatrick Nora first wanks about how his bicep flexes while he does so, and then bashes him for it because "he probably knew that".
YOU FUCKING WHORE: 19
ZeldaQueen: This is ridiculous.
There's some komedy about whether or not Nora made the Jell-O salad, and then we start dinner. There's some banal conversation about the cost of housing in Maine, and then it swings to the topic of the death of Nora's father. Scott, in a show of sensitivity rare for this series, gives Nora his condolences and adds that he was working at a convenience store just a few blocks away, on the very night Mr. Grey died. Oh gee, what are the odds of that happening? Fitzpatrick should just hang a sign saying "THIS IS A CLUE" over that.
Nora, who is supposed to be a great detective, misses that big, honking suspicious statement. She does feel something vaguely akin to gratitude, but quickly forgets about it in favor of spending a paragraph wangsing over her broken heart and whether or not Patch has texted her back yet. Isn't it just so believable that Nora is suffering from the death of her father? She falls to pieces from Marcie's lame insults, but Scott bringing it up doesn't do a thing to her.
Mrs. Parnell tries to bring Nora back to reality by asking about the Coldwater wrestling team. Apparently Scott is into wrestling. We then get...I honestly don't know what the point of this next bit is. Nora honestly can't remember if her high school has a wrestling team, but offers up that there's a basketball team that made State once, sixty years ago. Mrs. Parnell done near has a heart attack at that, and asks if there's something wrong with the school's athletic department.
*rubs forehead* Like I said, I don't know what we're supposed to get from this.
First of all, what is up with the bashing of the Coldwater sports department? It's hardly come up before, and there never really was the impression that the school had a small one. I swear though, reading this section, it feels like Nora is going out of her way to make it sound unappealing.
Second of all, Nora honestly doesn't know if there's a wrestling team? Either that's one small-ass wrestling team, or Nora is completely clueless. High schools tend to make announcements about when the teams have games, to encourage students to attend! They have sections devoted to them in the yearbooks! Hell, Nora works for the school paper, which ought to run something on school sports! I could understand her not knowing much about it, but to be entirely unaware of an entire team? Yeah, I'm going to say that Nora is clueless.
Third of all, yes there is a problem with the athletic department. Their coach is a misogynistic asshat who humiliates his female students. It's obvious, isn't it?
Anyway, Scott announces that it doesn't matter, because he intends to take the year off of wrestling. Mrs. Parnell gets pissy at that, and makes it clear that his grades are shit and it's his senior year, so wrestling is about his best hope for getting into college. When Scott says that he has plans, Mrs. Parnell asks him "Oh? Like repeat last year?" and it's beaten over our heads how this is SUBTLE FORESHADOWING.
This is all so obvious that not even Mrs. Grey overlooks it, and she asks what happened last year. Mrs. Parnell tries to laugh it off with the "boys will be boys" schtick, and it's made very obvious that she and Scott are both very uncomfortable discussing it. Mrs. Grey apologizes for bringing it up.
And on the part of Nora... um, she decides to slip into Nancy Drew Mode. Yes, because that worked so well for her in the past! This is not going to be fun, is it? No, it is not, because Nora is about as aware as Bella Swan
"I’d paused eating, dividing glances between Scott and Mrs. Parnell, trying to figure out what was going on. Boys will be boys, that much I could buy. What I wasn’t buying was Mrs. Parnell’s anxious insistence that her son’s trouble fell into the category of typical. And Scott’s close supervision of every word that fell from her mouth wasn’t helping to change my mind"
ZeldaQueen: Yes, thank you, Holmes. How about you deal with the shit directly applying to you before you start playing detective to other people's issues?
Also, this marks something else incredibly annoying about Nora's deductions - Fitzpatrick wants Nora to move from Point A to Conclusion B, so she often has Nora make the most bizarre inferences. Take the bit about Scott, for example. Yes, the fact that he doesn't want his mother to talk about something he's not proud of clearly means he's hiding something. It couldn't be that he genuinely did something stupid, like broke his legs doing a motorcycle stunt, or got drunk and peed on the neighbor's doorstep, and is now embarassed about it. Nope, clearly Suspicious Things are Afoot.
"Thinking there was more to the story than they were saying, I pressed a hand to my heart and said, 'Why, Scott, you didn’t go around at night stealing road signs to hang in your bedroom, did you? did you?'
Mrs. Parnell erupted into genuine, almost relieved, laughter. Bingo. Whatever trouble Scott had wormed his way into, it wasn’t something as harmless as stealing road signs. I didn’t have fifty dollars, but if I did, I would have bet it all on the hunch that Scott’s trouble was anything but the usual stuff"
ZeldaQueen: HOW THE HELL DO YOU COME TO THAT CONCLUSION? Yes, I realize that nothing in that reaction ruled out unusual behavior, but it also in no way ruled out usual things! For all Nora knows, Mrs. Parnell is laughing because Nora's willing to make light of the situation!
Nora's mother decides to show some tact and tries to steer the conversation away from a topic that the guests don't want to discuss. Nora, being the twit she is, ignores this and outright asks Scott what happened. Scott responds by excusing himself to use the bathroom, and Mrs. Grey is apologetic. Nora then proceeds to piss me off immensely
"Her voice was apologetic. She was actually apologizing for my behavior, when she was the one who’d set the whole ridiculous evening up. Anyone with a shred of perceptiveness could see that the point of this dinner wasn’t to share a meal with old family friends. Vee was right-this was a meet cute. Well, I had news for my mom. Scott and me? Not happening"
ZeldaQueen: OH MY GOD DIE IN A FIRE YOU BRAT!!!
I mean, my God! What is with this bitch? She just said her behavior shouldn't be apologized for, because it's her mother's fault! She just blamed all of her selfish and bratty behavior on her mother, for something which there's no evidence is even happening! Seriously, if we're supposed to believe that Nora and Scott are being set up, this has got to be the most half-assed attempt at it that I've ever seen! I... I just don't get this! Why are we supposed to like her? WHY?
*beats head against wall*
Okay, I'm good. Kind of.
And just in time, because after Scott leaves, Mrs. Parnell brings up the topic of if Nora has a boyfriend or not. Oh joy, this looks like it'll be fun! Folks, get ready. This next bit is all about Fitzpatrick trying to show off how bad-boy Patch is and given how stereotypical and stupid her image of a bad-boy is... um, it's rather hilarious, actually. Let's get started.
Apparently at some point Nora told her mother about how Patch got his nickname (and she wonders why her mother doesn't like them dating), so Mrs. Grey explains to Mrs. Parnell about how "Patch" is not the lad's real name. Mrs. Parnell tutts at this, and says "I think it’s a gang name. All the gangs use nicknames. Slasher, Slayer, Maimer, Mauler, Reaper. Patch"
ZeldaQueen: ... Okay then.
Nora insists that Patch is not in a gang. I agree. He's more of the free lance sort, like Mark Essex. In any case, Mrs. Parnell doesn't buy this, and insists that "Gangs are for inner-city criminals, right? They’re roaches that only come out at night" and that she was watching the highly factual Law & Order, where she learned about "a new breed of wealthy suburban gangs. They called them secret societies, or blood societies, or some such nonsense, but it all boils down to the same thing". Secret societies or blood societies, eh? Those are mighty unoriginal names for gangs. Also, we know that Patch is psychotic, but Mrs. Parnell doesn't, yet she's sitting there, basically telling Nora "Your boyfriend is a gangster, based on his nickname". What the heck?
Mrs. Parnell starts talking very unfavorably about her ex-husband, who was a cop. Not long after she begins though, there is a minor interruption, as Nora somehow overhears Scott telepathically tell his mother to shut up.
Oh wait, you guys are going to say that a seemingly normal teenager who displays fucking telepathy would be more than a minor interruption, aren't you? I totally agree. Nora, however, spares a brief bit of time to muse about how odd that is, overhearing someone's voice in her head, before forgetting about it for the rest of the chapter. And yes, I know that Nora has already come across people who can speak to her telepathically. That still should be cause for concern though, because Scott was pretty obviously born to a human mother, meaning that he's a Nephilim, meaning he's in danger of being attacked, mind raped, and enslaved by a fallen angel!
Eh, who cares about that? Not Nora, who goes back to angsting about whether or not Patch texted her. Mrs. Parnell asks what some of Patch's hobbies are, and Nora replies that he plays pool and sweet Jimminy Cricket, please tell me we aren't doing this routine again! Yes, we are. *sigh* Mrs. Parnell thinks that Patch plays water polo, and congratulates him on playing "a true Maine sport". Mrs. Grey specifies that it's pool with the cue and balls, and we get this
"Hotbeds of gang activity [...] The Law & Order I saw? Wealthy, upper-class young men were running their neighborhood pool halls like Las Vegas casinos. Best keep a close eye on that Patch of yours, Nora. Could have a side to him he’s keeping from you. A side he’s keeping in the dark"
ZeldaQueen: Seriously, what the fuck is up with these people? Did Professor Harold Hill pass through, before this book started? Are they planning to start a marching band to save the Coldwater youth? Better hurry it up, those evil, mafia-run pool halls are sure to lure them into wickedness and temptation! BWAH HA HA!
Christ, this book is stupid.
There's a bit where Nora realizes that she knows didley-squat about Patch's past, and he could have been in a gang, for all she knows. Normally I would congratulate her on firing up her one brain cell for a change of pace, but we all know that nothing will come of this. After all, Fitzpatrick would have to put in effort for something like consequences, or Nora questioning Patch's actions.
Anyway, the scene ends with Mrs. Parnell omniously commenting about Patch's character. Okay then.
We jump ahead to after the Parnells have left. Nora is in her room, checking to see if Patch called. He has not, and - I swear this is not exaggeration - Nora's lip begins to quiver and she starts to cry. Because he has not texted or called her.
Hey Nora, here's a novel idea! Why don't you call him? You won't shut up about how you're not angry anymore and how you've forgiven him, after all. Is there any reason why you can't call him, besides the fact that Fitzpatrick is determined to drag this ridiculous subplot out as far as it can go?
Wait, never mind, there isn't. Carry on.
Nora's mother pokes her head into the room, and apparently she's not at all angry with how rude Nora was throughout dinner. Instead, she no longer seems to want to hook Nora up with Scott, given Scott's vaguely criminal past. Of course. However, Scott isn't out of the story just yet. In a fit of stupidity, Nora's mother let it slip to Mrs. Parnell that Nora doesn't have a car anymore, so Mrs. Parnell is insisting that Scott drive Nora places. And, contrivances of contrivances, there's no way Mrs. Grey can convince Mrs. Parnell that this isn't necessary, so Mrs. Grey is asking Nora to appeal to Scott.
Oh, what a fantastic idea, lady! You think your daughter is in danger around Scott, so instead of being the mature one and getting it through Mrs. Parnell's head that you don't want Scott around Nora, you let Nora deal with it! Nora, who you know was attacked in her home and nearly killed by her therapist not two months ago. Nora, who was left to her own devices because you were negligant to the point where social services should have stepped in. Nora, who you fussed over and worried about the safety of. YOU ARE SENDING THAT NORA TO INTERACT WITH A GUY YOU THINK IS UNSAFE, PROBABLY IN A PLACE WHERE THERE IS NO ONE TO TAKE CARE OF OR PROTECT HER IF THINGS GO SOUTH.
And I'm not exaggerating, folks. Mrs. Grey clearly doesn't think Scott's safe. She tells Nora to only accept rides with Vee, and not to let Scott near her while Mrs. Grey is out of town on business (because of course, she's going to be on a business trip).
Why are these people so flippant about Nora being forced into potentially dangerous situations? If Nora wasn't such a dumbass, I'd feel incredibly sorry for her! Clearly no one can be bothered to make the slightest effort to keep her safe, not even her own mother!
Well, Nora promptly forgets about that, and tells her mother that she plans on job hunting over the summer. She explains that she wants to buy a new car, because "I feel like a parasite". What an apt descritpion. Nora's mother mildly asks what is making Nora so pissy, and Nora blames her despicable behavior on being paired with Marcie Miller in chemistry. Yes, yes it's totally her fault. You haven't brought her up for the previous part of this chapter, and I'd almost entirely forgotten her
"I could tell by her expression that she knew just how deeply this cut. After all, it was my mom I’d run home to for most of the past eleven years after Marcie had had her way with me. And it was my mom who’d picked up the pieces, put me back together, and sent me back to school stronger and wiser and armed with a few tricks of my own"
ZeldaQueen: God.
First of all, "after Marcie had had her way with me"? Um... is it just me, or does it sound like Marcie raped Nora, instead of just teasing her?
Second of all, yes, Nora's mother has been such a comforting presence in your life thus far, hasn't she? The way she was out of town for most of Hush, Hush, the way she failed to notice Elliot threatening you on the front fucking porch, the way she reacted to your near murder like it was something mildly shocking, she's certainly mother of the year!
Third of all, if Nora right now is "stronger and wiser" than she was eleven years ago, Christ knows how stupid and useless she was then.
Fourth of all, if Nora's oh-so-wise mother taught her ways of dealing with Marcie, why is there no evidence of that? Nora has only ever acted like a helpless, fragile flower in the presence of Marcie.
So yeah, Nora's mother heads out to pick up some stuff, and Nora wangsts over how Patch may be gone for good, oh teh horror!
I'm so very tired.
YOU FUCKING WHORE: 19
Onward to: Chapter 4
Return to: Chapter 2 (Part 2)
Back to: Table of Contents
Also, a happy belated birthday to morri_delrae, nix501st, raetekusu, and shaolina! Also, a very belated happy Valentine's Day to you all!
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 3
ZeldaQueen: When we catch up to Nora in the next chapter, she is in the depths of despair. Oh yeah, did any of you think she'd actually come to her senses and realize that Patch was a douche and she was far better off without him? Certainly not! No, she's busy going on like this
"The anger was beginning to wear off, but I almost wished I could stay caught up in its fever forever. The emptiness it left behind ached more than the sharp, fiery pain I’d felt when Patch walked out"
ZeldaQueen: Because the loss of her boyfriend of two months is just so horrific. They clearly had such a deep and meaningful relationship, full of good times. My head hurts.
Nora continues to wibble about the breakup, wondering if it's permanent and whether nor not there is "no way around fate or, more immediately, the archangels’ threats".
ZeldaQueen: Pardon me. That was a knee-jerk reaction to that twit blaming all of her relationship woes on fate. God forbid there be problems that stem from issues like their personalities or choices or refusal to recognize and correct their flaws. No, clearly Nora and Patch are such perfect people that their relationship can only be hindered by fate itself. Fucking-a.
So yeah, this leads to Nora getting all pissy about the archangels, bitching about how unfair they are. Yes, you read that right. Nora is complaining that heavenly beings are being unfair because they won't let her do whatever she wants. REALLY
"I felt my anger reignite. Why couldn’t they leave us alone? Why were they so bent on destroying Patch? Patch had told me he was the first fallen angel to get his wings back and become a guardian angel. Were the archangels angry over that? Did they feel Patch had somehow tricked them? Or that he’d cheated his way back up from the bottom? Did they want to put him in his place? Or did they merely not trust him?"
ZeldaQueen: Gee Nora, why in the world would those mean old archangels ever want to send Patch to Hell? He's such a wonderful, fantastic person, only someone really evil would wish harm on him! I mean, it's not like he completely turned his back on his many responsibilities and duties in Heaven because he wanted to hook up with a human chick, basically giving God the finger in the process (which I think the monotheistic religions would agree would go over with God and the other angels about as well as a lead balloon). It's certainly not like he spent his days on Earth, as a fallen angel, doing nothing but gambling, coveting a human body, lusting after women, and generally acting in a way that is considered disgusting by human standards, let alone what angels would judge by. It's really not like he freaked them all out by trying to go through with a forbidden practice, which involved his attempting to ritualistically murder Nora. It definitely is not like he responded to their attempts to go back to actually being useful and helpful by laughing at the offer, seducing the angel delivering the message just to get her to tell him what he was after, and paved the way for said angel going crazy and ultimately having her wings ripped out. And it isn't as if he made it extremely clear that he viewed his job as Nora's guardian angel as little more than a way to sleazily hit on her and make out with her and not actually do his job of protecting humanity.
As for the rest of Nora's rant, why would she think that the archangels are angry he became a guardian? It was outright stated in the last book that they wanted him to become a guardian, presumably because keeping him in Heaven was an easier way of keeping an eye on him! They sent Dabria to tell him how to be a guardian! Why would Nora think that they are jealous of him becoming a guardian angel? I'd personally go with the idea that his pre-guardian behavior was so disgusting that of course they've got him on a tight leash! Fuck, I'd say it's a miracle they kept him out of Hell for this long!
Also, I find it fucking rich that we're supposed to think that knocking Patch down a few pegs is a bad thing.
So yeah, Nora goes back to being all dramatically sad, complete with a single tear running down her face. No, I'm not exaggerating with that. She contemplates calling Patch, but worries that the archangels will spy on that and somehow...do something. I'm not sure what. Seriously, she never gives any thought to how there are many ways to call Patch and say "We need to talk" that don't involve romantic vibes.
Oh, but there's another reason for Nora to not just get off of her ass and call Patch and sort things out (aside from the usual contrivances and it being laughable that a girl have a spine and take initiative). She has her pride, you see. Yes, really, she pulls that card
"I also couldn’t let go of my pride that quickly. Didn’t he realize he was just as much in the wrong? The whole reason we’d fought in the first place was because he’d refused to tell me what he was doing at Marcie’s house last night. I wasn’t the jealous type, but he knew my history with Marcie. He knew this was the one time when I had to know"
Sweet jumped-up Jesus, where to begin?
First of all, Nora, if you had an ounce of pride, you would not let Marcie's lame jibes and insults reduce you to a puddle of tears every time you two cross paths. And you wouldn't have let that waitress jerk you around and extort all of your money. And you wouldn't have let that bag lady extort half of the clothes off of your back, plus your cell phone. And you wouldn't have let that sleazy guy running the check-out desk at that motel enable Patch's disgusting behavior and make lewd comments to you. And you wouldn't have let your Biology teacher humiliate you like he did, or put up with him forcing you to work with Patch. And you WOULDN'T HAVE LET PATCH STALK AND HARASS AND BE A DICK TO YOU FOR SO MANY CHAPTERS! That's not even getting into how much people are going to walk over you over the rest of this book and the rest! For fuck's sake, you haven't had your pride since the first chapter of Hush, Hush!
Second of all, you're an insane yandere who is more concerned that your boyfriend is cheating on you than the fact that he's stalking and spying on unsuspecting girls. Go get more therapy, or possibly a padded room.
Third of all, you're not the jealous type?
ZeldaQueen: Ah, that's the funniest shit I've heard all day, I swear. *wipes tears from eyes*
Fourth of all, well it's a good thing someone knows about your history with Marcie, because we sure as heck don't! Seriously, she has done nothing to warrant us thinking that Nora is justified in reacting like this.
Fifth of all, Nora's little "This is the one time I must know!" schtick really loses ground when it was not two chapters ago that she also expressed a desire to know what material Patch's bedsheets were made out of and probably where his dirty underpants were so she could sniff them.
And then, for no reason at all, Nora jumps from there to being all suspicious as to why Marcie was in Bo's Arcade. She wonders for what Earthly reason Marcie could possibly have gone there. How about to get drunk, you nitwit? We've already established that she likes to hang out on beaches populated by drug dealers. How is a bar that much of a jump. Nora provides "evidence" that this is weird by telling us that no other students from her high school have ever been to Bo's that she has heard of, and that she herself had never heard of it before meeting Patch. Considering that we're to believe that Nora was totally average and boring before meeting Patch, that really doesn't say a lot.
I'd also like to point out that this sounds like more of Fitzpatrick having no idea what high schoolers can get up to. My lovely hometown of Pittsburgh is where there's an under-21 nightclub called Club Zoo, where the kids from my high school would get into all kinds of shenanigans. Granted Bo's is supposed to be an actual bar, but clearly they don't care about enforcing age limits, since Patch and Nora can get in all the time. Given that Marcie was drunk, they also clearly don't care about checking IDs or being caught by the police selling alcohol to minors, but since when has Fitzpatrick let reality get in the way of her bad boy fantasies? Point is, if a high school girl who already has proven herself to frequent less-than-fashionable places shows up in a bar, why would anyone think there was some ulterior motives besides getting hammered?
But no, Nora immediately jumps to the conclusion that it's too much of a coincidence that Patch was staring in Marcie's window one evening and then just happens to be at the same bar where she was shanked the next day. Granted that is a bit odd to buy as a coincidence. Nora, however, does not come to the obvious conclusion that Patch is stalking Marcie. Instead, Nora decides that it's all Marcie's doing, because Marcie is an evil, evil tramp who surely has decided that she wants Patch's heavenly, bad-boy wiener, and will stop at nothing to get it
"And Marcie was many things, among them seductive and persuasive. Not only did she not take no for an answer, she didn’t accept any answer that wasn’t exactly what she wanted.
What if, this time, she wanted … Patch?"
YOU FUCKING WHORE: 18
ZeldaQueen: All I will say is this - thus far, Marcie has been as seductive and persuasive as a dump truck. Fitzpatrick, it doesn't work if you want to make a femme fatale and then do nothing but make her hammy with a generous side of cheese.
Speaking of food, guess who happens to show up at this point? Yes, Scott and his mother are here! And batten down the hatches folks, because this is not going to be a pleasant rest of chapter. It's just an endless procession of Nora whining and trying and failing to be clever. I'm also fairly certain that we're supposed to find this scene, funny, but I can't say for certain. Like with Meyer, I honestly have a hard time knowing if Fitzpatrick is trying to be funny or not.
So. Onward!
Nora hears knocking at the door and calls her mother, because apparently her telephone is connected to a wormhole and causes time to stop while she talks on it. Yes, I'm still pissed about the last chapter of Hush, Hush. What of it?
Nora's mother tells her to let them in. Nora proceeds to be a whiny little bitch and says that she'll let them in, but she doesn't know them so she'll just let them sit by themselves in the living room while she mopes in her bedroom. Yes, she pretty much says just that. Nora also is a passive aggressive bitch, trying to sound as wounded and unhappy as possible. You see, she feels that because her pour, tender soul was ripped in twain by Patch's departure, it's unreasonable to expect her to entertain company. She doesn't just tell her mother this though, for contrivances. Also, because "it wasn’t like I could confide in my mom. She hated Patch. She wouldn’t sympathize. I couldn’t take hearing the happiness and relief in her voice. Not now".
Putting aside the fact that Nora's mother disliking Patch is as understandable as Charlie hating Edward, when has Mrs. Grey ever given the impression that she'd show pleasure in the face of her daughter's grief? I mean, okay I'm sure she'd be happy. I'd be happy if my daughter had a boyfriend like Patch and then dumped him. But we're supposed to believe that Nora's mother is such a comforting presence, that she's been so kind and so loving to her daughter, and yet this one time, Nora simply can't confide in her? Bullshit!
But, like I said, it's all contrivances. Nora uses her being upset at dumping Patch as a convenient excuse to be a rude fuckwit during dinner, and we're supposed to think it's legitimate. We do not. We are not stupid.
Nora's mother predictably does not take well to Nora's declaration, which we're apparently supposed to think is oh-so-insensitive of her. Nora is bitchy and acts like a bratty child, complete with an exasperated "Fine, I guess I'll do it!" and throwing her phone across the room. She marches downstairs and answers the door and we get... um, this...
"The guy standing on the doormat was tall and well built- I could tell, since his T-shirt fit on the snug side and blatantly advertised PLATINUM GYM, PORTLAND. A silver hoop ran through his right earlobe, and his Levi’s hung dangerously low on the hips. He wore a pink Hawaiian-print ball cap that looked fresh off a thrift store shelf and had to be an inside joke, and his sunglasses reminded me of Hulk Hogan. Despite all this, he had a certain boyish charm"
ZeldaQueen: Erm... Fitzpatrick, I think your fetishes are showing. I mean, seriously? Oh no, he has a hoop earring and low-rise pants! What a bad boy! And a... um, pink baseball cap! Really! And a tight-fitting shirt! All of which, except for the earring, Patch has! Christmas, Fitzpatrick, expand your repotoire!
Anyway, this fellow is Scott Parnell, and he will be our Jacob expy for this series. He steps inside and takes off of his sunglasses - are you shitting me? Fitzpatrick's hitting all of the checklist points here, isn't she? - and asks where Nora's mother is and what they're having for dinner. Nora's response is to turn to the audience and be a rude little shit
"I didn’t like his use of the word 'we.' There was no 'we.' There was the Grey family, and the Parnell family. Two separate entities that happened to be sharing the same dinner table for one night"
ZeldaQueen: Jesus Christ, why is she so angry at the Parnells? Okay, I could almost buy her being angry that her mother is trying to set her up with someone else. Yes, her mom wouldn't know she and Patch broke up, but I could still buy her being irrationally upset. But the Parnells have nothing to do with this, and she's nothing but cold and bitter towards them! What happened to her saying before how she'd be a good hostess?
Scott tries to make small talk with Nora, and Nora shoots him down. He apparently decides that talking to her is a waste of time (smart fellow) and asks if there's any beer in the house. Because he's a bad boy (the only type of guy Fitzpatrick seems capable of writing) and bad boys all drink beer.
At this point, Nora's mother comes in with Scott's mother, Lynn Parnell. We are told that Mrs. Parnell is "A round woman with a bad pixiestyle haircut and heavy pink makeup followed her in", and I can already tell that Fitzpatrick is fixing to make her as obnoxious as possible. Mrs. Parnell takes one look at Nora, declares how much she looks like Mrs. Grey, and adds "And look at those legs! Longer than the Vegas strip".
... Do many people make bizarre comments to their friend about the legs of said friend's sixteen-year-old daughter?
Nora makes a lame attempt to excuse herself and Mrs. Grey glares at her. Nora is pissy in response, and I'm wondering what sort of reaction she was expecting. Her mother doesn't know what's going on! What, did Nora think her mother would be all "That's fine dear, just wander off and ignore our company, who are going to be here a few hours at most!"?
Nora's mother starts trying to talk Scott up, and for some unfathomable reason thinks that bringing up Nora's story about him making her eat roly-polies is a good idea. No, I don't know why she does this. All it does is bring up memories which make Nora angry and Scott uncomfortable. What sense does that make?
Oh, right, sense has no place in here. And because that is the case, instead of sweeping that incident under the rug, as any sane person would do, Nora, Mrs. Grey, and Mrs. Parnell keep dragging it around in front of Scott. Nora complains about it, and Mrs. Parnell tries to pass it off as some great accomplishment.
Scott tries to move the conversation to a different topic, and while I'm sure I'll be hating him later on, I feel sorry for the poor bastard right now. He scratches his chest as he talks, and Fitzpatrick Nora first wanks about how his bicep flexes while he does so, and then bashes him for it because "he probably knew that".
YOU FUCKING WHORE: 19
ZeldaQueen: This is ridiculous.
There's some komedy about whether or not Nora made the Jell-O salad, and then we start dinner. There's some banal conversation about the cost of housing in Maine, and then it swings to the topic of the death of Nora's father. Scott, in a show of sensitivity rare for this series, gives Nora his condolences and adds that he was working at a convenience store just a few blocks away, on the very night Mr. Grey died. Oh gee, what are the odds of that happening? Fitzpatrick should just hang a sign saying "THIS IS A CLUE" over that.
Nora, who is supposed to be a great detective, misses that big, honking suspicious statement. She does feel something vaguely akin to gratitude, but quickly forgets about it in favor of spending a paragraph wangsing over her broken heart and whether or not Patch has texted her back yet. Isn't it just so believable that Nora is suffering from the death of her father? She falls to pieces from Marcie's lame insults, but Scott bringing it up doesn't do a thing to her.
Mrs. Parnell tries to bring Nora back to reality by asking about the Coldwater wrestling team. Apparently Scott is into wrestling. We then get...I honestly don't know what the point of this next bit is. Nora honestly can't remember if her high school has a wrestling team, but offers up that there's a basketball team that made State once, sixty years ago. Mrs. Parnell done near has a heart attack at that, and asks if there's something wrong with the school's athletic department.
*rubs forehead* Like I said, I don't know what we're supposed to get from this.
First of all, what is up with the bashing of the Coldwater sports department? It's hardly come up before, and there never really was the impression that the school had a small one. I swear though, reading this section, it feels like Nora is going out of her way to make it sound unappealing.
Second of all, Nora honestly doesn't know if there's a wrestling team? Either that's one small-ass wrestling team, or Nora is completely clueless. High schools tend to make announcements about when the teams have games, to encourage students to attend! They have sections devoted to them in the yearbooks! Hell, Nora works for the school paper, which ought to run something on school sports! I could understand her not knowing much about it, but to be entirely unaware of an entire team? Yeah, I'm going to say that Nora is clueless.
Third of all, yes there is a problem with the athletic department. Their coach is a misogynistic asshat who humiliates his female students. It's obvious, isn't it?
Anyway, Scott announces that it doesn't matter, because he intends to take the year off of wrestling. Mrs. Parnell gets pissy at that, and makes it clear that his grades are shit and it's his senior year, so wrestling is about his best hope for getting into college. When Scott says that he has plans, Mrs. Parnell asks him "Oh? Like repeat last year?" and it's beaten over our heads how this is SUBTLE FORESHADOWING.
This is all so obvious that not even Mrs. Grey overlooks it, and she asks what happened last year. Mrs. Parnell tries to laugh it off with the "boys will be boys" schtick, and it's made very obvious that she and Scott are both very uncomfortable discussing it. Mrs. Grey apologizes for bringing it up.
And on the part of Nora... um, she decides to slip into Nancy Drew Mode. Yes, because that worked so well for her in the past! This is not going to be fun, is it? No, it is not, because Nora is about as aware as Bella Swan
"I’d paused eating, dividing glances between Scott and Mrs. Parnell, trying to figure out what was going on. Boys will be boys, that much I could buy. What I wasn’t buying was Mrs. Parnell’s anxious insistence that her son’s trouble fell into the category of typical. And Scott’s close supervision of every word that fell from her mouth wasn’t helping to change my mind"
ZeldaQueen: Yes, thank you, Holmes. How about you deal with the shit directly applying to you before you start playing detective to other people's issues?
Also, this marks something else incredibly annoying about Nora's deductions - Fitzpatrick wants Nora to move from Point A to Conclusion B, so she often has Nora make the most bizarre inferences. Take the bit about Scott, for example. Yes, the fact that he doesn't want his mother to talk about something he's not proud of clearly means he's hiding something. It couldn't be that he genuinely did something stupid, like broke his legs doing a motorcycle stunt, or got drunk and peed on the neighbor's doorstep, and is now embarassed about it. Nope, clearly Suspicious Things are Afoot.
"Thinking there was more to the story than they were saying, I pressed a hand to my heart and said, 'Why, Scott, you didn’t go around at night stealing road signs to hang in your bedroom, did you? did you?'
Mrs. Parnell erupted into genuine, almost relieved, laughter. Bingo. Whatever trouble Scott had wormed his way into, it wasn’t something as harmless as stealing road signs. I didn’t have fifty dollars, but if I did, I would have bet it all on the hunch that Scott’s trouble was anything but the usual stuff"
ZeldaQueen: HOW THE HELL DO YOU COME TO THAT CONCLUSION? Yes, I realize that nothing in that reaction ruled out unusual behavior, but it also in no way ruled out usual things! For all Nora knows, Mrs. Parnell is laughing because Nora's willing to make light of the situation!
Nora's mother decides to show some tact and tries to steer the conversation away from a topic that the guests don't want to discuss. Nora, being the twit she is, ignores this and outright asks Scott what happened. Scott responds by excusing himself to use the bathroom, and Mrs. Grey is apologetic. Nora then proceeds to piss me off immensely
"Her voice was apologetic. She was actually apologizing for my behavior, when she was the one who’d set the whole ridiculous evening up. Anyone with a shred of perceptiveness could see that the point of this dinner wasn’t to share a meal with old family friends. Vee was right-this was a meet cute. Well, I had news for my mom. Scott and me? Not happening"
ZeldaQueen: OH MY GOD DIE IN A FIRE YOU BRAT!!!
I mean, my God! What is with this bitch? She just said her behavior shouldn't be apologized for, because it's her mother's fault! She just blamed all of her selfish and bratty behavior on her mother, for something which there's no evidence is even happening! Seriously, if we're supposed to believe that Nora and Scott are being set up, this has got to be the most half-assed attempt at it that I've ever seen! I... I just don't get this! Why are we supposed to like her? WHY?
*beats head against wall*
Okay, I'm good. Kind of.
And just in time, because after Scott leaves, Mrs. Parnell brings up the topic of if Nora has a boyfriend or not. Oh joy, this looks like it'll be fun! Folks, get ready. This next bit is all about Fitzpatrick trying to show off how bad-boy Patch is and given how stereotypical and stupid her image of a bad-boy is... um, it's rather hilarious, actually. Let's get started.
Apparently at some point Nora told her mother about how Patch got his nickname (and she wonders why her mother doesn't like them dating), so Mrs. Grey explains to Mrs. Parnell about how "Patch" is not the lad's real name. Mrs. Parnell tutts at this, and says "I think it’s a gang name. All the gangs use nicknames. Slasher, Slayer, Maimer, Mauler, Reaper. Patch"
Click to viewZeldaQueen: ... Okay then.
Nora insists that Patch is not in a gang. I agree. He's more of the free lance sort, like Mark Essex. In any case, Mrs. Parnell doesn't buy this, and insists that "Gangs are for inner-city criminals, right? They’re roaches that only come out at night" and that she was watching the highly factual Law & Order, where she learned about "a new breed of wealthy suburban gangs. They called them secret societies, or blood societies, or some such nonsense, but it all boils down to the same thing". Secret societies or blood societies, eh? Those are mighty unoriginal names for gangs. Also, we know that Patch is psychotic, but Mrs. Parnell doesn't, yet she's sitting there, basically telling Nora "Your boyfriend is a gangster, based on his nickname". What the heck?
Mrs. Parnell starts talking very unfavorably about her ex-husband, who was a cop. Not long after she begins though, there is a minor interruption, as Nora somehow overhears Scott telepathically tell his mother to shut up.
Oh wait, you guys are going to say that a seemingly normal teenager who displays fucking telepathy would be more than a minor interruption, aren't you? I totally agree. Nora, however, spares a brief bit of time to muse about how odd that is, overhearing someone's voice in her head, before forgetting about it for the rest of the chapter. And yes, I know that Nora has already come across people who can speak to her telepathically. That still should be cause for concern though, because Scott was pretty obviously born to a human mother, meaning that he's a Nephilim, meaning he's in danger of being attacked, mind raped, and enslaved by a fallen angel!
Eh, who cares about that? Not Nora, who goes back to angsting about whether or not Patch texted her. Mrs. Parnell asks what some of Patch's hobbies are, and Nora replies that he plays pool and sweet Jimminy Cricket, please tell me we aren't doing this routine again! Yes, we are. *sigh* Mrs. Parnell thinks that Patch plays water polo, and congratulates him on playing "a true Maine sport". Mrs. Grey specifies that it's pool with the cue and balls, and we get this
"Hotbeds of gang activity [...] The Law & Order I saw? Wealthy, upper-class young men were running their neighborhood pool halls like Las Vegas casinos. Best keep a close eye on that Patch of yours, Nora. Could have a side to him he’s keeping from you. A side he’s keeping in the dark"
ZeldaQueen: Seriously, what the fuck is up with these people? Did Professor Harold Hill pass through, before this book started? Are they planning to start a marching band to save the Coldwater youth? Better hurry it up, those evil, mafia-run pool halls are sure to lure them into wickedness and temptation! BWAH HA HA!
Christ, this book is stupid.
There's a bit where Nora realizes that she knows didley-squat about Patch's past, and he could have been in a gang, for all she knows. Normally I would congratulate her on firing up her one brain cell for a change of pace, but we all know that nothing will come of this. After all, Fitzpatrick would have to put in effort for something like consequences, or Nora questioning Patch's actions.
Anyway, the scene ends with Mrs. Parnell omniously commenting about Patch's character. Okay then.
We jump ahead to after the Parnells have left. Nora is in her room, checking to see if Patch called. He has not, and - I swear this is not exaggeration - Nora's lip begins to quiver and she starts to cry. Because he has not texted or called her.
Hey Nora, here's a novel idea! Why don't you call him? You won't shut up about how you're not angry anymore and how you've forgiven him, after all. Is there any reason why you can't call him, besides the fact that Fitzpatrick is determined to drag this ridiculous subplot out as far as it can go?
Wait, never mind, there isn't. Carry on.
Nora's mother pokes her head into the room, and apparently she's not at all angry with how rude Nora was throughout dinner. Instead, she no longer seems to want to hook Nora up with Scott, given Scott's vaguely criminal past. Of course. However, Scott isn't out of the story just yet. In a fit of stupidity, Nora's mother let it slip to Mrs. Parnell that Nora doesn't have a car anymore, so Mrs. Parnell is insisting that Scott drive Nora places. And, contrivances of contrivances, there's no way Mrs. Grey can convince Mrs. Parnell that this isn't necessary, so Mrs. Grey is asking Nora to appeal to Scott.
Oh, what a fantastic idea, lady! You think your daughter is in danger around Scott, so instead of being the mature one and getting it through Mrs. Parnell's head that you don't want Scott around Nora, you let Nora deal with it! Nora, who you know was attacked in her home and nearly killed by her therapist not two months ago. Nora, who was left to her own devices because you were negligant to the point where social services should have stepped in. Nora, who you fussed over and worried about the safety of. YOU ARE SENDING THAT NORA TO INTERACT WITH A GUY YOU THINK IS UNSAFE, PROBABLY IN A PLACE WHERE THERE IS NO ONE TO TAKE CARE OF OR PROTECT HER IF THINGS GO SOUTH.
And I'm not exaggerating, folks. Mrs. Grey clearly doesn't think Scott's safe. She tells Nora to only accept rides with Vee, and not to let Scott near her while Mrs. Grey is out of town on business (because of course, she's going to be on a business trip).
Why are these people so flippant about Nora being forced into potentially dangerous situations? If Nora wasn't such a dumbass, I'd feel incredibly sorry for her! Clearly no one can be bothered to make the slightest effort to keep her safe, not even her own mother!
Well, Nora promptly forgets about that, and tells her mother that she plans on job hunting over the summer. She explains that she wants to buy a new car, because "I feel like a parasite". What an apt descritpion. Nora's mother mildly asks what is making Nora so pissy, and Nora blames her despicable behavior on being paired with Marcie Miller in chemistry. Yes, yes it's totally her fault. You haven't brought her up for the previous part of this chapter, and I'd almost entirely forgotten her
"I could tell by her expression that she knew just how deeply this cut. After all, it was my mom I’d run home to for most of the past eleven years after Marcie had had her way with me. And it was my mom who’d picked up the pieces, put me back together, and sent me back to school stronger and wiser and armed with a few tricks of my own"
ZeldaQueen: God.
First of all, "after Marcie had had her way with me"? Um... is it just me, or does it sound like Marcie raped Nora, instead of just teasing her?
Second of all, yes, Nora's mother has been such a comforting presence in your life thus far, hasn't she? The way she was out of town for most of Hush, Hush, the way she failed to notice Elliot threatening you on the front fucking porch, the way she reacted to your near murder like it was something mildly shocking, she's certainly mother of the year!
Third of all, if Nora right now is "stronger and wiser" than she was eleven years ago, Christ knows how stupid and useless she was then.
Fourth of all, if Nora's oh-so-wise mother taught her ways of dealing with Marcie, why is there no evidence of that? Nora has only ever acted like a helpless, fragile flower in the presence of Marcie.
So yeah, Nora's mother heads out to pick up some stuff, and Nora wangsts over how Patch may be gone for good, oh teh horror!
I'm so very tired.
YOU FUCKING WHORE: 19
Onward to: Chapter 4
Return to: Chapter 2 (Part 2)
Back to: Table of Contents