Every Day

Fiction | Novel | YA

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Chapters 19-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 19 Summary: “Day 6012”

A gets an email from Rhiannon with “normal-sounding” questions (“How was your day? What did you do?”) but A feels these generic questions could simply be Rhiannon being polite: “And while I once thought what I wanted from her was this normal, everyday tone, now that I have it, the normalcy disappoints” (181-82).

A tells Rhiannon s/he can’t see her because today Sallie Swan has a cross-country meet that Sallie/A must go to. A is relieved to be running. Running allows A to stay focused on the body: “If you are racing to win, you have no thoughts but the body’s thoughts, no goals but the body’s goals. You obliterate yourself in the name of speed” (182). A is hungry for this obliteration, eager to get away from tormenting thoughts.

Chapter 20 Summary: “Day 6013”

Daniel Stevens’ family has a lot of activities planned for Saturday. This family does not waste time. They are up early and go to Baltimore, visit an art museum, have lunch at the Inner Harbor, a visit to the aquarium, a viewing of an IMAX movie, and then dinner at a seafood restaurant. They are a close, happy family. But A does not feel a part of it: “They are so caught up in their happiness that they don’t realize I’m not really a part of it. I am wandering along the periphery” (183).

Despite his preoccupation with Rhiannon, he is still able to keep some perspective. He can recognize that today “is a good day, and that certainly helps me more than a bad day” (184). A has the ability to appreciate the lives that can make A’s day much more pleasant. But s/he also realizes that, because of his/her sadness about Rhiannon, s/he can’t connect to their happiness: “There are moments I just sit in my frame, float in my tank, ride in my car and say nothing, think nothing that connects me to anything at all” (184).

Chapter 21 Summary: “Day 6014”

Orlando often spends his mornings sleeping in, which gives A plenty of time to check the latest Nathan stories. A finds a website set up by Reverend Poole for others to share stories of possession. A pities some of the people s/he reads about, especially those “who need professional help” (185). But when A gets an email from Nathan telling A to “get help,” A wants to be cruel to Nathan by revealing that A was AJ, and making Nathan fear future anonymous visits from A (186). However, A quickly recognizes his own pettiness, saying, “Not getting what you want can make you cruel” (187). A also receives an email from Rhiannon that is vague and disappointing. Normalcy is not what A wants.

Chapters 19-21 Analysis

Once A loses his/her close connection to Rhiannon, connected only by email but unable to see her physically, s/he feels untethered and lost. A is back to feeling disconnected from everyone, just like s/he was at the beginning of the book. Only this is worse because at least at the beginning of the book, A could find some advantages to his situation. Now, he only feels the disadvantages.

When A feels this way, the book’s chapters are shorter, since days without Rhiannon lose their meaning and A has less to say. He feels trapped and on the outside of everything. Sometimes this makes A want to push his/her body so hard that A’s mind has no energy to think, such as when A is running. At other times, it makes him want to zone out or “hover on the periphery,” as A does with the Stevens’ family. And yet, at other times, it makes A feel cruel, the way A feels when s/he wants to taunt Nathan.