November Blues

It’s Saturday morning, and Dana and Olivia show up at November’s doorstep with a box of doughnuts. As the girls indulge in the sweet pastries, they discuss their plans to go shopping. At first, November doesn’t want to go, but the girls insist that she needs to get out of the house. As the three of them get ready to leave, Olivia points out that November’s feet are swollen and maybe she should wear something other than flip-flops, something with a little more support. November pleads with Olivia to stop acting like her mother and refuses to change her shoes. 

When they get to the mall and think about where they should start, November declares that they should start with the bathroom because she has to pee again. Afterward, the three of them go to a candle shop but have to leave quickly because all the different smells make November feel nauseous. When they come into a shoe store, Dana pleads November to try on a pair of new shoes. November agrees and asks the sales clerk to bring her red Nikes in size seven, but when she tries them on, they don’t seem to fit at all. She asks for the size eight and still cannot get her feet in all the way. After many tries, she sees that her foot barely fits into the size nine. Frustrated that her feet have gotten so much bigger and that the sales clerk called her “ma’am,” November leaves the store without buying anything. 

As they walk around the mall, Olivia and Dana complain about the smell, and November confesses that she gets “the funky farts every day now” (177) and has no control over them. Dana points out that “[t]hey should mention that in the sex-ed class” (178). The three girls decide to stop in the baby store, but seeing the overpriced items and the disapproval on the face of the saleswoman when she sees November, they hastily leave without buying anything. As they do, November feels guilty for not being able to afford the best clothes for her baby. Afterward, November pretends to enjoy herself while her friends try on new outfits. She realizes that going to the mall, which used to be her favorite pastime on Saturday afternoons, now makes her feel “embarrassed and tired and uncomfortable” (180).

As they leave the mall, November realizes that she won’t be going shopping again any time soon.

As November prepares for the cookout she has planned for her friends, she feels sweaty and tired.It’s a hot summer afternoon, and the coals in the grill add to the heat even more. Jericho is the first to come, and he insists that he will be the one cooking the burgers and the hot dogs while November just sits and relaxes. 

When Olivia comes, November complains to her that she has not been feeling well at all lately: not only does November feel like a blown-up elephant, she also has hemorrhoids. When Jericho walks into the kitchen with a plate of grilled food and asks the two girls what they are whispering about, Olivia and November start laughing.

As Dana and Kofi join them, the friends sit in the kitchen and enjoy grilled burgers and hot dogs. November asks everyone about their recent trip to Kings Island and listens to their fun stories “with forced cheer” (188). She does not tell them she spent that day crying and “missing the zooms and screeches of the roller coasters” (190). November’s thoughts are filled with memories of last summer, when she and Josh went to Kings Island and tried every single ride, enjoying themselves immensely. 

The conversation shifts and everyone but November shares their plans for the senior year: Olivia is looking forward to band performances on Friday evenings, Jericho is excited about football, Dana wants to try out for the swim team, and Kofi is thinking about trying out for being the school mascot. As November listens to her friends, she has mixed emotions. On the one hand, she is relieved that the cookout has been a success; on the other, she realizes that she won’t be able to participate in any of the regular school activities next year and that for her, senior year will be a lot different than for her peers.

After his football practice—the last one of the summer—Jericho walks to the parking lot and turns on air conditioning in his car, hoping that it will cool down while he waits for Olivia. Since band practices and football practices end at the same time, he has been giving Olivia a ride home every day after practice. Although they talk a lot, Jericho is not sure how he feels about Olivia:he realizes that she is no Arielle, especially in regard to looks, yet he finds her very nice and fun to talk to, “but nothing more than that” (192). When Olivia gets into the car,the two of them talk about the band and the football team preparing for the game against Excelsior. Jericho assures Olivia that Coach Barnes does not want to hear anything about losing and makes them focus on a win. Olivia acknowledges that even though their band is much smaller than the one Excelsior has, their music and performance are superb. 

Jericho asks Olivia if she is ready for school to start on Monday, and she confesses that school isn’t fun for her, although she is looking forward to the classes. Jericho admits that he and Josh had a lot of crazy plans for their senior year, “stupid kid stuff that will never happen” (195). Olivia tells Jericho that she knows how much he misses Josh and reaches over to touch his shoulder, but suddenly changes her mind and jerks her hand back. As Jericho drops Olivia off at her house, she tells him that she really appreciates the rides home. Jericho responds that it has been fun because she is “pretty cool to talk to—just like one of the guys” (195).

After taking a shower and eating dinner, Jericho sits in his room and organizes his new book bag for Monday. His stepbrother, Todd, pokes his head in the door and asks Jericho if he is ready for the first day of school. Jericho replies that he is only excited because this is his last first day. Todd admits that he is a little nervous about this school year, because at the end of it all seventh-graders have a dance that they have to invite a date to, and he is afraid that nobody will want to go with him to that dance. Jericho assures his stepbrother that he will have to install “a special computer program just to sort through the girls who want to go with [him] to the dance” (197). 

Encouraged by his stepbrother’s support, Todd asks Jericho about Olivia, since he has seen that Jericho has been taking her home. Jericho assures Toss that “Olivia is cool people, but she’s just a friend” (198). 

Todd tells Jericho that there was a girl in his class who got pregnant last year, although she was only 12. Jericho asks Todd jokingly whether he is not the daddy, and the boys, joined by Rory, began to wrestle and laugh until Geneva comes and calms them down.

Jericho is about to fall asleep when his cell phone rings. He is surprised to hear Arielle’s voice on the other end, which is “melting him like soft butter” (200), and he hates himself for giving in to her sweet talk about how much she misses him. Arielle assures Jericho that she broke up with him because she couldn’t cope with the stress after Josh’s death. Jericho responds that it is him who went through a lot after his best friend died and at the time when he needed her support the most, she wasn’t there. Arielle apologizes and pleads with Jericho to forgive her, asking him whether he “ever hated [himself] for something terrible [he] had done and wished [he] could erase it” (201). 

Jericho silently acknowledges that Arielle knows how to stab him where he is weakest. When he asks her about Logan, she swears that she had no idea about him dealing drugs and that he will be in jail at least until he is 21. Changing the subject, Arielle asks about Jericho’s stepbrothers and tells him about her plans to join the cheerleading squad this year. He asks her whether she will be going to the game against Excelsior, and she says that she will be there mostly to support him because she “gave up a diamond in the rough” (202) and now regrets it.

Arielle asks Jericho to give her a chance and hangs up, leaving him wondering if “he could trust anything anymore” (203).