Dress Coded

This section covers Chapter 74: “Things Dad Was Planning to Do During His Two Weeks Off”; Chapter 75: “Things Dad Is Actually Doing During His Two Weeks Off”; Chapter 76: “What Did You Say?”; Chapter 77: “The Bully Box”; and Chapter 78: “Signs for Justice.”

Molly’s father spends his two weeks off doing chores for his mother-in-law and watching Danny. Meanwhile, Ms. Lane overhears Nick call Molly “Swiss Alps” and Tom “Brain Damage” and is furious. She sends him to Dr. Couchman’s office and speaks to Molly, who details Nick’s bullying. Nick was reported via the “Bully Box” (an anonymous suggestion box) in the past, but nothing was ever been done; Ms. Lane promises that this time, something will happen. A girl once reported Nick’s bullying, but Dr. Couchman interrogated her until she admitted to writing the note and reading it in front of the class, with Nick present. Parents demanded proof of the school’s lack of cameras to monitor bullying, but the board of education responded that they didn’t have enough money to install cameras. Nick wasn’t disciplined, and the girl transferred to another school.

The White Dresses group chat turns into “Signs for Justice,” as the girls plan how to put up their posters. They meet at Molly’s house to create the posters, and take them in a bag to lacrosse practice. However, Dr. Couchman and Mr. Dern are present, so the girls can’t put up the posters. They decide to do so on a Thursday morning instead, as Pearl runs the community service club on that day at 7 o’clock in the morning, and the custodian lets her in early to set up. On Thursday, Molly, Navya, Bea, Olivia, and Pearl rush into the building, put up the posters, and rush out.

This section covers Chapter 79: “Rules for Getting Caught”; Chapter 80: “Sometimes All You Need to Know About Someone Is Tucked Inside a Green Folder”; Chapter 81: “Dress Coded: A Podcast, Episode Six”; Chapter 82: “I Hear the Cheers”; and Chapter 83: “Letter to Parents.”

After putting up the posters, Molly lists rules should any of the girls get caught, which include being brave, taking the blame alone but never apologizing, figuring out one’s allies, and recording the situation for later use. She follows these rules when she is called into Dr. Couchman’s office about the posters, as Nick reported her. He assumes she is responsible because of her podcast, and she takes the blame. Ms. Santos-Skinner, the guidance counselor, asks Molly if she will take down the posters and meet her for a session. She refuses the former, and suggests they talk about how damaging the dress code is in the latter. Dr. Couchman gives her detention and makes her take down the posters anyway; he refuses to give them back. However, after school, Ms. Santos-Skinner slips Molly a folder with the posters. Molly’s mother receives a call from the school, but isn’t angry. She tells Molly that Danny is finally opening up to their father.

Molly heads to her treehouse, thinking about how it “has been home to many of [her] best ideas” (179). For the sixth podcast episode, she plays a recording of her conversation with Dr. Couchman, and it becomes the most popular episode. A letter is sent to parents, reminding them to encourage their children to follow the dress code. The letter clarifies that the dress code is applicable to girls’ clothing on graduation day, with dress hems needing to be knee-length, and shoulders and collarbones needing to be covered.

This section covers Chapter 84: “The Signs for Justice Group Chat is Now Back to Being the White Dresses Group Chat (for Obvious Reasons)”; Chapter 85: “Detention is Another Word for ‘My Worst Nightmare Come True’”; Chapter 86: “Bear Sticks”; Chapter 87: “What Matters to Ashley’s Mom”; and Chapter 88: “It’s Hard to Call Adults on the Phone and Act Professional.”

Molly and her friends discuss the podcast and the school’s letter on the group chat. They decide to keep their graduation dresses, many of which are strapless; Ashley remains silent. Later, Molly has to attend detention with Nick, supervised by Mr. Dern. Nick is unusually quiet, pretending to read a book. Molly realizes he cannot be a bully without his “minions.” After detention, she sees Violeta’s mother in the school garden, and compliments her speech. When the woman learns what Molly was in detention for, she expresses solidarity on Violeta’s behalf. She then gives Molly a Kindness Rock with the message “YOU’VE GOT THIS” (189). She suggests trying to get on the board of education’s agenda for next week’s meeting, before walking Molly home as she is worried about bears. Molly calls the superintendent’s secretary to get the dress code on the agenda, but the agenda is already full; however, the secretary suggests she make a public comment at the end of the meeting.

Ashley’s mother cancels a sleepover a couple of hours before Molly is supposed to arrive, claiming Ashley is ill. Molly knows she doesn’t want her daughter associated with the sister of a vape dealer. Molly’s mother plans to visit Danny, so Molly asks Megan if she can stay with her over the weekend; Megan agrees.

This section covers Chapter 89: “Good Ghosts”; Chapter 90: “Since Time Began, High School Girls Have Tried to Make Middle School Girls Feel Comfortable by Telling Them They Are Gorgeous (it Usually Works)”; Chapter 91: “Dress Coded: A Podcast, Episode Seven”; Chapter 92: “Scattered Ashes”; Chapter 93: “Goals”; and Chapter 94: “A Different Agenda.”

Molly’s mother drops her off at Megan’s house, a farmhouse on the outskirts of town. Megan shows Molly around the place, and she loves the house and stress-free atmosphere. It is the best weekend she has had in a long time, and she is unbothered by Ashley’s mother’s lie when she sees Ashley post a picture of her and her mother at the mall. Molly asks Megan how she manages to stay unaffected by Nick’s bullying, and Megan quotes her mother’s advice to not give such people her energy.

After Molly’s next detention, she runs into Liza who missed the bus, and they walk home together. They eat snacks at Molly’s and head to her treehouse, waiting until a mother bear and her cubs finish crossing Molly’s backyard. Jessica and Jasmine arrive to do the podcast, and the seniors and middle schoolers compliment each other’s looks.

In the seventh podcast episode, Jasmine describes how she was dress coded for wearing a tank top because of a painful sunburn on her chest and shoulders. She was also yelled at by Fingertip for not wearing a bra. Jasmine cried in humiliation, and was taken home by her mother who let her stay home until the sunburn healed. The incident made Jasmine conscious about how she looked, causing her to increasingly stay home; it took her a long time to get over this anxiety. Jasmine’s story incenses the girls.

Liza accompanies Molly to the last lacrosse game of the season where, fueled by rage over Jasmine’s story, Molly plays her best game yet and even scores a goal. Afterward, Molly, Liza, Navya, and their mothers get something to eat, and they tell their mothers about the podcast. The mothers are horrified by how bad the dress coding is, and Navya’s mother offers to get them on the agenda at the board of education meeting. However, she gets the same response as Molly.

This section covers Chapter 95: “The 217-Person Group Chat Gets Ugly”; Chapter 96: “Guts Are Gross. Why Should We Be Trusting Them?”; Chapter 97: “Bea’s Last Meal with Braces”; and Chapter 98: “The Letter I Would Never Send, Because I’M Not Cruel.”

In the class group chat, parents are upset about a new demand by the chaperones that every child contribute $25 toward food and other supplies. People begin to blame Olivia again for the cancellation of the original trip, and she leaves the group chat. Molly checks on her and invites her over to eat snacks.

A school shooting happens in a town like Molly’s, and in the middle of their school day, all the children receive text messages of love from their parents. At lunch, everyone talks about the camping trip. Some parents are taking their children out, because the fee is too steep. Ashley is dismissive of this, believing no one at the school is hurting for cash, and the other girls are speechless at her attitude. Bea’s mother doesn’t want her to go on the trip because she is worried Bea will vape or kiss boys. The girls discover Tom doesn’t know about the camping trip, and Molly realizes he is the missing person in the group chat. She invites him, and convinces Will to let Tom share his tent. Will reminds Molly about his crush on Pearl; Molly doesn’t want to tell the truth, so she lies about asking Pearl during the camping trip.

Molly imagines a letter she will never send Tom, in which she describes how he was one of the coolest children in third grade. He invited the class to his birthday party, and everyone turned up. Later that year, he suffered his traumatic brain injury, after which he had to relearn basic skills like walking. Only two children show up to his next birthday party.

This section covers Chapter 99: “Kids, Those Acrostic Poems You Learn to Write in Second Grade Might Come In Handy Someday”; Chapter 100: “Things Great Teachers Say in the Hallways between Classes”; Chapter 101: “What Great Teachers Mean When They Say Those Things”; Chapter 102: “Hugging It In”; and Chapter 103: “You Rock.”

Megan joins Molly in the treehouse to help her study. She admires the posters put up there, and makes her own with an acrostic poem that spells the word “shameful”: “S TOP H  ARASSING, A NNOYING, M  OCKING, E MBARRASSING F EMALES, U L OUDMOUTH” (220). The next day, as Molly is to take an exam, she gets dress coded by Fingertip. She has no choice but to apologize and accept Fingertip’s ugly sweater. She later reflects on the things great teachers say to their students.

In Molly’s finally detention, she finds Talia, a seventh grader who recently moved from Trinidad. Talia got detention for talking back to Mr. Buechler, the chorus teacher, and when Molly hears her story, she gives Talia a hug and asks if she would like to share it on the podcast. After detention, Molly eats snacks with Olivia and Pearl and tells them about Talia, her story infuriating them.

Later, Molly and her friends watch Mrs. Tucker give the sixth graders a tour of the middle school. She asks Molly and others to explain what the Kindness Garden is, which they do. After the sixth graders leaves, Olivia cries about how carefree they seem, and how things will change in middle school. She leaves, and Molly asks Pearl about Will again. Pearl confesses that she has a crush on Bea, and wonders if she has a chance with her. Molly doesn’t tell Pearl about Bea’s confession during a sleepover, where she admitted she could see herself dating a girl.