November 9

Fallon’s arrival in Los Angeles establishes her annual arrangement with Ben. After two hours of waiting, Ben worries that Fallon will not show up at their agreed restaurant—but continues to do so. His level of commitment is admirable but raises questions as to why he would wait so long for a girl he barely knows. This commitment will come up throughout the novel, placing Ben’s motive in question even as he claims to love Fallon (despite her refusal to believe in insta-love).

Fallon is a slightly different person during her and Ben’s second meeting. She has more confidence and even admits to having met a boy in New York. Although Fallon was a recluse while living in Los Angeles, she has done as Ben requested and attended weekly auditions and attempted to kiss four boys. However, she only kissed one boy, and it was a bad experience. Nevertheless, the act of putting herself out there and risking such an experience shows that Fallon has gained confidence and is no longer hiding from the world.

Fallon tells Ben about the one boy she kissed: When she was getting intimate with him, he saw the expanse of her scars. Touching on the theme of The Impact of Emotional and Physical Scars, Fallon describes how the boy made her feel uncomfortable when she took off her shirt and her damaged left breast was exposed. It is clear that Fallon’s scars are an emotional struggle for her despite her growing confidence.

Ben reacts to Fallon’s story about the boy with anger. In the moment, his anger seems like a reasonable reaction; however, as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Ben often reacts to difficult situations in an emotional way, foreshadowing a later revelation involving him having acted out of trauma.

During their day together, Fallon meets members of Ben’s family—including his older brother Kyle and Kyle’s fiancée Jordyn, two characters who will play important roles in the story. In a shocking moment, Kyle hits Ben; when Fallon asks Ben about it, he assures her that his brother is a good man. Fallon never thinks to question Ben’s avoidance of her question, but it does stick with her and foreshadows her seeking the answer on her own.

In the evening, Ben gets a spontaneous tattoo on his wrist—the word “poetic” written within a music staff—without explanation. Again, Fallon doesn’t push Ben for answers as to why he wanted this particular design at this moment. However, this tattoo will play an important role later on, its meaning proving symbolic of Ben’s love for both Fallon and his deceased mother.

Ben often avoids Fallon’s questions and does not give much information about his past, a fact that she notes. This avoidance makes him somewhat of an unreliable narrator, as the reader and other characters are given little information to work with—let alone accurate information. Ben’s refusal to be completely honest with Fallon foreshadows her finding out a truth (tied to Ben’s trauma and why Kyle hit him) that will place their relationship in jeopardy.

While Ben actively avoids Fallon’s questions, he places himself in her path as often as possible during their short time together. When Ben buys a plane ticket to give Fallon her homework, it becomes a touching scene not only because he would do something so impulsive just to see her for a few more minutes, but because the homework is to encourage Fallon to speak to her father. Fallon has a difficult relationship with Donovan as noted in Part 1, and Ben himself clearly dislikes the man. However, Ben encourages her to speak to Donovan because life is short and could take an unexpected turn. It is clear that Ben has Fallon’s best interests at heart no matter what his true motive is.