The First to Die at the End

By 3:03 a.m., Joaquin is nervous that the company is going to fail before it can even get off the ground. He needs to leave to figure out how it’s possible they missed calling a Decker. His son asks how long he’ll be gone, but Joaquin reminds him that it’s a secret.

Joaquin tells his wife that she may not hear from him for a while, and then he goes to a “vault where no one can follow” (179).

Leaving the hospital, Valentino is afraid of how he might die. Orion tells him to “[l]ook alive” (181). Valentino responds that that’s a “pretty heartless” response, joking about Orion’s condition. Valentino asks when his heart problems began.

Orion recounts that his mom was in and out of the hospital all of the time when he was a kid, not realizing that he might inherit her disease. His first heart attack was shortly after his 16th birthday.

As they walk, they hear yelling and spot a group of people wearing skull masks as they hit car windows with baseball bats. Valentino pulls Orion behind a car, worried that one of the people in masks is the same one who tried to shoot him. The men grow closer and closer, but they manage to avoid getting caught, leaving as they begin to hear police sirens coming toward the scene of the crime.

Valentino then trips, and his head hits the sidewalk hard. He thinks this is how he’s going to die.

Valentino’s head is split open by his fall on the sidewalk, but the two boys continue toward his apartment. Valentino jokes that he’s still close enough to the hospital that even if he had died, Orion probably would’ve been able to get his heart, making Orion feel bad.

Valentino then says that Deckers should be called “Zombies” instead, or less obviously, “Dead Enders” (187). When Orion replies that that’s morbid, Valentino reminds him that “dying is morbid” (187).

Frankie Dario is not subscribed to Death-Cast but calls Rolando, one of their employees, from his kitchen. Rolando is his wife, Gloria’s, best friend, and Frankie thinks Rolando is in love with her.

However, as a photographer, he thinks there is money to be made from photographing Deckers, so he calls Rolando to get information from him.

Frankie sympathizes somewhat with Joaquin Rosa since they’re both from Puerto Rico, and Frankie wants to reach the same level of success. He believes that taking the first pictures of Deckers either when they die or when they realize that Death-Cast is a scam is the way he can achieve fame and fortune.

Rolando doesn’t answer.

When they arrive at Valentino’s apartment at 3:17, Valentino says that he wished he stayed home instead of coming to Times Square. He then realizes that he lost his keys.

Reluctantly, Valentino buzzes Frankie’s apartment, and the landlord comes down to let him in.

Orion cleans Valentino up and then jokes about asking Frankie for a bandage. They hug, and Valentino is grateful to laugh on the day that he’s going to die.

Frankie is furious with Valentino and decides to keep his son away from him, thinking that he never wants his son to come home with a boy. He is also still mad that Rolando didn’t answer. All he wants is to find a Decker to photograph.

Orion enjoys hugging Valentino. Then, they start to unpack. Orion offers to quell his optimism, but Valentino says he likes it but also needs to process being a Decker. When Valentino is changing, Orion is awestruck by his physique.

They talk about Dalma, and Orion thinks about how he hopes that he can help Scarlett one day.

Valentino FaceTimes Scarlett, but eventually her reception fails, and he texts her. Then, he decides to get some rest before she arrives.

Watching Orion make up a spot on the floor to sleep, Valentino invites him to share his air mattress. It’s the first time he’s shared a bed with another boy. Orion asks if Scarlett knows about Valentino’s plan to give Orion his heart. Then, Valentino begins to worry that her plane is going to crash, but Orion comforts him, pointing out that Death-Cast would’ve already called.

For Scarlett, it’s only 12:59 a.m. since she’s in a different time zone. There is one hour left for Death-Cast to call her. She can’t decide if she’d rather share an End Day with Valentino or live without him.

Her accident caused her lasting anxiety, even if she was left unafraid of driving. Rather, she developed a fear of dying alone. She doesn’t want Valentino to die alone either.

Aboard her flight, it is silent. Then, she hears the signature Death-Cast ringtone. It’s coming from the captain’s cabin. She wonders what that means for everyone else.

At 1:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, the captain receives a call from Death-Cast. Trusting no one, he locks himself in the cockpit and answers the call.

The passengers start to panic, but Scarlett stays in her seat, texting Valentino through Orion’s phone. She explains that she didn’t receive a call and is scared. The messages don’t go through.

At 4:04 a.m. in New York, Valentino calls Scarlett, but she isn’t answering. Orion reminds him that she’s probably having signal problems. Then, Valentino worries about if the signal disruptions are what’s preventing Death-Cast from getting through to her.

It makes Orion think about 9/11, and he wonders if Death-Cast would’ve made it so that he could’ve seen his parents one more time.

Valentino wishes he still prayed but reveals that he stopped because his parents used religion to make him feel like he couldn’t be religious and gay. It’s part of why he left. He adds that he hasn’t told them that he’s going to die.

Valentino then asks if Orion ever told his parents he might be gay (or if he knew by the time they died). Orion replies that he didn’t but thinks they would’ve accepted him. He adds that he’s grateful for his guardians because they allowed him to grieve and make his own mistakes. He also says that he doesn’t like Valentino’s parents but supports him if he thinks that he should tell them that he’s going to die.

The more they talk, the more Orion thinks he and Valentino could’ve had a romantic relationship. He doesn’t want to regret anything, but when he decides to act on his feelings, Valentino is asleep.

The plane still hasn’t taken off, and emergency personnel have arrived to investigate the threat. Scarlett is still terrified but believes that Death-Cast would’ve called if she was going to die.

Naya Rosa did not receive a call from Death-Cast, but the number of uncalled Deckers is up to four. She worries about both herself and her family. She’s also concerned about the heralds having to reach out to Deckers. Initially, Joaquin almost made Death-Cast a robocall system, but Naya believed it was important for someone to hear about their impending death from another human. She also created a space for heralds to help them feel connected to those they loved and provided counseling services.

Alano is thrilled to still be awake, but Naya is exhausted. For the last year, they’ve been working on putting together Death-Cast. Once the news about Death-Cast came out, others around the Rosas began to wonder about the service, why it is monetized, and what the secret is.

If the company is forced to shut down, she will mourn its potential to give people a chance even if she also will be grateful for the return to their regular lives. However, she’s not sure if Joaquin will feel the same way.

At 5:00 a.m., Death-Cast finishes its last calls for the day. Joaquin hasn’t resolved the issue yet but is willing to work the call center alone once he does so that he can call those who should’ve heard from the company.

One herald begins to clap as the last Death-Cast call finishes, but no one joins in. Another immediately leaves to wait in the group counseling room. They all go into the wellness room, looking haunted.

Frankie watches the news in bed. His wife asks him to turn the volume down. He thinks that she’s unsupportive. She hopes Paz will be an actor, especially after being cast in a movie, but he hasn’t gotten other roles.

He leaves the room to call Rolando again.

Gloria, Frankie’s wife, is signed up for Death-Cast, though her husband doesn’t know. They have not called her. She prefers to have a plan, especially because she is worried that Frankie will kill her.

However, she has stayed with him because of her son. She hopes that things will soon change.

Close to 6:00 a.m., the heralds finish group counseling. She then reads the names of the first Deckers.

It has been the worst night of Rolando’s life. After the group counseling, he asks to speak with Naya. He expresses that the session was ineffective. He explains that it’s difficult to hang up when people are telling him why they shouldn’t die. He quits.

Dalma will never forget seeing Valentino receive a call from Death-Cast. She thinks that, with Valentino leaving the hospital, it’s unlikely that the transplant will happen, and she will have to continuously worry about Orion dying. She is still shocked that he asked to be alone with Valentino.

At home, she can’t sleep. She decides to work on creating an app, and she thinks about how it should connect with Death-Cast. She thinks about several ideas, including a social media platform and a bucket list, but then decides to go to bed.

The alarm terrifies Valentino, and he gets up to take a shower. He is surprised by how lively he looks in the mirror. Walking out of the bathroom with a towel on, he slips on water and falls. Orion hears him and comes over to see if he’s alright, and they lie together on the floor.

Then, Valentino notices that Orion is still wearing the “Have a Happy End Day!” shirt and asks to borrow it (258). They continue to get ready, and as they leave, Valentine hopes he can have the best possible day on his last day.

As Rolando leaves Death-Cast, he considers what he wants to do with his day. Then, he sees that Frankie has called him 20 times. Worried about Gloria, he calls the man back. Frankie explains that he wants help, adding that it’s “for [him] and the family” to guilt him into it (262). This isn’t the first time he’s pulled this trick.

When Frankie explains that he wants to photograph Deckers, Rolando sees it as important to put Frankie in danger and keep him away from Gloria and Paz. Not remembering very many names, he tells Frankie that Valentino Prince is a Decker.

Frankie is shocked that his newest tenant is a Decker and goes to Valentino’s apartment, unlocking it. However, it’s already empty. Returning to his apartment, he sits by his front door to watch for Valentino coming home.

Buying a MetroCard for the first time, Valentino is still worried about dying, but Orion encourages him to live. They take the train to Union Square.

At 7:38 a.m., they arrive at Future Star Model Management offices, which is less glamorous than Valentino imagined. A woman named Laverne comes out to greet Valentino, and she reveals that the photoshoot has been postponed because the photographer, William, was killed the previous night. Valentino then reveals that Death-Cast called him that night, but Laverne doesn’t believe that Death-Cast is right.

Valentino asks if there’s any way they can still do the photoshoot so that he feels seen, insisting that he’ll be dead before it gets rescheduled. Laverne reiterates that the hysteria is just that, having seen the fear around Y2K in 2000.

He decides to leave, certain that the agency won’t be able to help him become famous.

The plane empties, and Scarlett is terrified that Valentino will die alone if she doesn’t get to New York soon.

Valentino is upset that Laverne didn’t take Death-Cast seriously, and he storms out of the building. Realizing that Orion isn’t behind him and that he’s struggling to keep up, he stops. Scarlett FaceTimes him and explains what’s happening to her. She’s having a hard time finding a flight to New York. Valentino is upset that nothing good is happening for him on his End Day. Scarlett tells him to explore New York, and he becomes sure he’ll see her before he dies.

Orion feels horrible for Valentino, who is spiraling. He says that “Decker” is a bad name because he doesn’t feel like he’s in control of his ship and that his heart probably isn’t even good for Orion. The other boy reminds him that they’re friends and that he won’t leave him alone.

He asks Valentino what he wants to do in New York, and he replies that he wanted to do a photo shoot. Orion offers to be his photographer, and Valentino gets on board, suggesting they can take pictures of his firsts in New York City.

They agree to get a real camera, and Valentino thanks him.

Most stores are closed at 8:38 a.m., so Orion suggests going to a pawn shop to find a camera. As they walk, Valentino reads the messages from Scarlett that were finally delivered. He knows she likely won’t support his decision to do the heart transplant. He also thinks that if Death-Cast is wrong, it means that he’s taking a chance at life for Orion.

Eleven Deckers have died without hearing from Death-Cast. Naya worries that Joaquin is among them and wants him to come home.