53 pages • 1 hour read
Ashley ElstonThis Is Our Story
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 16-18
Chapter 16 Summary
Kate texts Shep from a private number, asking him to meet in her backyard. She has obtained a burner phone. She’s careful not to say her address, indicating how afraid she is after the threatening photo and note that was slipped into her pocket during the fire drill.
Shep and Kate meet in the tree house in her backyard. She shows him the photo and the note. Shep is angry and prepares to storm off to talk to Henry; clearly he suspects Henry is the one behind the threat. Kate stops him, however, and explains to him that the best thing to do is to lay low and figure out who gave her the picture. It’s likely the same person who shot Grant. Shep remains convinced that Grant’s death was an accident, unable to believe that any of his buddies is a murderer.
Kate and Shep kiss. When Kate goes back into the house, her mother is awake. She asks Kate whether she needs to worry about who she was out with. Kate feels guilty but says there is no reason to worry.
The chapter ends with a detective interview with Jenna Richards, another student who was at the River Point party the night before Grant died. She describes a “weird” incident from the party: Grant was standing on the kitchen counter, spraying vodka at people using water guns. John Michael tried to stop him, to which Grant replied, “Don’t forget, I’ve got the trump card” (184). Jenna suggests that this is out-of-character for John Michael, who usually does whatever he wants. Later will the reader learn that the “trump card” is the photo of John Michael’s father paying off Gaines.
Chapter 17 Summary
Now firmly convinced of both Shep’s innocence and the fact that he doesn’t know who killed Grant, Kate embraces her secret romance with him. They text late at night, and leave notes, photos, and drawings for each other in a secret hiding spot—an old encyclopedia in the school library.
Kate realizes that the memory card of her camera, which has secret photos of the River Point Boys on it, is missing.
Shep contacts her on her burner phone, asking her to meet him at midnight at the tree house. When they meet, he shows her two photos he got. One was taken by an anonymous person, presumably the same one that sent the photos, and shows Kate and Shep together. The other one is a photo that Kate took of the River Point Boys. The photos are accompanied with a handwritten message, “Make her stop” (190). John Michael has clearly identified the connection between Shep and Kate, and stole the memory card out of Kate’s phone.
Shep and Kate still don’t know which of the other three remaining boys is to blame. Shep finally recognizes that one of his friends may be dangerous, however. He tells Kate that the River Point Boys were taken back to the scene where Grant was killed and shown how close the shooter would have had to been to kill Grant. Shep tells Kate, “I stood there and had to look at my friends and wonder which one of them did it and if it was really an accident” (191). This revelation, coupled with the threats being sent to Kate and himself, finally makes Shep doubt the bond of brotherhood between the River Point Boys.
The chapter ends with a brief narrative from the still-anonymous John Michael. He makes it clear that he has identified Kate as a threat, and also that he is watching her and Shep.
Chapter 18 Summary
Kate is working for Mr. Stone when Lindsey, the girl who Grant had an on-off romantic fling with and who he called on the morning of his death, shows up. Lindsey tells Kate and Mr. Stone that Grant called her that morning to apologize. She then overheard him speaking to someone else, saying: “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You think you’re going to point a gun at me and…” (201). He was cut off mid-sentence by what she would later realize was a gun shot.
John Michael’s anonymous narrative concludes the chapter. He knows that Lindsey, “Booty Call 3” in Grant’s phone, has gone to see Mr. Stone. He suspects that she has confessed and decides this is “one last thread to tie up” (206).
Chapters 16-18 Analysis
Lindsey’s confession in Chapter 18 marks a groundbreaking moment in the narrative. This is the first clue that Mr. Stone and Kate uncover that proves that Grant was murdered. Kate is now sure, “One of those boys killed their friend in cold blood, and probably the same person is threatening me and Shep” (204). Mr. Stone is convinced that with Lindsey’s testimony at the grand jury, he can get all four of the boys. One will be branded a murderer and the others as covering for him. Stone then expects that the boys will turn on the shooter and name him.
Kate and Shep’s meeting in the tree house in Chapter 16 marks a pivotal point in the subplot of their relationship, both physically and emotionally. They kiss but also come closer through conversation. Shep also shows a protective streak when he realizes Kate may be in danger. While drawing closer to Shep, however, Kate is betraying the trust of her mom and Mr. Stone. The narrative emphasizes this through the conversation between Mrs. Marino and Kate. Kate lies to her mom and notes, “She would be so disappointed if she knew I just spent the last several hours talking to Shep, kissing Shep” (182).
These two pivotal moments occur close together in the narrative, emphasizing the heightened emotional stakes. On one hand, Kate wants justice. She doesn’t want the guilty River Point Boy to be acquitted because of his privilege. On the other hand, she’s romantically involved with Shep and doesn’t want to see him get in trouble. The author thus deepens the internal conflict for Kate’s character.
The internal conflict also deepens for Shep’s character. The reader doesn’t have access to Shep’s thoughts and unvoiced feelings, because the narrative is told from the point of view of Kate or John Michael. However, Shep’s shifting attitudes towards his “brothers” are shown in his conversation with Kate. Although he still can’t accept that one of the River Point Boys is a murderer, he is losing confidence in this fact. His changing attitude is seen through conversations with Kate, such as when he tells her, “I know these guys. I can’t see any of them killing Grant on purpose. I mean, I can’t even wrap my head around it” (178).
The author is also careful to enhance this internal conflict by keeping it internal. Kate lies to her mom about her liaison with Shep, knowing that this relationship will put the case in jeopardy. It could even get Kate in trouble at work and, by relation, reflect poorly on her mom. Kate also has yet to confide in Reagan. Without a confidante of any kind, she’s left isolated, unable to get an external perspective that might ground her. Her mother, for example, would likely insist that Reagan sever ties with Shep. The only person Kate does confide in is Shep. This drives her even closer to him, solidifying their complicated and possibly damaging bond.
