Paper Things

While Gage is looking for jobs one night, Briggs suggests asking a friend to get Gage a job at a local Jiffy Lube. Briggs makes spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner, Ari works on her history project. Briggs brings out her folder of paper things and starts asking about them, but Ari makes it clear that she’s too busy working to play. Briggs pulls out Ari’s oldest cut-out, a boy she named Miles who was meant to resemble Gage when he was younger. When she tries to grab it back, it rips, and Ari feels “more invisible than invisible” (81), unable to cry or speak.

Ari goes over to Sasha’s house for the night. Sasha’s mother, Marianna, asks Ari about whether she has started her application to Carter, the prestigious middle school that both Ari and Sasha hope to attend. Ari’s mother wanted her to attend Carter because everyone in Ari’s family did. Now that her mother is dead, it’s important to Ari to fulfill her wish. After hearing about how complex the application is, Ari wonders if it’s already too late to apply. She also wonders who is supposed to sign it and what address to put on the application.