Every Day

Fiction | Novel | YA

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Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: “Day 5994”

On Day 5994 of A’s life, A wakes up in the body of sixteen-year-old Justin. A spends the morning like he does most mornings, accessing his person’s mind in order to figure out who Justin is and what A needs to know about his person in order to get through the day. He quickly learns a few clues about Justin: Justin is a smoker, rude to his parents, and listens to obnoxious, loud music on the radio. A decides it’s going to be a bad day.

When he gets to school, he meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon, who is nervous and careful around him. A can tell that she is used to being treated poorly by Justin, but A can’t bring himself to treat her the way Justin would: “If anything, I am mad at Justin, for making her feel so diminished” (5). Instead of treating her poorly, A feels drawn to her. When they meet at lunch, A impulsively suggests that they skip school and go somewhere. He lets Rhiannon decide where to go, and when she decides that they should go to the ocean, he feels a strong connection to her.

On the drive to the ocean, he gives Rhiannon control of the radio, which surprises her, since this is very un-Justin-like, and she finds pop music that gets them both singing. A asks her questions about her life, and even though it’s clear she’s not used to talking about herself with Justin, she eventually gets comfortable, talking more and more.

When they get to the ocean, they run and play on the sand, eventually getting down to the business of building sand castles. A reflects on how happy this day with Rhiannon has made both of them. It’s such a clear and welcome break from the way he has lived his past lives: “I am tired of not feeling. I am tired of not connecting” (15). They get out the make-out blanket from the car, but instead of using the blanket the way A expects Justin would, they lie down side-by-side and tell stories about other good days each of them has had in the past. Rhiannon shares a story about a special day she had with her mother, when they did a mother-daughter fashion show together. A tells her about a time he was eleven, playing hide-and-go-seek. He ended up climbing a tree higher and higher until he was far above everyone and everything.

The day slowly comes to an end and A knows that they have to leave. They talk and sing some more until Rhiannon eventually falls asleep in the car. When they have to say goodbye, Rhiannon seeks assurances that they will do this again. A knows he cannot promise such things, and instead they both decide simply to end the day on a nice note. Rhiannon kisses him good bye.

Justin’s parents scold him for missing dinner, but “[A] can tell that everyone’s going through the motions,” since Justin has been in trouble plenty of times (24). A plays his part, storming off to his room, just as Justin would. In his room, he thinks about Rhiannon, and he regrets that she is probably thinking that her relationship with Justin has significantly changed for the better. He calls her, telling her, “I don’t want you to think every day is going to be like today. Because they’re not going to be, alright? They can’t be” (26). But Rhiannon, ever hopeful, thanks him for the day, saying, “I love you” (27).

After they talk, A opens up his personal email account, one of the only things he can hang on to as he changes lives. He sends himself Rhiannon and Justin’s information, remembering to clear his browsing history from Justin’s computer because A knows he will not be here tomorrow, or ever again.

Chapter 2 Summary: “Day 5995”

Today, A is Leslie Wong. A already misses Rhiannon. However, A must quickly rearrange her thoughts to perform as Leslie. A has noticed that most mornings are the same, no matter who A is: dress, hurry through breakfast, get out the door. Leslie’s sullen, quiet brother, Owen, drives her to school, smoking a joint on the way. A reflects on sibling relationships:“In the short term, siblings are at best a hassle and at worst a terror […] [o]n ordinary days, the rule is competition not collaboration” (31). A reflects on the difficult sibling relationships that A has dealt with in the past.

At school, A meets Leslie’s best friend, Carrie, who talks continuously about a boy, Corey Handlemann. Corey sent her an instant message the night before. Carrie is ecstatic. But A finds it hard to muster similar feelings about the conversation, and it is hard for her stay focused on their superficial talk. Throughout all of this, A keeps remembering the day before. She wants that day to have meant something: “Flashes of Rhiannon rise in my mind’s eye. I try to tamp them down, but they’re not that easy to contain. Once you experience enormity, it lingers […] and wants to be every word you say” (32).

In class, A hears Owen’s name called to the office. She later runs into him in the hall and is surprised to see him with a bloodied face. He tells her that he ran out of the principal’s office when the school administration went to check his locker for drugs. He was in a fight during lunch, which got both him and Josh Wolf, his drug dealer, in trouble.

When she gets home, her mother, father, and grandmother are waiting for her, ready to interrogate her about Owen. While they search his car, she sneaks out to meet her brother on the playground. She convinces him to come home, but when they get home, the father punches Owen, accusing him of being a drug dealer, which Owen denies. He tells his parents that Josh and he were fighting over a girl, and the family seem relieved to believe that the fight is girl-related and not drug-related. Despite the drama of the day, A finds her thoughts keep turning back to Rhiannon: “Is she hanging out with Justin? If so, is he treating her well? Did anything about yesterday rub off on him?” (41).

Later that night, A goes online and finds an email Rhiannon sent to Justin, despairing of their interaction that day. She asks him why “yesterday was so perfect, and today you are mad at me again” (46). A, frustrated that perhaps he has made the situation worse for her, is unable to reply, and misses her even more.

Chapter 3 Summary: “Day 5996”

Today A is Skylar Smith, a soccer player. A knows how to play many sports from the different people he has inhabited. But he also reflects on the limits of his ability to pick up different hobbies. He remembers when he tried to ski for the first time and ending up breaking his host’s leg. When he woke up the next day, “instead of the pain, [A] felt something just as bad—the fierce, living weight of terrifying guilt” (49). He then wonders what would happen if the person he was inhabiting were to die; would he die, too? In any case, he is careful when it comes to sports and hobbies.

After soccer practice, Skylar’s friend come over to play video games, to talk, and to waste time, although, A reflects, “[Time] isn’t really wasted—surrounded by friends, talking crap and sometimes talking for real, with snacks around and something on a screen” (50). A understands the importance of friends, even though A doesn’t have his own friends.

A would enjoy this time, too, if he weren’t thinking about Rhiannon.

Chapters 1-3 Analysis

A has been living every day of his life as a new person. He never has the chance to stay with a family for more than a day, he never has friends for more than a day, he has never connected with anyone for more than a day. All that changes when he meets Rhiannon. He falls for her and does not want to let go of the connection, even after his allotted twenty-four hours have passed. As usual, he switches bodies, and genders, becoming Leslie Wong and then Skylar Smith, but he still longs for that day he spent with Rhiannon.

During these first few chapters, the reader is given plenty of background information on A’s unique situation. Readers learn that while there are many obvious downsides to this life, especially A’s lack of connection to others, there are also surprising benefits, such as his ability to appreciate the big picture, given that he has lived so many different lives. He has literally stepped into many, many shoes, which allows him to have empathy for all types of people.

Connecting with Rhiannon represents a huge shift for him. As is clear from the Leslie chapter, A sometimes has his hands full dealing with the intricacies of his person’s daily life. And yet, the busy drama of family life doesn’t drown out the day spent at the ocean. He craves connection, even a connection often taken for granted by many: playing video games with friends. Rhiannon represents a chance to connect that he has never had.