A Heart in a Body in the World

Grandpa and Annabelle stop at a restaurant for Annabelle’s birthday. Annabelle quickly notices her mother’s car in the parking lot. Gina, Gina’s boyfriend Carl Walter, and Malcolm walk into the restaurant. Friends of Annabelle’s mother, Angie and Patrick, also show up. Angie and Patrick are on their way to a wedding, but Annabelle’s mother explains that she, Carl, and Malcolm drove all the way from Seattle to be with Annabelle on her birthday and plan to spend the night. They’ve booked rooms at a local hotel. Annabelle and Malcolm’s room is being paid for by funds from the GoFundMe. The meal is filling and delicious. Annabelle opens her presents, running gear and energy bars. The last gift is a medal of Saint Christopher, “protector of travelers, guardian against storms, holy death, and toothaches,” from Annabelle’s mother (97).

As they eat dessert, Grandpa waves two people over. The people are Dawn Celeste, the older woman camper Grandpa visited for cocktails the night before, and Luke Messenger, her grandson. Luke gives Annabelle a portable tape player as a gift. Luke smiles, and Annabelle notices “[i]t’s one of those grins that causes your heart to bump around, a grin that says you both share a secret” (99). Dawn Celeste explains that she is retired and “a perpetual wanderer” (99), and that Luke is a college student on hiatus. They have been traveling and camping for a few weeks.

Afterward, Gina pulls Grandpa to the side, and they argue. Annabelle’s mother is angry that Grandpa invited his new friends without warning and that he is allowing Annabelle to continue her cross-country run.

In the hotel room that night, Malcolm tries to film Annabelle as if he is making a documentary, asking her about her run, but Annabelle, exhausted, refuses to answer his questions. As they fall asleep, Malcolm apologizes for “Everything.” Annabelle “doesn’t bother to tell him that he should not be sorry, that he is not responsible for any of those things” (102).

Annabelle runs for another day and a half. At the end of the day, she meets her grandfather with the RV. Zach and Malcolm have started organizing where the RV will park every night; tonight, it’s in the driveway of a mobile home park. In the RV Grandpa has begun passing the time by whittling, but so far Annabelle thinks his carved bit of wood looks like a raccoon dropping.

This evening Annabelle is scheduled to meet with Ashley Naches, a reporter for a local high school paper. Annabelle is reluctant to go and says she feels sick, but Grandpa and Zach encourage her not to cancel.

Annabelle arrives at the high school, which reminds her of her own high school and triggers memories of The Taker. As Annabelle enters the high school library, she remembers herself and The Taker holding hands in the library the previous school year.

Annabelle struggles through the interview. When Ashley asks Annabelle how she feels about her decision to run across the country, Annabelle finally says, “I don’t know. Tired. Determined. I’m not really all the way determined, but that’s probably what people will want to hear” (110). After the interview, Ashley asks Annabelle if she’s okay and surprises Annabelle by giving her a hug. Ashley wears glittery, tight-fitting clothes despite being overweight, and Annabelle is impressed by her confidence.

As Annabelle leaves the school, she sees a group of boys that remind her of The Taker. In a flashback, she remembers offering The Taker a ride home one day after school. The car ride is awkward at first, but they bond by listening to the Clash and become friends. After that, The Taker begins hanging out with her group of friends, and Annabelle realizes that “[i]t was her approval of him that let him into her circle” (116). Everyone can tell that The Taker has a crush on Annabelle.

Annabelle has been running for three-and-a-half weeks and is almost to the Washington state border, but she is feeling “[b]eyond exhausted. Disgusted and fed up and aching with the madness of it all” (119). Annabelle is bored of running through small towns and rural areas; she is also starting to become annoyed by her grandfather and his gross habits, such as picking his teeth with a toothpick, his snoring, and his burps that smell like wine and salami. Annabelle misses video games and TV and wonders if the whole idea of running across the country is pointless. The night before, Gina called and encouraged Annabelle to come home, saying, “You ran across the entire state. Can’t you call that the accomplishment?” (122). Annabelle thinks her mom may be right.

Annabelle takes out her phone and considers calling her grandpa to come pick her up, but her phone is out of service. Annabelle has no choice but to continue running until their meeting spot in Idaho. In the distance Annabelle sees a group of people on the side of the road. Annabelle wonders if they’re waiting at a bus stop and imagines herself getting on the bus and running away. As she approaches the group, Annabelle realizes they’re staring at her. They begin cheering and calling her name. When Annabelle reaches the group, they tell her that they read about her in the local high school paper and wanted to cheer her on as she crossed the Washington border. They indicate where the border is located up ahead, and a woman tells Annabelle, “We thought you’d like to know when you made it. Otherwise, it’s hard to tell” (128). As Annabelle runs toward the border, a man in a white pickup truck shouts, “Right here is where it changes” (129). Annabelle realizes that “the man is right. This is where it changes” (129).