Falling Over Sideways

Claire’s family switches gears in an attempt to get her father to gain weight. Her mother adds random treat meals, such as ice cream and donuts, for extra calories. On one such mission, Claire’s mother stops suddenly at a donut store and tries to have a normal family outing. Claire’s father, however, makes a mess with the donuts and the family has to leave the store in shame. Claire, however, questions the donut debacle: “On the way out [of the donut store] I noticed the strangest thing. My father almost seemed to be smiling, just the slightest little bit […]” (164). She wonders if her father made a mess on purpose to force them to leave.

Claire also continues playing the saxophone for her father, especially Beatles songs, since he’s so responsive to them. Despite her best efforts, however, Claire’s new life overwhelms her. Though school takes its toll on her emotions, she knows that her family’s number one priority is getting her dad to gain weight. Claire’s mother plans Thanksgiving at their home. Claire feels the dinner is an obviously bad idea, but her mother wants some semblance of normalcy. Claire wants to see her extended family, but not when they will all have to pretend that everything is all right when it isn’t.

When Thanksgiving comes, Claire’s father miserable looks with his shake (Claire’s mother puts all his food in a blender so he can sip it) while everyone else has normal food. At one point, he begins choking on his shake and everyone jumps up trying to help. When Claire’s “right-wing uncle starts talking about “More guns! Less government! Yay, white people!” (169), Claire’s father looks pained because he would normally argue a liberal perspective. Luckily, Matthew jumps into the fray and contradicts the right-wing uncle, and Claire knows that her father is proud of Matthew.

Over the weekend, Claire’s father gets increasingly sick. By Monday, Claire’s mother decides to take him to the hospital because he has a bad fever. Claire takes her phone to school and checks it nervously. Suddenly, the principal issues a shelter-in-place warning and indicates it’s not a drill. Claire sees a message from her mother on her phone: Her father has pneumonia and Grandpa will pick her up immediately. But when Claire sees police sirens and hears commotion outside, she realizes two things: Her mother’s parental optimism in sending her to school despite her father’s condition was deeply misplaced, and Grandpa won’t be picking her up anytime soon.

Mrs. Selinsky has the students huddle together in their assigned groups, meaning Claire is with Christopher, Regina, Roshni, and Ryder. Though students can’t have phones in class, and Mrs. Selinsky continues to warn students about this, many students check their phones for information anyway. Claire texts Matthew about the school lockdown, then watches as Mrs. Selinsky gets increasingly angry about how disrespectful kids are. Shockingly, Roshni stands up to Mrs. Selinsky—kids need their phones in an emergency. Moreover, her shouting isn’t smart if there really is a shooter in the building. Shocked and annoyed, Mrs. Selinsky turns away.

Claire then receives a message from Matthew about there being a bank robbery downtown. When Claire realizes that Christopher isn’t doing well (he’s shaking and holding himself), she attempts to ease his fear by telling him about the bank. Regina looks at Claire’s phone and sees a message about Claire’s father not doing well. He’s going to need surgery. Claire admits how bad things are to the others and, surprisingly, they lend their support. Christopher, however, begins yelling that students can’t have phones in class, causing Mrs. Selinsky to demand Claire hand over her phone. Ryder and the others stand up for Claire, but Mrs. Selinsky grabs Claire’s phone and, when Claire reaches for it, Mrs. Selinsky slaps Claire’s hand. Regina then curses at Mrs. Selinsky: “Well, she didn’t exactly say BEEP, but the word did start with a B” (185). The all-clear signal sounds shortly after this altercation, and Mrs. Selinsky tells the entire group that they will be seeing the principal for their actions. But Claire doesn’t care: Grandma picks her up and they head to the hospital.

Claire and her family watch helplessly as her father struggles to breathe. She imagines the sickly man she looks at as a doppelganger of her normally robust father. Though she knows she will get in trouble for what happened at school, she doesn’t think about anything but her dad.

The next day at school, Principal Thompson summons Claire and her science class group to his office, where they see a smug Mrs. Selinsky. Claire tries cheering up Christopher, and Leigh makes fun of Claire. Ryder defends Claire, and both Ryder and Regina tell Leigh to back off. The principal asks Christopher to recall what happened, and Christopher goes into a speech about everything that unfolded during the lockdown. Christopher explains how Mrs. Selinsky hit Claire and how Regina called Mrs. Selinsky a curse word. When Christopher finishes, panting. Claire wants to comfort Christopher but decides against it. When Mr. Thompson asks Claire if what Christopher said is true, Claire says that “Mrs. Selinsky is a crazy BEEP,” though she doesn’t “actually say BEEP, either” (196). 

Though Mr. Thompson chastises Claire for cursing, Leigh jumps in to remind him that Claire merely said a curse word, while Mrs. Selinsky hit a student. Leigh’s father is a lawyer, and he’d probably think student abuse a bigger issue than cursing. The mood in the room shifts, and Mr. Thompson agrees that they should work things out amicably. When the students protest Mrs. Selinsky not getting in trouble, Mr. Thompson dismisses Mrs. Selinsky and speaks to the kids. He tells them that Mrs. Selinsky is the oldest teacher there and set to retire. Moreover, the reason she goes on about Meredith is tragic: Meredith moved out of Mrs. Selinsky’s house, broke off communication, and died from liver cancer before Mrs. Selinsky could say goodbye. The kids now see Mrs. Selinsky in a different light and agree to be better students. After dismissing the others, Mr. Thompson offers Claire guidance and tells her that he likes her father’s work.

In the hallway, Claire thanks Regina for defending her, but Regina replies, “Starbuck, sometimes you are so dumb. I didn’t do that for you” (202). Regina was defending Ryder, not Claire: Regina likes Ryder, but Ryder likes Claire. This revelation causes Claire to see Ryder’s antics as symptoms of a crush. She swears to Regina that she doesn’t have feelings for Ryder. Claire then sees Leigh crying in the bathroom, but she’s too shocked to say anything. Later, at lunch, Mr. Thompson returns Claire’s phone. Claire, Regina, and Ryder fill Roshni in on what happened in the principal’s office, and then Claire’s phone rings.