Forget Me Not

Mrs. P’eng comes over that night to pick up Calli, but Calli lies and says that she can’t sleep at their house because she’s sick.

That Friday night is the first time that Calli has slept alone at her house overnight. She checks the locks repeatedly and gets scared by strange creaking sounds throughout the night.

The next morning, Calli is trying to fill the time at her house alone by reading her astronomy books. There is a knock at the door and Calli opens it to find Mrs. P’eng and Jinsong. Mrs. P’eng invites Calli to come with them to the county fair.

Jinsong is glad that Calli agrees to go with them to the fair, but on the drive over, Calli doesn’t even speak to him. The P’engs and Calli stay together for a little while, but when Calli asks if she can go off on her own, Mrs. P’eng tells Jinsong to go with her. Calli doesn’t seem happy about it, and Jinsong doesn’t blame her for not wanting to spend time with him.

Calli tells Jinsong that he doesn’t need to hang out with her, saying, “Why don’t you go find your real friends?” (201). Calli doesn’t want Jinsong to hurt her again.

Calli runs away from Jinsong toward the carnival rides.

Jinsong takes off after Calli, and Duncan and Nyle call him over to the inflatable pitching booth. Jinsong’s friends want him to play with them, but Jinsong just wants to find Calli and make things right. He sees her by the Ferris wheel, leaves his friends, and asks her to ride the Ferris wheel with him.

Calli is torn between saying yes to Jinsong and protecting herself from further hurt.

Calli and Jinsong sit silently, side by side, in the Ferris wheel car.

Jinsong tries to start a conversation with Calli about cotton candy, but she addresses how he has ignored her for the past two months. Jinsong says that he doesn’t know how to start.

Calli confronts Jinsong about him staying silent while she was bullied at school, lying about having a valentine, and leaving flowers at her door.

Jinsong apologizes and confesses that he had been embarrassed of Calli but that he isn’t embarrassed of her anymore. He bought her the flowers because he’d seen the poppy she’d been carrying at school. Jinsong tells Calli that he likes her.

Calli and Jinsong’s Ferris wheel car stops at the top of the wheel. Calli wants to tell Jinsong how she feels, but instead she just takes his hands.

Jinsong holds Calli’s hand above their heads, shouting, “I like Calli June!” (211), and all the popular kids at school see and hear. Calli is elated.

As Calli rides home from the fair, she realizes that she wants to go to the moon as her career. She decides that’s what she’ll paint for her self-portrait.

Calli describes how she feels about the moon and the way it inspires her.

Jinsong lies awake while Calli sleeps in the next room. He wonders how everyone will react at school. He hopes that Duncan and Nyle won’t make fun of him and that “both sides can win” (214).

Calli has a dream that night about what school will be like when her and Jinsong return on Monday. She is woken up by Mrs. P’eng’s phone alarm.

The P’engs and Calli go on a Sunday picnic. Jinsong’s little brother, Chonglin, asks Calli about her tics, and she openly shares about them for the first time. Jinsong stands up for Calli to Chonglin when Chonglin tries to make fun of her.

When Calli and Jinsong arrive at school together on Monday, Calli hopes that it will be like in her dream where everyone is happy for them and likes her now.

When Calli arrives in homeroom, there’s a small blue jewelry box on her desk. She’s worried it’s another prank, but when she opens it, it’s a locket from a popular girl, Ivy.

When Beatriz sees Calli holding the locket, she mocks Calli several times, trying to get the class to join in, but no one laughs at Calli with Beatriz.

Duncan and Nyle corner Jinsong and ask him why he was “holding hands with the Freak Girl” (224). They start to mock Calli and Jinsong gets angry. He punches Duncan and Nyle in the face, then walks to the principal’s office.

Calli decides that her doctor and her mom were both wrong to tell her to hide her Tourette syndrome; if she’d talked more about her Tourette syndrome, then people may have better understood it.

In between classes, Calli goes to Mrs. Baumgartner’s office. Mrs. Baumgartner isn’t there, so Calli takes a post-it note and thanks Mrs. Baumgartner for encouraging her to share about her Tourette syndrome.

Calli asks her classmates if they’ve seen Jinsong, but no one has.

The principal talks to Jinsong, Duncan, and Nyle in her office. Then, she calls Jinsong’s mom to pick him up.

Ivy invites Calli to sit with her and the other popular girls at lunch. Calli says yes, even though their sudden attention makes her uncomfortable. The girls ask Calli questions about her and Jinsong’s relationship. Beatriz sees Calli sitting with the popular girls and leaves the cafeteria with her food.

In art class, Calli draws her self-portrait. It is an image of her with long hair, holding the moon.

Calli notes that 12 people have walked on the moon and that she wants to be next.

Beatriz tells Calli that Ivy doesn’t want to be Calli’s friend and that she’s going to change her mind. When Calli asks Beatriz why she thinks that, Beatriz tells Calli that Ivy gave her a locket last year but took it back a few weeks later.

Jinsong must wait half of the day for his mom to pick him up, so several people see him in the principal’s office. Jinsong assumes that Duncan and Nyle have spread the news that he’s been suspended.

Calli sees that Jinsong is missing in science class. Beatriz tells her that it’s because he got suspended, but Calli thinks that Beatriz is lying.

As punishment for getting suspended, Jinsong’s mom makes him clean the tub and the toilet with a toothbrush. Jinsong wishes that laundry was on his chores list so that he could see Calli.

At the end of the school day, all the popular girls hug Calli goodbye, and she thinks that it’s “better than / Halloween / Or Christmas / or [her] birthday” (240). Calli decides that Beatriz’s warnings were just because Beatriz was jealous.

Calli sings to herself as she walks home, excited to tell Jinsong about her day. She notices a strange car pull up alongside her.

Calli doesn’t recognize the man in the car. He winks at her. Calli assumes that she’s going to be kidnapped.

Calli imagines being kidnapped and driven away into the desert. She is paralyzed and doesn’t run away.

Calli hides her face in her hands, ready to be kidnapped, but instead she hears her mom’s voice calling her. Calli’s mom tells her that she got married while she was in Las Vegas to the man in the car: “That’s Reno, Sweet Pea / He’s your new stepdad!” (246). Calli is upset.

When Jinsong’s dad comes home, Mrs. P’eng tells him what Jinsong did. Instead of getting upset, Jinsong’s dad is proud of him for standing up for someone else.

Reno offers to drive Calli home, but Calli says no and walks the rest of the way. She hopes that she’ll see Jinsong along the way, but she doesn’t. Calli is upset that her mom got married without telling her and notes that Reno is well-dressed and not her mom’s usual type.

As Calli passes Mrs. Sumner’s house, she notices the empty pots on her porch. Calli relates to the empty, lonely pots but then watches as Mrs. Sumner fills them with “flowers / and soil / and love” (249).

Calli’s stomach is upset from the news of her mom’s marriage. When she gets home, she realizes that her mom’s marriage means that they will move again. Calli throws up.

Dr. Khan calls the P’engs’ house to tell them that Jinsong has been removed as student council president because of his actions earlier that day. Jinsong is disappointed in himself and wishes that he had stood up for Calli without getting in trouble.

Calli lays on her bed while her mom tells her that this marriage will be good for them by pointing out how much money Reno has. All Calli can think about is how her mom has taken away something good, “like she took away / my amber waves of grain” (253). Calli equates their impending move with her forced haircut.

Calli asks her mom about Tom, and her mom says that though Tom was good, “Reno is best” (254).

Calli thinks about all the boyfriends that her mom has had and wishes that there could’ve been moments when it was just her and her mom living happily, without men involved.

Calli shows up at Jinsong’s door crying. She asks him where he was all day, and Jinsong tells her about his suspension. Calli tells him that she’ll be moving on Friday to Las Vegas because her mom got married. Jinsong is shocked.

Reno takes Calli and her mom to dinner. Calli still feels sick to her stomach. Her mom gives her an amethyst from Las Vegas for her rock collection, and even though it’s beautiful, the rock doesn’t improve Calli’s mood. She wishes that slots 11 and 12 in her rock collection could’ve stayed blank. She wishes that she didn’t have to move again.

It is Friday morning and Calli’s mom tells her to come home straight after school so that they can leave for Las Vegas. Calli is glad that she’ll be riding with just her mom in the car since Reno already went back, but she’s deeply sad about moving and keeps crying.

Calli holds her poppy for courage, then remembers the blue pots on Mrs. Sumner’s front porch and makes her way toward them.

Calli sneaks up to the pots in Mrs. Sumner’s yard and uproots a handful of poppies, stuffing them into her shorts.

Jinsong is back at school from his suspension, and his classmates are whispering about him. Duncan and Nyle make faces at him, and Jinsong considers that Little League tryouts will be easier now that he isn’t friends with them anymore.

Beatriz mocks Calli for the poppies in her pocket, and Calli tells Beatriz that the only good thing about moving will be leaving Beatriz behind.

Duncan and Nyle have left prank love notes for Calli on her desk to mock her and Jinsong.

Instead of crying or running away, Calli takes the notes, walks up to Duncan and Nyle, and rips the notes in front of their faces. She tells them to “[g]et a life” (268).

Calli sits down at the popular girls’ table, but they all move away from her to the table by the garbage cans. Calli wonders if Beatriz was right and Ivy and the other girls no longer want to be her friend.

Jinsong comes to sit with Calli at what used to be the popular girls’ table. Jinsong tells Calli about his friendship with Beatriz and how it changed after Beatriz’s mom left. Beatriz started making fun of other people because she was mad at her mom for leaving. Jinsong believes that Beatriz and he could be friends again one day.

Calli thinks about what it must be like for Beatriz to be abandoned by her mom. Calli is grateful that, even though her mom has made her angry, she knows her mom loves her.

Calli has cleaned out her locker and is about to leave the school when she sees Beatriz in the hallway. Calli has an idea and takes out a pen and paper.

Calli writes a letter to Beatriz, giving her the poppy flower for courage and the locket from Ivy. Calli tells Beatriz that she’ll send her a picture for the locket and encourages Beatriz to try to be friends with Jinsong again.

Calli puts the letter, poppy, and locket into Beatriz’s locker through the slats on the front.

Jinsong and Calli meet at the flagpole and slowly walk home together for the last time. Instead of turning toward their apartments, Calli keeps walking and tells Jinsong that the moon is constantly moving away from the Earth and that she doesn’t want to move. Jinsong understands that Calli doesn’t want to go home yet, so they continue walking together.

Calli tells Jinsong that she put his Valentine’s Day flowers down the garbage disposal. Jinsong tells Calli that he saw her destroy the flowers. Calli explains that she thought he was mocking her, but Jinsong tells her that he thinks she’s special.

Jinsong takes a bag of cheese puffs out of his backpack to share. The cheese puffs make Calli think about her first days in St. George and how much things have changed since then.

Jinsong plays “keep away” with Calli and the cheese puffs. They talk about Jinsong’s new baby sister. Jinsong tells Calli that his mom has decided to name the baby June because she’s going to be born on June 1.

Calli thinks about how June is her favorite month because it reminds her of good times with her dad instead of remembering his death.

Calli starts talking about toads because she’s remembering her dad, so Jinsong looks for a toad or a frog to give to her. When he finds one, he gives it to Calli and it licks her. Jinsong and Calli laugh together. Jinsong reminds her of the riddle that she couldn’t guess on the night of the festival and tells her that he wants to give her the prize anyway. He kisses her.

Calli describes the feeling of kissing Jinsong as flying up to the moon.

Jinsong and Calli lean quietly against a tree in the park. Jinsong tells Calli that they should get back to the apartments, but Calli doesn’t want to leave. Jinsong tells her that he has another gift for her, but they have to go back to the apartments for her to get it.

Jinsong makes up a proverb about how shattered he feels that Calli is moving away.

Calli can almost convince herself that this is any other day walking home with Jinsong, but when they get to the apartments, Calli sees her mom in their car looking upset.

Calli’s mom has packed up the car and tells Calli that they are running late. Calli says she won’t leave until she says an official good-bye to Jinsong. Jinsong is no longer standing next to Calli. She doesn’t know where he went.

Calli’s mom is shocked that Calli told her no. Jinsong comes down from his apartment with a large stuffed bunny for Calli. Calli’s mom says the bunny won’t fit in the car.

Calli says that she can sit on the bunny in the car to make sure that it fits.

Calli wishes that she could give Jinsong forget-me-not flowers, but instead she writes her email on his arm and tells him good-bye.

Jinsong goes straight to his room after Calli leaves, upset that she’s gone. He tries to distract himself with reading, but ultimately, he types in her email address and begins to write.

Calli and her mom don’t talk in the car. The only sound is Calli quietly crying.

Calli compares herself to a plant, constantly wandering.

About 30 minutes into their drive, Calli tells her mom that she needs to go to the restroom. As Calli is closing the door behind her when they get to the rest stop, she accidentally slams her thumb in the door.

Calli’s mom goes to get some ice for her thumb, and Calli is overwhelmed by the feeling that she needs to “make [the pain] symmetrical” (301). She tries to hold back, but she’s unsuccessful. She slams her other thumb in the door on purpose.

Jinsong writes Calli an email, knowing that she won’t reply for a while. He tells her that he has Little League tryouts the next day.

When Calli’s mom sees that Calli has slammed her other thumb on purpose, she gets upset and asks, “Why do you do things like this, Calliope?” (303). Calli tries to tell her mom that she can’t help it, but her mom doesn’t understand.

When Calli and her mom get back in the car, Calli finally tells her mom how she feels about moving, boyfriends, her tics, and her hair cut.

Calli continues to yell at her mom about getting married without telling her or considering that Calli may not want to move again. Calli accuses her mom of only marrying Reno for his money. Calli’s mom starts to cry.

Jinsong goes to the store to get toilet paper for his mom, and on his way home he sees Kenny Gunn’s house. Kenny is sitting outside with a microscope and invites Jinsong to hang out. Jinsong agrees and he and Kenny become friends.

For the first two days living at Reno’s large, fancy house, Calli doesn’t talk to her mom or to Reno.

On Sunday night, Calli’s mom visits her in her room. Calli doesn’t want to talk to her. Calli’s mom wants to know if Calli will ever forgive her, but Calli only wants to know if they will stop moving. Her mom is not able to promise this.

Calli decides that she and her mom may not be able to understand each other. Calli cannot understand her mom’s desire to move around and her mom can’t fully understand Calli’s Tourette syndrome. Calli turns and hugs her mom, choosing to forgive her.

Calli adds the amethyst from the shop in Las Vegas to her list and pencils in a rock from the moon in slot 12.

Calli decides that she’ll go to college, go to the moon, and then one day choose to live in one town for the rest of her life.

Jinsong misses Calli. In science class, he and Kenny partner up for an assignment, but as Jinsong walks over to Kenny’s desk, he sees Beatriz holding Calli’s poppy. Jinsong invites Beatriz to work with him and Kenny.

It is Calli’s first day at her new school, and she has decided to wear jeans and a t-shirt instead of her distracting clothing. Calli’s mom walks with her into the office, for which Calli is grateful.

Calli’s mom completes the enrollment paperwork, and then Calli wades through the hallway toward her first class.

Calli gets lost in the hallways of her new school, and when she stops someone to ask for directions, they ignore her. Calli starts to get worried.

Calli stops walking and starts to cry. Getting lost triggers an intrusive thought about wetting her pants and being mocked on her first day of school.

Jinsong emails Calli to tell her that he made the Little League team as a pitcher. Calli hasn’t responded to his first email, and so Jinsong is worried that he has the wrong email address.

A girl walks up to Calli in the hallway, shows her how to use the map, and walks her to her class. The girl, Paige, offers to show Calli around for the rest of the day.

Calli enters her class, wishing that Jinsong was there to help her.

Calli introduces herself to the class as Calli June and then decides to explain that she has Tourette syndrome and what the other students can expect. She makes a joke and the class laughs with her, not at her.

Calli emails Jinsong back, congratulating him on making the team and telling him that she’ll be able to come visit during the second week in June. She ends her email with a fact about the moon: “No matter where / you’re standing on Earth, / it always looks the same” (326).