OCDaniel

Meeting Sara after practice, she talks more about her dad and how he used to argue with her mom about how much she worked and went out. She also reveals that he drank. Sara shows Daniel pictures of her and her dad together, saying when asked whether she talked to him, “That he was the only one in the world. Until you” (238). At dinner Daniel gets quizzed more about Sara by his family. Steve calls her “psycho Sara” and Danie gets defensive about her then goes to his room. He realizes, after defending Sara that he likes Sara and not Raya. This is despite the fact Raya is “cool” and “normal.” Daniel writes more of his story before bed. He writes about how fictional Sara saves him from one of the “portal men” as they are getting fuel at a gas station. She kills the creature with an electrified croquet mallet.

It is the final game of the state play-offs. It starts poorly for Daniel, with him missing a few kicks. It seems as if Daniel would be spared having to make a decisive kick when, towards the end of the game, with the score tied, Max is put through to the opposition goal. He inexplicably drops a pass though. This means Daniel will have to make a kick that decides the match. He is incredibly anxious as he approaches the kick, but then sees a sign from Sara that says, “FOOTBALL SUCKS” (249). This makes Daniel laugh, relaxes him, and he does a perfect kick. His team win the game, and he is caught up in the celebrations, winning a trophy, with his dad telling him that he is proud.

They celebrate the victory at the coach’s house, and Daniel enjoys the fact that he has had almost an entire day without any zaps. When he gets home though he has five missed calls from Sara’s mobile. Daniel rings up the number, and Sara’s mother answers. It turns out that Sara had fought with her mom after the game, then went missing. John was supposed to have given her a lift to the library, but the staff at the library had not seen her.

Daniel searches in the car for Sara with his mom. They then phone the police, who question Daniel. He tells them something about what he and Sara had been doing, and their suspicions about John. They don’t believe him, however. Daniel reflects on his time with Sara, then decides to head out of the door himself. He finds Sara in the field they had been to previously, lying in the grass. She tells him that she thought John had “basically admitted” (258) to the murder to her that night. Daniel holds her hand as they lie in the grass.

Before meeting up with Sara again, she had sent him an email the following morning saying she had a plan, Daniel works more on his book, which he now classifies as “a short novel” (264). Fictional Daniel and Sara, in the story, reach the apartment of Charles Oliver in New York. They are almost attacked by one of the portal men, but manage to escape it, and get into Charles Oliver’s flat.

Sara and Daniel meet by the corner of John’s street. Sara has taken her mother’s phone, who is away with her grandma. The plan is two-fold. First it is to track John via Sara’s phone that is hidden in the back of John’s car. Secondly, Sara will pretend to be her mother to John using her mom’s phone. She messages John saying that, “Sara is asking me questions. I think she knows” (265). John reveals in these messages that there is a letter that it is important to hide. So, Sara and Daniel go into John’s house to try and find it. They discover the letter on the bed, which he was obviously in the process of moving. It is from Michelle, Sara’s mom, to John, asking for “help” regarding Sara’s dad. The letter also says she requires help in writing another letter to Sara, pretending to be from her dad. Daniel interprets this as clear proof of murder. As they are about to leave though, John enters the room, holding a gun.