Page 49 of Shy Girls Can't Date Rockstars
His eyebrow mirrors mine. “Yeah. Isn’t that what you’re here for?”
“But you don’t want to learn.”
“But I have the ability.”
“What changed?” I swallow again as my stomach warns of something being launched up my throat. “You… you pity me now?”
He groans, rolling his gaze toward the ceiling. “Don’t be like that, Alice. But yeah, it feels crappy to make you write my essay after that display you put on.”
Display?
Like I chose to fall apart in front of him? Like my grief is some kind of performance?
His dark eyes land on me again, unimpressed. “Can you stop looking at me like that and just help me?”
Help him? The last thing on earth I want to do is help this stupid boy.
But I need this to be over with.
“Fine.” I grit my teeth and then force myself to release. “What did you actually understand about the book?”
“That Sophia’s grandfather helped build the church, that the town wants to tear it down, and that she feels like she has to save it.”
“That’s the basic plot, but what do you think the church represents?”
Ryder considers this. “Family legacy?”
“Yes. What else?”
“Um... the past?”
“Also yes. Keep going.”
“I don’t know. That’s all I’ve got.”
“What about identity?” I suggest. “Her grandfather has passed, so she’s figuring out who she is in the community while being in his shadow.”
“Oh.” Something pensive takes over Ryder’s expression. “Like she’s finding herself?”
“Yeah, and choosing her own path.”
“Does she? Because she does save the church.”
“Does she?” I flip to the final chapter. “She hands the keys to the priest. To someone else. She doesn’t keep running it herself.”
“So she... lets go?”
“What do you think?”
Ryder reads the final page. Actually reads it. His brow furrows in concentration. “Yeah. She lets go. Letting someone else carry it forward.”
“Exactly.” I feel a small smile forming despite everything. “That’s growth.”
“So the essay should argue that it’s growth, not obligation.”
“What do you think?”
He’s quiet for a moment. “I think it’s both. She starts from a place of obligation, but by the end, she’s making her own choice. Even if that choice is to honor the past, it’s still her choice.”
