Drama: A Graphic Novel

At school, Callie presents Liz with a gift: a tomato-shaped pin cushion that she picked up at a store at the mall named Yoshi’s J-Mart. Liz gratefully and enthusiastically accepts it, but Matt snidely comments that he hasn’t been to Yoshi’s J-Mart in years—“Their stuff’s way too cutesy for me” (62), he says. He then walks away, leaving Callie to wonder what his issue is.

At lunch, Justin invites Callie to eat with him, as Jesse is off tutoring. Callie, remembering Matt’s behavior, decides to forgo her usual lunch with Matt and Liz. She agrees to join Justin. They find a grassy spot where Callie used to eat lunch with Liz and Matt. There, Callie opens up about her feelings regarding Greg. She tells Justin that Greg has acted like he likes her in private, but spurns her when there are other people around. “I’ve known Greg since second grade. He’s always been thickheaded, even if he’s cute,” Justin responds (64). He then openly tells Callie that he’s gay. Callie has a cautious response at first, saying that she’s never known anyone who is gay.