50 pages • 1 hour read
Five Feet Apart
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Chapters 30-31Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 30 Summary: “Will”
Eight months later, Will sits in a busy airport with Jason, waiting for their flight. He watches Stella’s latest YouTube video, which features their love story. Stella discusses the significance of human touch, which was denied to her and Will due to their cystic fibrosis. Although Will admits, “I still find myself wishing I hadn’t left, reliving the moment of walking away, my legs like cement blocks, being pulled like a magnet back to her window” (270), he does not regret his choice. The notification from Stella’s app reminds him that it is time to take his pills. Jason asks Will if he’s ready to travel to their destination of Brazil. Will details his mother’s conditions for allowing him to travel around the world: He must have checkups in every city, “send her as many pictures as possible, and Skype her every Monday evening, no matter what” (271). As they prepare to board their plane, Will hears the sound of Stella’s laughter and initially believes he has forgotten to turn off the video on his phone. He searches for a sign of Stella and quickly sees that she has already found him.
Chapter 31 Summary: “Stella”
Stella stands in an airport with her friends Camila and Mya, reviewing her detailed itinerary. As she takes a deep breath with her new lungs, she reflects on the past eight months, during which she has adjusted to life with her lungs, watched the happy reconciliation of her parents, and navigated the grief she still feels over the losses of Abby, Poe, and Will. In recalling Will’s gift of encouraging her to choose life with a lung transplant, Stella states, “I can’t believe now that I almost didn’t take it” (274). The girls head to the gate for their flight to Rome. Soon, Mya’s eyes begin “flicking urgently to a big group of people waiting to board their plane” (275). Stella turns to see for herself, spotting Jason and eventually Will, “still sick, portable oxygen slung over his shoulder, his face gaunt and tired” (275). Stella approaches Will and stops six feet away. She smiles and takes one step closer so they’re standing only five feet apart.
Chapters 30-31 Analysis
Eight months after their separation, Will fulfills his dream of traveling the world and experiencing all that was denied to him during his hospital stays. He reflects on his new healthy relationship with his mother, who has given Will permission to exert his independence. Will happily relays, “I can finally live my life how I want. And, for once, that includes fighting right alongside her. We’ve finally found common ground” (271). No longer persecuted under his mother’s intense plans to treat his cystic fibrosis, Will collaborates with her to reconcile her need for reassurance with his need for independence.
Chapter 31 focuses on Stella as she, Camila, and Mya await their flight to Rome. Stella remarks on the new health that her successful lung transplant has provided her over the last few months. When she sees Will, she notes the differences between them as she describes Will as “gaunt and tired” (275). Their reunion occurs at the airport after almost the entire novel took place within the four walls of Saint Grace’s Hospital. Their transformations are not merely physical, as Stella and Will are both at the beginning of their individual journeys toward adventure and freedom. Stella sees that Will notes her physical transformation, but her final act is a familiar one, as she actively takes one step closer to Will in a show of her reclaimed power. Though transformed, Stella remains rooted in the experiences that shaped her.
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