Shattering Glass

The opening quote comes from Diane Glass, Simon’s mother. She says that she was initially happy when Simon made friends and came out of his shell. She says she knew everyone’s family but Rob’s, and that they all seemed like good boys. She adds that she had no way of knowing what would eventually happen.

The group of friends arrive at Simon’s on Saturday, to take him shopping. He lives in a mansion with a “marble foyer with a high vaulted ceiling. A huge chandelier glittered overhead. Glass led us to a high-tech kitchen that gleamed with antiseptic whiteness” (40). Simon is an only child and gets his own wing of the house, and it’s implied that he never sees his parents because they stay on their own side of the house. Young points out that “Coop’s house would fit in Simon’s bedroom” (40).

The group goes clothes shopping and make Simon get a haircut from a guy named Dragon. Simon pays for everyone’s dinner at Outback Steakhouse, and also pays for the group to see a movie. When they drop Simon off at his house, he surprises Coop with a notebook. Apparently, Simon organized Coop’s research notebook to make it easy for him to find things, but admits that it was Rob’s idea. Coop tells Simon that they should start working out in the morning, and Rob says that he’ll join them. Coop tries to say that he doesn’t have to, but Rob rudely interjects. Rob quickly apologizes, but it’s clear he has a dark side.

Young gets home late and his dad calls him into his office. His dad, a well-to-do doctor, makes Young feel on edge and judged. He and Young talk about how Young dropped out of Advanced Bio to take Creative Writing. Young’s dad doesn’t approve because he wants Young to get into the medical field and Creative Writing won’t count towards anything important. He tells Young to drop writing and get back into biology. Young says, “I attempted to stare him down but I didn’t have the balls. I dropped my eyes again and nodded” (49). 

The opening quote in this chapter comes from Ronna Perry, Young’s ex-girlfriend:

I knew Young wanted to be a writer. He didn’t let me read the stuff he wrote in high school and I haven’t read his book. That would take me back to a time I don’t want to revisit. But Young did a good thing when he assigned his advance and royalties to Coop. And the best part was that Young did it on his own. This time he knew what was right and he did it (51).

Young says, “My father never read my short stories. Coop and Bob had both asked, but their interest was more a matter of friendship than literature. I dodged them. But I gave Rob one of my stories the first time he asked” (51). The story was called “Touch,” and it was about a boy who was never touched by his father. The boy craved touch as a result, and ended up being molested by a camp counselor. It’s clear that the story reflects what happened to Young in real life. Young thinks, “I looked at him. Wanting to know if he understood” (52). Rob says, “You’re not…well, what you think. I can tell from this story that you’re confused about it” (52). Young admits that when he was molested, he just let it happen, and he wonders if this makes him gay. Rob assures him that he’s not, and that the only mistake he made was trusting someone he shouldn’t have. From this moment on, Young looks at Rob as his hero because he had “taken the thing that terrified me and chased it under a rock where it belonged” (53).

On Sunday, Coop calls and asks Young to come over to Simon’s, but tells him not to tell Rob because he gets “crabbed if we do something with Simon when he’s not running the show” (54). This makes Young feel guilty, but he goes anyway. When Young gets there, he sees Coop playing an educational computer game that’s teaching him vocabulary words. Young is shocked that Coop actually seems to be learning, and Simon implies that this is better than just letting Coop copy notes, like Young has done previously. This makes Young dislike Simon even more because he feels like Simon is trying to swoop in and take Young’s place in the group. 

The opening quote in the chapter comes from Caroline Davids, a popular girl from B’Vale. She says that she was initially nice to Simon as a favor to Rob, as she hoped to date Rob, but that eventually Simon kind of grew on her.

Young and Coop are at Simon’s house. He introduces them to his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Glass are working in their study and seem annoyed by Simon’s presence. They exchange pleasantries with Young and Coop and then tell Simon that they are working. After leaving his parents’ office, Simon wants to snack and it’s clear he’s upset. However, Coop, wanting to get Simon in shape, says that they should go to the beach and play volleyball instead. Simon tries to protest but they go anyway.

They run into Rob and his girlfriend, Blair Crews, and they call Bobster to meet them. Rob tells Young that he saw Ronna Perry further down the beach and that he should go invite her to the game while he sets up the net. Young does as he’s told and it’s clear that he has a crush on Ronna. He approaches her and notes how she is “stretched out in all her long-legged lusciousness on a beach towel, reading,” then adds that he was first attracted to her intellect, not her body (63).

The group begins playing volleyball and Lance joins in, although it’s clear no one really wants him to play. Young says that Rob has had:

a bug up his ass about Lance from day two. I always thought it was connected to Rob’s scouring the yearbooks on day one. Lance’s picture scattered all over the book told Rob the one person he needed to defeat. Or maybe Rob didn’t need to defeat. Maybe he needed to annihilate (68).

The opening quote comes from Prison Chaplain Joseph Guzman, who says that Young is “not a bad person. This is a person who made bad choices. Do I think he’ll make those kinds of choices again? No. Do I think he’s a danger to society? No” (69). He says that the man standing before the parole board isn’t the same kid from high school, and that he has shown remorse while paying his debt to society over the last five years.

Young notes that “Glass played volleyball like a cartoon character. On his belly, face in the sand” (69). Lance is aggressive towards Simon during the game, and nobody approves. Lance leaves the game in a rage, realizing that nobody likes him anymore.

On Monday morning, “Simon made his first appearance as a human being for the school population” (71). Not only is Simon dressed according to Rob’s standards, but he also talks to people. Rob pulls Young aside and tells Young that Simon thinks Young doesn’t like him. Young says that he doesn’t, and Rob makes it clear that Young better learn to like Simon.

At lunch, Simon tries to eat a lunch he brought from home, but Rob tells him to “Ditch the McDweeb meal” and get a hot lunch. Back at the table, Rob says that they need to rev up their plan to make Simon popular. Rob intends to play up Simon’s wits so that everyone considers him “the comedian” of the group (74). It’s also revealed that Simon doesn’t have his driver’s license because no one ever took the time to teach him how to drive, so Rob tells Bobster that he needs to teach Simon how to drive.

Young takes Simon and Bobster home after school. Simon tells Young that he can hack the school computers so that he can take Creative Writing, but his report cards will say that he’s taking Advanced Bio. It’s clear that Simon is trying to get Young to like him with this favor, but Young thinks Simon is devious instead.

The opening quote in this chapter comes from Janice Connally, the high school counselor:

When I heard what happened, it shocked me. But when I heard who was involved, I doubted my own sanity. I know that Rob oozed animal magnetism and charm and you might not want to trust charmers…but Young Steward? Yes, in person he was kind of ‘buttoned up.’ Repressed anger, I guess…not hard to understand if you’ve had a conversation with his father (79).

She then says that she visited Young once in the Huntsville prison, but it broke her heart and she never went again.

The next morning, Young and Simon visit Connally. Simon pretends to trip and fall over her computer keyboard. He pushes a button during the fall and the screen goes black. The counselor types the password in to fix the screen, and Simon watches. This allows Simon to get the code so that he can rig the system for Young. Afterwards, Young wonders if the counselor suspected anything suspicious. Simon says no, that she was probably just happy to get rid of him. Young says that it worked to Simon’s benefit this time, but Simon says, “No, Young, it worked to your benefit” (82). Young says, “I wanted to smash Glass’s face. When Rob helped me out, it was like he was supporting me. But when Simon did—he rubbed my nose in it” (82). 

The opening quote comes from James Glass, Simon’s dad: “I filed a suit against the school district. If they had even the most rudimentary of security systems for the database, this wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand” (83).

That afternoon, Bob gives Simon his first driving lesson. The next morning, Simon gives Bob money because he hit his mailbox during the lesson. Simon wants to give up, but Rob says giving up isn’t an option and that he will get his license. After Rob walks away, Simon mutters that Rob has a Hitler complex. Coop asks Simon to check his homework, and everyone in the group is shocked that Coop actually did his homework on his own, instead of copying it.

The narrative moves from September to October, and Young says, “Even I had to admit that Glass was shaping up” (85). Rob talks their principal, Deputy Dog, into allowing Simon to secretly wear the “team-mascot costume of a snarling wolverine” at the football games. Young says, “We kept the mascot’s identity a secret from everyone, even the cheerleaders, and the school buzzed with mystery” (85). Simon invites Young over to his house that evening so that Young can watch him hack into the system and change his schedule.

That night, everyone is at Simon’s except for Rob. Simon rigs Young’s schedule, and then alters Lance’s files so that it looks like he has been absent for his classes. Simon also changes Bobster’s file so that his absences are fixed. Simon then pulls up Rob’s file, only to realize that “It looks like Rob isn’t who he says” (89). The friends know Rob as “Rob Haynes,” but his file says that his real name is Robert Baddeck Junior (89). Everyone is confused as to why Rob would use a fake name. Rob also apparently lied about where he’s from. Young feels betrayed that Rob hasn’t told him these things. The group realizes that Rob never talks about his personal life.