The Upside of Falling

The morning after the hotel’s grand opening fiasco, Becca wakes up in her bedroom, still wearing her dress from the night before. She remembers riding home with Jenny but little else. At breakfast, Jenny sits at Becca’s kitchen table and explains that she wanted to check in on Becca, who seemed “really not okay” (194) the night before. Jenny confesses that she wasn’t a good friend to Becca in the past, and now she’s trying to make up for it. Becca’s phone rings, and Brett asks to meet with her. Jenny leaves, and Becca takes Brett up to the roof to talk. Brett seems distressed and tells Becca that he has come to break up with her. He explains that he only got into the fake relationship with Becca because he wanted to make his dad happy, and now Brett “[doesn’t] want [their] story to start because of [Brett’s dad]” (199). Becca is heartbroken and scolds herself for lowering her defenses for Brett. She remembers when her father and Jenny left her, but this time, Becca is the one who walks away from Brett. Becca spends the next week avoiding Brett at school, and she directs all of her anger toward her beloved romance novels.