53 pages • 1 hour read
This Is Our Story
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Prologue-Chapter 3
Prologue Summary
The first chapter is prefaced by a brief section of a few pages that sets the scene for the story to come. Although it’s not labeled as such, it’s essentially a prologue—an introductory chapter to a novel.
An anonymous speaker, who will later be identified as John Michael, narrates the passage in first person. He describes the inciting event that sparks the ensuing narrative: A group of five teenage boys go hunting and one of them, Grant, is shot.
Grant was shot with the Remington—the only rifle in the group. Any one of the boys could be guilty because all of them handled that rifle at some point. All of their fingerprints are on it. John Michael further notes that the group has been drinking and taking drugs. The incident could thus be classified a “negligent homicide,” a crime that can result in prison time. John Michael takes control of the situation, telling the boys, “There’s no reason for anyone to ruin his whole life over this” (3).
The group agrees that nobody will own up to using the Remington. The only way for all of them to get out of this is to stick together. They need to tell the same story, one that doesn’t implicate anybody, and stick to it. John Michael speaks the words that inspire the book’s title: “Okay, this is our story…” (3).
Chapter 1 Summary
Chapter 1 introduces the voice of Kate, the book’s primary narrator and protagonist. Kate’s first-person narration contextualizes the story, which is set in the small Louisiana town of Belle Terre. She and her best friend Reagan are seniors at William B. Marshall public school. The chapter is prefaced with a brief text message, a message from Reagan saying simply “They’re here” (5). The text is dated and time-stamped, sent at 7:55 a.m. on October 20.
Regan’s text refers to the River Point Boys. Following Grant’s death, they were kicked out of their fancy private school, St. Bartholomew’s, and have now transferred to Kate and Regan’s school. The four survivors are: John Michael, Henry, Shep, and Logan. Kate notes, “They are as cocky as ever” (5). All the boys come from rich, well-connected families. Kate is angry, convinced that they will be acquitted without consequences.
Kate’s fears that justice won’t be served seem to be confirmed when she and Reagan report to their internships at the district attorney’s office that same afternoon. Kate speaks to a coworker, Camille, who tells her the boys are sticking together and refusing to lay blame. Meanwhile, District Attorney Gaines is getting pressure from the boys’ powerful parents.
Because of his personal connections, Gaines recuses himself from the case. He assigns it to the assistant district attorney, Stone. Kate and her mother, Mrs. Marino, both work for him. When Mr. Stone asks Kate if she knows the River Point Boys, she replies that she does not know them well—and that she never dated any of them. Internally, she adds, “And technically, that’s the truth” (14). In fact, Kate had a secret text-based flirtation with Grant in the weeks leading up his death—at least she thinks it was Grant. It will later be revealed that the person Kate was texting was Shep.
Mr. Stone is older and on his way out, career wise. Gaines clearly assigned the case to Mr. Stone hoping that he would bungle it. Stone lays out his options to Kate and Mrs. Marino: He can present the case the way that Gaines wants (bungling it) so that it disappears completely; he can try to convince the grand jury to indict all four boys for negligent homicide; or he can try and figure out which boy pulled the trigger. Fueled by her own personal interests, Kate encourages him to pursue the last option.
Following a page break, the first-person narration shifts to John Michael. His words are written in a different font. He describes a photo of the five boys that has appeared in the media: It shows all of them with Grant, who is holding the Remington rifle that is later used to kill him. The photo is perfect because Grant is holding the rifle; if one of the other boys were holding it, the public would find it easy to paint that one as the murderer. The moniker “The River Point Boys” serves a similar purpose; since they are never called by their individual names, it’s harder to pinpoint one person as the trigger-puller. John Michael has many photos of the River Point Boys. He flags one photo on his phone as one that he can’t show the public, suggesting it depicts something incriminating or illicit. He says the photo “reminds me who Grant really was” implying Grant was not a good person (18).
Chapter 2 Summary
A text message exchange from the past prefaces Chapter 2. In it, Reagan informs Kate that Grant has been shot and killed while hunting at River Point.
Kate goes through old text messages from “Grant” (in reality, Shep). They are flirty and suggestive. In the texts, he asks her to go to a party with him—an event that would have been a sort of public “coming out” for the two of them. But on the day of the party, Kate reveals that she saw Grant leaving the Battle of the Paddle, an annual football game held at St. Bart’s, with his arm around another girl. She took a photo and texted it to “Grant” (Shep). He wrote back, “I’m sorry. Please give me a chance to explain” (23). Kate ignored him, planning to make him sweat it out for a day or two before talking to him again. The next day, Grant was dead.
That afternoon, Mr. Stone asks Kate for her help with the River Point Boys case. He has four weeks to put together a case that will convince the grand jury of 12 people that one of the four boys committed negligent homicide. Because his vision is so bad due to macular degeneration, he needs her to go through the video interviews done with the River Point Boys directly after the shooting, before their parents intervened and insisted they get lawyers. Kate should paint him a picture, describing details like body language and facial expressions. Kate agrees.
The chapter ends with a shift back to John Michael’s anonymous narration, set off by a page break and a different font, as previously. He reveals that the boys are each being pressured by their respective parents to tell the truth.
Chapter 3 Summary
Chapter 3 is prefaced by a brief text exchange, this time between Kate and “Grant” (Shep), reminding the reader of Kate’s personal connection to the case. Many of the subsequent chapters will include texts between “Grant” and Kate.
The action of the chapter starts with Kate in Mr. Stone’s office. She is going through the River Point Boys’ video statements with Mr. Stone. As they go through the videos, it’s evident the boys are lying. They all repeat, verbatim, the same line when asked who was hunting with the Remington that morning: “The Remington was Grant’s gun” (34).
The chapter ends with a shift back to John Michael’s anonymous narration, again distinguished by a page break and a different font. He says that the boys are bound by their secret, but is worried someone will break.
Prologue-Chapter 3 Analysis
Kate is firmly established as the book’s sympathetic protagonist; she is an underdog of sorts. While other students might view a senior-year internship just as work experience, for Kate and her single mother, this is valuable added income. As Kate explains, “I got my spot because my mom has been a secretary for one of the assistant district attorneys for the last twelve years and he knows how bad we need the money” (7).
Kate is keenly aware of her status in society and how different she is from the River Point Boys. This discrepancy highlights a major theme in the book, the unfair advantages given to privileged persons. The boys have parents whose money, power, and connections shield them from the consequences of their actions. Take “bad boy” Henry, for example: The police have pulled him over for drinking and driving four times but have never arrested him. Kate is not shy about flagging the injustice of such class issues.
Through her personal connection to Grant and her role assisting Mr. Stone, Kate is positioned as the book’s sleuth. There has been a murder, and there is a mystery waiting to be solved. Kate’s personal passion and her belief in social justice will fuel her role as the detective in the narrative to come. By specifying a deadline by which Kate must accomplish this—the grand jury hearing on November 18—the author adheres to a common conceit of the thriller genre. The sleuth is forced to operate against the ticking clock, which drives the narrative and may encourage the sleuth to take risky actions as part of a high-pressure investigation.
Each of the book’s chapters is prefaced with text messages, which are date- and time-stamped. Some are from the past and others the present. Those in the present allow the reader to keep track of the deadline, noting how much time Kate has left until November 18. Those from the past contextualize the weeks leading up to Grant’s murder. Throughout the book, text messages are set apart using a different font.
A different font also helps to differentiate the two narrative voices, Kate’s and John Michael’s. For the moment, John Michael’s identity remains unknown, adding to the mystery. The reader can only be sure that the voice belongs to one of the River Point Boys. The two narrators are also differentiated with the help of page breaks.
Kate, an avid photographer who hopes to become a photojournalist, introduces the motif of photography. The significance of visual imagery is also seen when Mr. Stone requests Kate to read the body language and facial expressions of the individuals interviewed by the police following Grant’s death. The author further foreshadows the significant role that photos will play in the book through John Michael’s comments about the River Point Boys' photos at the end of Chapter 1.
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