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Chapter 18
> Steven Beresford Bratsky (as written in the court paperwork): Well, I guess we know how “Bear” got his nickname. Wonder if GRK has an association with Manhattan’s The Beresford apartment building, whose coat of arms features a bear.
> Brendan’s eyebrow scar is real, but also symbolic of all the emotional scars from Chase’s bullying past.
> New best line of the book?: “Good dog, Mitzi,” is Joel’s comment. after Chase’s encounter with the barberry bush.
> Chase Ambrose being welcomed into the Webers’ house? (Or, at least, not attacked when Shoshanna leads him in.) Whoa!
@Logan: Agreed on Joel being a good (and important!) perspective for the chapter when he returns to Hiawassee.
@J.R.: The foreshadowing of the video contest increased the anticipation, right? And yay! on getting caught up on chapters and book club commenting. I’m eager to see RESTART through your eyes.
@Jade: You nailed it—Chase is recognizing his former self as a monster. Scary. … It’s such an eye-opener to learn your super-empathetic response to Chase’s comments about the Webers and their behavior after his cuts-and-scrapes ordeal. It really makes me recognize that I am nowhere near as pure of heart as you are. Reading that passage, I sort of laughed along. (Well, not sort of. I totally laughed along.) Here’s how I saw it: Chase gets nicked up by some little plant thorns—enough to scratch the skin and draw some blood, but not super serious. He said Mitzi had attacked the denim of his pants but was specific she hadn’t broken his skin, so no real concern about dog bite infections. And I knew this chapter was HIS perspective, so he was probably being a little dramatic about his mortal peril. Unreliable narrator, and all. As for the Webers, I suspect some of their laughter came from how b-i-z-a-r-r-e the situation was. Here they are, with the school’s biggest bully (and Joel’s personal tormenter) in their own house, and they’re mending him up and trying to wrap their heads around how quickly the world shifted on them. I really think if they were hateful and awful, they would have told him to head home and doctor himself. I actually see their laughter as a small but important step towards acceptance of him as a person they can laugh around instead of just seething (Mrs. Weber and Shoshanna) or living in fear (Joel). I may be overstating it, but I think they’re almost “laughing with him, not at him.” And in the very next scene, when Joel opens the window so Chase can hear him practice piano, he’s literally and figuratively removing some of the wall between him and Chase, which tells me the barberry bush incident brought them a step closer to a normal relationship. Okay, so I just spent 200-odd words saying I disagree with you—but I sincerely love that you have such a different way of seeing this scene, and that you presented such a strong case for it. And I’ll admit, I’m probably downplaying Chase’s discomfort, and I probably should be more worried about him. (Though, honestly, stubbing his toe would also have qualified as “the worst agony” since falling off the roof, since he hasn’t actually been in any pain since then.) I can’t wait to hear whether you forgive the Webers going forward or if you now see THEM as bullies who can’t be fully trusted.