November Blues

Olivia, feeling humiliated, covers her mouth with her hand and runs up the rest of the stairs. At the sight of November and Dana, Jericho quickly says goodbye to Arielle and hurries to class. Dana looks like she is not sure whether she should follow Olivia and check on her or confront Arielle. Choosing to stay, Dana and November exchange a few phrases with Arielle, not hiding their fury. When asked about Jericho, Arielle tells the girls that they are “just friends—for now” (213). Seeing disapproval in November’s eyes, Arielle says that at least she can get a guy, unlike November, who looks “like a whale” (213).

Dana reminds Arielle that she hasn’t forgotten what she did to Olivia; Arielle calls Olivia a “fat duck” (214) and says that people like Olivia “aren’t worth worrying about” (214). Dana warns Arielle that payback for what she has done is coming, but Arielle seems not to care. Before leaving, Arielle warns November and Dana not to stand between her and Jericho, as she plans “to take good care of him” (214). Irritated, November and Dana hurry to class.

November is terrified of their first class that day as her teacher, Ms. Hathaway, is known for her strict rules. November decides that since they are going to be late anyway, she might as well go to the bathroom before going to class. In the bathroom, Dana and November continue talking about Ms. Hathaway: November has heard that she is an excellent teacher as long as everyone follows her rules. Dana insists that “[t]he woman’s got issues” (216) and that “she’s really hard on the pregnant girls” (216).

When Dana and November come into the classroom twenty minutes after the class has started, Ms. Hathaway gives them both detention. After telling Dana to begin working on the essay that other students have been writing since the beginning of the class, she tells November to go out in the hall so that they can talk.

As soon as the door behind them closes, Ms. Hathaway turns to November and asks her why she is at school, since “this school is not a social club” (218) and its purpose is academic. Ms. Hathaway adds that November once had so much potential, and admits that she has been observing November since she was a freshman, and found her “poised, intelligent, articulate—always willing to volunteer for a good cause” (218). November is surprised that the teacher knows enough about her to make such a statement, but she is even more stunned when Ms. Hathaway says quietly that she knows exactly how November feels. The teacher confesses that she, too, had a child once, but the baby was taken from her and then died. 

November cannot believe that her stern teacher is telling her all this. Before they go back to the classroom, Ms. Hathaway warns November that she expects her to do all her homework so that she doesn’t fall behind during her absence. She adds that if November decides to go to college after having the baby, she won’t allow her class “to be the one that prevents that from happening” (219). 

November promises Ms. Hathaway to work really hard, and in return the teacher asks November to write her a personal essay about her pregnancy, saying that not only will it help November sort through her feelings, but it will also be something the teacher can grade her on while November is out of class.

November, Dana, and Olivia sit together at a table in the back of the library. Olivia opens a magazine, but seeing that it is one of those periodicals where all the models are skinny and beautiful, she tosses it aside. November looks through it and for the first time realizes why Olivia hates fashion magazines: looking at the skinny girls now makes November feel fat and inadequate. 

Dana asks Olivia gently how she feels about the upcoming game with Excelsior, but Olivia responds gloomily that the band will look “dirt-poor” (222) and stupid, even though their music might be good. Olivia realizes that the cheerleaders, Arielle among them, will be riding to the game on the same bus as the band, and she dreads putting up with Arielle for five hours. Dana and November promise Olivia that they will be there to support her, and Olivia admits that she never really had such close friends, and their friendship “makes all this mess a little easier to deal with” (223).

As conversation shifts towards the Prescotts, November tells her friends that she is meeting their lawyer on September 21st, and that by then she needs to make her decision. Although Josh’s mom is very nice to November, and she has already decorated one of the rooms in their house as a full nursery, November is still unsure about her decision. She admits that in her mind she sees her daughter’s “crooked little smile—just like Josh’s” (225), and pictures herself and the child walking in the park on a sunny day together. November looks at Dana and Olivia with sudden relief: now she is confident that she cannot give up her Sunshine.

The football team arrives at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Cleveland. The students are excited to stay at the luxurious hotel, especially considering that their accommodations, transportation, and meals this weekend are paid for by the Excelsior Alumni Association Boosters. Coach Barnes tells the players to get freshened up before the dinner. As Jericho and Roscoe, who are sharing the same hotel room, talk about the upcoming game, Roscoe remains pessimistic about their chances to win. Jericho reminds him not to be skeptical about their winning around Coach Barnes, who believes they can beat Excelsior.

The team enjoys a delicious dinner, and Jericho finishes the meal with three pieces of pie: two raspberry and one chocolate cream. The raspberry pie, “tart but sweet, for some reason, reminded him of Arielle” (229), but it is the chocolate cream pie that he likes the most.

When Jericho falls asleep on an incredibly comfortable bed a couple of hours later, he dreams of footballs and Josh.

The next morning, after breakfast, Coach Barnes announces that the Excelsior Alumni Association Boosters have also provided each of the players, as well as the members of the band and the cheerleaders, tickets to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Before they leave to tour the museum, Luis steps forward and says that he is honored that the team chose him to be their captain and that together they are going to “make a miracle happen tonight” (231).

Shortly after the bus with the band members and cheerleaders drops off students, Arielle, in her attractive outfit, waltzes right up to Jericho. He doesn’t hide the fact that he is thrilled. She flirts with him, asking if he is ready for tonight, and gives him “the briefest kiss on his cheek” (232) before joining her fellow cheerleaders, “all carbon copies of herself—cute, sexy, and petite” (232). 

Just as Jericho spots Olivia standing by herself near the hotel door and wants to talk to her, the coach calls the football team over to him. When they come back outside, Jericho can’t find Olivia. 

Inside the Hall of Fame, the teenagers split up: Arielle and her friends look at the fashion area, while Jericho is happy to be alone for a few minutes and look at the items he likes the most, such as Junior Walker’s saxophone and a guitar that belonged to Jimi Hendrix. Suddenly, he hears a voice behind him say that she thought James Brown was bigger, and that his tuxedo looks quite small. Jericho turns around and sees Olivia, who adds that “a lot of things are like that—not exactly what you expect them to be” (234). She advises Jericho to look at the section on Louis Armstrong because she knows how much he admires him and his trumpet. She wishes him good luck at the game and walks away without looking back. 

As Jericho watches her leave, he feels like “he’d lost something really important” (234).