Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

At lunch on Monday, Zion and Aven worriedly discuss Henry. Henry is happy working and does not want to retire. He lives in an apartment above the ice cream shop, like Aven and her family live above the park’s steakhouse restaurant. Aven explains that Henry has “Sundown Syndrome.” Henry is sharper in the morning, then gets more confused as the day goes on. Zion and Aven confirm plans to go to the mall after school with Lando and Janessa to look for Aven’s Comic Con costume. Joshua sits at their table, compliments Aven, and chats with her. Aven appreciates Joshua’s handsome smile and thinks he is nice. She tells him they are going to the mall, and Joshua says he may see her there. Zion is angry with Aven for trusting Joshua and sharing their plans, while Aven is upset with Zion’s reaction and wants him to be happy for her. Aven suggests that Joshua has changed since Zion knew him, or perhaps Zion’s memory of being bullied by Joshua is inaccurate. Zion insists she is wrong, but Aven says she is a good judge of character. Zion says he hopes she is right about Joshua.

Mrs. Hill takes the group to the mall. Aven and Zion are amazed when Janessa insults them both, by calling Aven “Evelyn” and suggesting car seating based on Aven’s armlessness and Zion’s size. Mrs. Hill is excited at Aven’s suggestion that she go to Comic Con as She-Hulk, and Zion and Aven head to visit the costume store. Aven wears a bloody mask and chases Zion through the shop threatening to kiss him when Joshua and his friends arrive. Joshua chats with Aven and comments positively on costumes after again denying that he bullied Zion, who fumes. Aven believes Joshua is now a good person. They go to the food court, and when Joshua gets a smoothie for himself and Aven, Zion becomes upset and leaves to use the restroom while Joshua’s friends sit at a nearby table.

Joshua says he likes Aven and leans in to kiss her. Aven is surprised at how quickly Joshua moved from befriending her to kissing her. She has never been kissed, does not know how to kiss, and is even unsure if she wants Joshua to be her first kiss. Still, she closes for a kiss, but Joshua loudly shouts, “I can’t do it! It’s too gross!” (92). He joins his laughing friends who chide him for picking a dare over truth. Aven is stunned and mortified. Zion, who saw what happened is horrified. Aven runs from the mall, crying. She calls her mom, saying she is sick and needs a ride home. Aven drops her phone and cracks the screen, and she ignores frantic calls and texts from Zion. She finally says that she is okay, and orders him not to tell anyone what happened.

Aven retreats to bed super early and listens to angry punk music. She thinks she can never go to school again, and will have to be homeschooled, like Trilby. Aven cannot sleep and gets up to write a blog post. She writes that so far in life she has been fortunate. Although people have treated her differently, it has largely been out of fear or ignorance. While people have been mean to her by making fun of her, or being rude to her, she thought that they were still essentially good people inside, who could change and become nicer. Aven writes that she now realizes that her optimistic perspective is wrong. She had no idea the extent of meanness in some people. She does not plan to get burned by believing the best of people again. She deletes the post after writing it.

For three days, Aven pretends to be sick to avoid school and the fallout from her “Great Humiliation.” Finally, Zion drops off her homework and hugs her. Aven apologizes for not listening to him and trusting him about Joshua. She feels bad that she was so eager to have a boy like her, and that she did not hate Joshua for bullying Zion. Zion is hurt because she did not trust him. Aven tears up when she thinks that the football team will hear the story, and that some kids find her so “disgusting.” Zion tells her to let it go, but she argues that Zion did not forget about being bullied. Zion says he is gradually overcoming it, although Joshua and his friends’ bullying was terrible in middle school. Zion tried to warn Aven because he did not want her to be Joshua’s victim. Aven hopes she did not hurt their friendship and trusts him now not to say anything. At dinner, Aven tells her parents she is going to be a hermit. Her parents worry there is a deeper reason why she is avoiding school and want to discuss it, but she gets angry at her mom for pressing. She believes she can never talk about it.

Aven is glad when Saturday comes, and she does not have to avoid school. She’s feeling down on herself, and she has homework to make up and has missed a riding lesson. She feels like she will never ride well enough to be in the horse show or be good enough for anything. She feels that Joshua ruined all aspects of her life: smoothies, high school, her phone, and her relationship with Zion. As Aven passes the smoothie shop, Trilby cheerfully invites her in for a smoothie, but she is sharp with Trilby. On her way to check on Spaghetti, Aven worries about Spaghetti the llama who is still unwell. Aven stops at the ice cream shop and is rude and impatient with Henry. She asks about the time he was an orphan, like her, but Henry says Aven is not an orphan; he knows her mother. Henry confuses Joe with Aven’s deceased birth mother, also named Aven. Henry asks how many boyfriends Aven has, which makes her feel worse. When she says she has none, Henry assures her, unhelpfully, that she will have many. Henry makes a joke, getting a smile out of Aven that Henry insists will attract the boys. She thinks no boys will ever be attracted to her.

Aven forgets that Connor is visiting on Sunday and is unhappily surprised when he shows up. Connor tried to call, but Aven let all her calls go to voice mail. She lies and says her phone battery is dead, but Connor knows she is lying. They silently watch a tv show about living off-grid, in preparation for Aven’s hermit lifestyle. Connor says he thinks Aven likes people too much to be a hermit. Aven responds that the “new” Aven will be less social. She will never be “duped,” and no longer thinks everyone deserves a second chance. Connor is in a good mood because school is going well, and Aven makes a scornful comment about Amanda. Connor wonders if Aven is jealous and mentions that Zion told him a week ago that she liked some guy who used to bully him. Aven denies liking any guy. Connor wonders why she is acting so strangely. When it is time for Connor to leave, Aven grumpily apologizes for her bad mood and says it may last for the rest of high school. Connor accepts her apology and says he still prefers her as a friend to almost everyone else.

Aven’s mom refuses her suggestion to be homeschooled and insists she goes to school on Monday, saying she cannot keep hiding from whatever happened. Aven refuses to eat in the school cafeteria because “they’ll be in there” (117), so she and Zion eat outside in the heat. Zion wonders how long she will do this, because “they” will be in the cafeteria every day for the next few years. Lando and Janessa pass by and Lando asks if Aven is feeling better—he was worried about her. Aven is suspicious why Lando would care. She lies and says she had botulism, which she changes to bronchitis. Lando asks about her outfit for Comic Con, but Aven says she no longer wants to go. Lando suggests she go as the comic character “Hermit,” then suggests she and Zion go to homecoming together as friends. Neither Aven nor Zion like this idea, but Aven thinks Zion should go with Trilby, whom she says likes him. Aven agrees to talk to Trilby on Zion’s behalf. Zion argues if he goes, Aven needs to go with them. Aven wants Zion to be happy, so she agrees. Joshua walks by and blows Aven a kiss. Aven struggles not to cry as Lando comments how he dislikes Joshua and the way he treats Zion. Lando says he would beat Joshua up, but that he would get kicked off the football team.