Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

The day after Thanksgiving, Simon hangs out with his family, especially his older sister Alice, who is home from college on break. They’re playing games when Martin texts Simon to find out if anything is happening with Abby that weekend. When Simon answers that he’s busy with family, Martin replies that his brother is in town, too. Simon isn’t sure if it’s meant to be a threat. Alice, Nora, and Simon discuss memories. Simon thinks about how much he likes having Alice at home.

Back in school the next week, Simon is worried because the teacher is passing back the quizzes they took the day he was up until 4:15am. The teacher passes back one with a good grade, but it turns out it was Bram’s. Simon passes it to Bram, who blushes, and Simon thinks he is cute. He wonders about the “inside jokes” in Bram’s own mind (97).

At play rehearsal, Abby jokes about being “so bitchy,” to which Simon responds jokingly that she is “like a stealth bitch” (97). Martin partially overhears the conversation and is offended that Simon called Abby a “bitch,” even though Abby and Simon explain they were joking. Simon apologizes and his mood sours. He wanders around rehearsal and comes across Cal, who sits with two girls outside the dressing room. They talk, and Simon notices that Cal’s leg is overlapping with one of the girl’s legs. He doesn’t know what that means.

On the way home, Simon sees Leah’s car coming from Nick’s house. It bothers him that they were hanging out without him, making him feel like an outsider.

Blue writes Simon that he has been curious about the origin of Simon’s email address, hourtohour.notetonote@gmail.com, so he Googled it and discovered that it came from the lyrics of an Elliott Smith song. Blue writes that he has been listening to Elliott Smith and thinking about Simon, as well as looking for Elliott Smith shirts at school. He also says his dad is driving into town to celebrate all eight days of Hanukkah at once with him in a hotel room, and he is considering coming out to his dad.

Simon expresses surprise that Blue is Jewish, and he says he is impressed that he is going to come out to his dad. He asks if he is worried about his father’s reaction. Simon is happy that Blue is listening to Elliott Smith and suggests songs, but he says he doesn’t wear band shirts because he doesn’t go to live concerts; he thinks of music as a “very solitary thing” (105).

Blue admits he never mentioned being Jewish, and he isn’t sure he wants to come out to his dad or not, but he has begun thinking he might want to. He asks Simon if he has thought about it. Blue writes that he isn’t sure how his parents, who are Jewish and Episcopalian, will handle it, even though their religions are not necessarily hostile to gay people. He says he will ask his dad for Elliott Smith albums for Hotel Hanukkah. Even though he and Simon won’t really exchange gifts, he says if they did, he would get him band shirts or take him to a live show. He says he isn’t that informed about music, but a live show seems like it would be fun with Simon.

Simon is having a hard time concentrating in history class because he is thinking about Blue, specifically about how he both wants to know more about who Blue is and doesn’t want to at the same time. Abby notices that he is distracted. Martin begins to talk to them, and when Simon is impolite, Martin mentions introducing him to his brother, which makes Simon angry, as he takes it to be a threat. Nevertheless, Simon suggests they go to Waffle House the next day to practice lines for the musical, and Abby and Martin agree. Simon feels bad he has let himself be blackmailed.

At Waffle House the following night, Martin asks Abby questions about her family. She explains that she is from Washington, D.C., and her father still lives there. They practice their lines, and Abby and Martin, who both have big parts, have a hard time learning them. Simon thinks wistfully that he could be doing other things, including going to a concert with Blue. Abby brings up that Taylor, who has a reputation for being perfect, already has hers memorized. Martin orders another waffle, and Simon thinks that although he doesn’t entirely understand it, Martin is growing on him.

Simon emails Blue a very short message, asking eagerly if Blue came out to his father. Blue describes Hotel Hanukkah, where his father made food and purchased gifts, including a book by Casanova, which discouraged Blue from coming out. He tells Simon he thinks it’s for the best because his mom may have been hurt if he told his dad first, and he has decided to tell her first instead. He wonders why it’s so much easier to talk to Simon about it.

Simon writes that he is sorry; he knew that Blue had been anticipating coming out to his father. He says he sees how coming out to divorced parents is more complex than what he will have to do. Simon says he is probably easier to talk to because he is “cute and grammatical,” although he says his English teacher Mr. Wise would disagree because he uses sentence fragments (118).

Blue tells Simon he isn’t easy to talk to because he’s cute. Blue says that he normally finds cute guys difficult to talk to. Blue writes that he is uncertain whether Simon intended to tell him his English teacher’s name and that it’s a big clue to Simon’s identity. Simon admits he didn’t mean to give that big of a clue; mentioning his English teacher’s name was an accident. Simon asks who the cute guys are that Blue finds difficult to talk to. He also asks Blue to keep him updated about coming out to his mom.