Eleanor and Park: Chapter 40 Summary & Analysis

Eleanor is sitting with Park in his room after school one afternoon when he starts encouraging her to check her books every day after gym class—and to tell her counselor, Mrs. Dunne, if it turns out that Tina is the one leaving the nasty notes. The discussion, though, quickly turns to Eleanor defensively grilling Park about his past relationship with Tina. Park insists that the two of them were just 12 years old when they dated—if it could even be called dating—and that “nothing before [Eleanor] counts.” Park tells Eleanor that though she wasn’t the first person he kissed, he hopes she is the last.

Eleanor is horrified and tells Park to stop saying such things, but Park retorts that Bono from U2 and Robert Smith from the Cure were in their teens when they met their wives. Eleanor taunts Park, calling him “sweet Romeo,” but Park begs Eleanor to be serious—and to consider that their love just might last.

The next day, DeNice and Beebi wait with Eleanor after gym class while she checks her books for any new writing on her textbooks—she is relieved to find that there isn’t any. Eleanor, who still has to get changed, urges the girls to go on to lunch without her and save her a seat. When Eleanor opens her locker, however, she finds that her clothes are missing. The gym teacher enters the locker room to ask Eleanor why she’s still there, and Eleanor explains. After a thorough search, Eleanor and her gym teacher find the clothes—stuffed in one of the toilets. Eleanor’s gym teacher helps her fish the clothes out and place them in a plastic bag, but urges Eleanor to stop “letting” Tina and the other girls get to her.

Eleanor realizes that she will have to walk through the halls in her gym suit, even if she just wants to go to her counselor’s office to call home. The thought horrifies her, but she braces herself, and heads out into the hall. She decides to leave campus rather than stay and be humiliated, but as she hurries down the hall towards the main doors, she catches sight of Park staring at her red-faced and open-mouthed. `

At home, Eleanor tells her mother the whole story. As she rinses out Eleanor’s clothes in the bathtub, Sabrina says Eleanor doesn’t have to go back to school if she doesn’t want to. Sabrina tells Eleanor how lucky she is to have a friend like “Tina” when things get tough. That night, even though Eleanor knows Friday night is movie night at the Sheridans’ house, she stays home in her own bed, afraid to face Park.