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Ms. CeeCee
Pia is one of only two female skaters who attends Latimer Middle School. She’s quiet and shy, but people dislike her because she uses her skateboard, which she calls Skitter, as her voice—and when she rides Skitter in the hallways, it’s like Pia is shouting at everyone to get out of her way. Pia loves skating more than anything else, especially school. Because of this, her main goal every day is to get out of school as fast as she can so she can remember her deceased sister, Santi, by skating at the skate park. In “Skitter Hitter,” Pia becomes the victim of bullying from four boys who attend the nearby boys’ school. Pia knows the ringleader, Marcus, because she gets her hair done at Marcus’s mom’s salon—and she knows that Marcus’s dad is abusive. Because of this, she empathizes with Marcus, but this isn’t enough to stop the bullying. Marcus breaks Pia’s board and Pia runs home. The next day, in the book’s present, Pia has no idea that one of the boys with Marcus, Stevie, has come to her school with Skitter to apologize. Because she doesn’t know, Pia instead goes with Fawn to the cemetery.
Pia Foster Quotes in Look Both Ways
The Look Both Ways quotes below are all either spoken by Pia Foster or refer to Pia Foster. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
3. Skitter Hitter
Quotes
“Not that I’m not glad you’re washing your own clothes, but detergent and bleach ain’t free,” she’d say. And what Stevie couldn’t say was, I’m sorry, but there’s a boy in my school drawing on my clothes, because then his mother would say, I don’t send you to private school for boys to draw private parts on your private uniform that you still have to grow into, and Do I need to call the principal? and Stevie didn’t want to hear none of that. Stitches, remember? Maybe even ditches. Besides, Mr. Brock, the principal, already knew. He’d seen the pictures and words and all he ever said was, Boys will be boys.
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Pia felt that same itch when she saw Marcus and the boys yesterday. When she saw the knots at their throats and felt a knot in hers. Because she knew Marcus. She knew where his mother’s black eyes were coming from. Where her swollen jaws and forehead lumps were coming from. Because that same day Pia sat under the dryer two years back, after her wash and before the French roll was put in, she heard her mom ask Marcus’s mom when she was going to leave Marcus’s father.
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Get the entire Look Both Ways LitChart as a printable PDF.
Pia Foster Quotes in Look Both Ways
The Look Both Ways quotes below are all either spoken by Pia Foster or refer to Pia Foster. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
3. Skitter Hitter
Quotes
“Not that I’m not glad you’re washing your own clothes, but detergent and bleach ain’t free,” she’d say. And what Stevie couldn’t say was, I’m sorry, but there’s a boy in my school drawing on my clothes, because then his mother would say, I don’t send you to private school for boys to draw private parts on your private uniform that you still have to grow into, and Do I need to call the principal? and Stevie didn’t want to hear none of that. Stitches, remember? Maybe even ditches. Besides, Mr. Brock, the principal, already knew. He’d seen the pictures and words and all he ever said was, Boys will be boys.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Pia felt that same itch when she saw Marcus and the boys yesterday. When she saw the knots at their throats and felt a knot in hers. Because she knew Marcus. She knew where his mother’s black eyes were coming from. Where her swollen jaws and forehead lumps were coming from. Because that same day Pia sat under the dryer two years back, after her wash and before the French roll was put in, she heard her mom ask Marcus’s mom when she was going to leave Marcus’s father.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
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