One of Us is Lying: Chapter 23 Summary & Analysis

Monday morning, Addy arrives at school to find police cars lining the front of Bayview High. Cooper, who looks as if he hasn’t slept for days, pulls Addy aside before homeroom and asks if they can talk in private. He leads her out to the parking lot and confesses that the police are more than likely here to ask questions about him. He wants to tell Addy why, “before everything goes to hell.” Cooper confesses that he is gay, and Addy is confused at first, but then realizes that the statement makes sense—it was obvious that Cooper was never that into Keely.

Cooper tells Addy that Simon had uncovered the fact that he was seeing someone and was going to post about it, but then switched it out for a fake entry about steroid use. Cooper tells Addy that because of the suspicious switch, the police are looking into him “hard-core,” and soon the whole school will know. Addy insists that none of Cooper’s friends will care, but Cooper tells Addy she knows this isn’t true.

Cooper adds that he can’t stop thinking about all the “weird stuff” Maeve mentioned Simon had gotten into—Addy says that Bronwyn wants for all of the Bayview Four to get together and compare notes. Addy fills Cooper in on the fact that Nate’s mom is alive after all, and that Bronwyn left a threatening comment on an old post of Simon’s. Cooper is incredulous, and seems momentarily distracted from his own problems. He tells Addy that if the three of them want to plan a get-together, he’s “in.”

The Bayview Police set themselves up in a conference room with a liaison and begin interviewing students. By the middle of the morning on Tuesday, “whispers” about Cooper’s sexuality have started. That afternoon at lunch, Addy sits down with Bronwyn; when Cooper enters the cafeteria, a buzz goes through the room, and someone calls out a loud taunt. Cooper freezes in the doorway, and someone else throws a packet of condoms at him. Nate enters the cafeteria, sees what’s going on, and calls out to everyone in the cafeteria, telling them to “get a life.”

Nate walks over to Addy and Bronwyn’s table and kisses Bronwyn in full view of everyone; the cafeteria erupts in catcalls and shouts, and Cooper is momentarily forgotten. Addy runs up to the doorway and grabs Cooper by the arm, inviting him to sit at her table with the rest of the “murder club.” Cooper follows Addy and they settle in; Luis defects from the popular table and joins Cooper, Addy, Bronwyn, and Nate. Addy is happy that Cooper has some “real friends” from their old group, even though she herself does not.