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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tell Me Three Things, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Blended Families
Intimacy and Growing Up
Wealth, Fitting In, and Bullying
Home
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
On Saturday morning, Jessie and SN exchange their customary three things, and then Jessie asks if he’s going to the party later. SN begs Jessie to stop trying to figure out who he is. A bit later, Jessie texts Scarlett and wishes her a good time at homecoming. Agnes does Jessie’s makeup that evening. Dri is the designated driver since drinking upsets her stomach. They all pile into Dri’s mom’s car and Jessie feels, for once, like a normal teenager.
It’s telling that Jessie feels normal going to a party—her friends allow her to emotionally distance herself from all her problems and feel at home in this new world, even for just a night. With this, the novel suggests that friends are an integral part of feeling at home—as well as in helping a person set aside their fears and their grief.
Themes
Once they get to Gem’s mansion, Agnes drags Jessie to the bar. Right when Jessie promises to introduce Dri to Liam if they see him, Liam sneaks up behind Jessie and covers her eyes. He’s clearly drunk. Jessie introduces him to Dri, who freezes. Dri compliments Oville and Liam cockily says they aim to please. He runs away and Agnes gives Jessie a pointed look but won’t explain what she means. Dri drags them to the stage. Jessie studies Ethan, who looks like he was born to be on stage. Excitedly, Dri says that everyone thought Oville would break up after Xander died, but Liam stepped in and saved the day. The music starts, so Jessie wonders to herself if Xander is the kid who overdosed on heroin. She wonders if Liam and Ethan are stereotypical, drug-addicted rock stars.
Liam’s behavior makes him seem like even less like someone Dri would want to date—he’s self-centered and shows little interest in Dri as a person. To him, she’s just an adoring fan. Dri’s mention of Xander’s death impresses upon Jessie that she has a lot to learn about Wood Valley history and culture if she wants to fit in. Clearly, whatever happened shook the band and the wider community, and it’s still affecting them to this day. His death also implies that the band is probably dealing with grief of their own just like Jessie is. They may all have more in common than Jessie thinks.
Themes
Jessie soon becomes transfixed by the music and stares at Ethan. When the band takes a break, Jessie tells Dri that she was right about the band. Liam suddenly appears next to Jessie. Before Jessie can get Dri to say something, Gem races up, leaps into Liam’s arms, and kisses him passionately. He puts her down and seems confused and no longer drunk. Liam excitedly introduces Gem to Jessie, and Gem’s smile is beautiful and looks sincere. Jessie gets why Liam likes her; he’s never seen how nasty can be. Dri compliments a change to one of the songs, a subject that Liam is keen to discuss. Gem whines and pulls Liam away to make her a drink, but Liam smiles hugely at Dri and Jessie before leaving.
Finally, Liam seems a bit more reasonable here—he’s clearly interested in discussing his music, something that apparently doesn’t interest Gem at all. It’s worth considering, given how disconnected Liam and Gem seem here, that Liam might be dating Gem in an attempt to fit in. In other words, he may be trying to do exactly what Jessie and Theo are: making himself seem popular in order to avoid bullying. Fitting in, clearly, is a concern for everyone, not just Jessie.
Themes
SN messages Jessie and says she looks beautiful. Jessie ignores the compliment and asks where he is, thinking that her mom always told her she was beautiful but she never took it seriously. Jessie scans the crowd and sees the guy who climbed Kilimanjaro texting. She asks Dri about him; his name is Caleb. Dri leaps onto a chair and reports that most guys are texting right now. SN messages and says he’s hiding in plain sight, but he’s bored. He brushes off Jessie’s insistence that Oville was amazing by saying they used to be better. They both mention that they’re drunk, but SN refuses to meet Jessie in person. He says he’s too drunk to explain, but he wants to feel comfortable enough to tuck a lock of Jessie’s hair behind her ear. Jessie gets this and tries to imagine that coming out of Caleb’s mouth. It seems unlikely.
SN’s comment about wanting to feel comfortable enough to tuck hair behind Jessie’s ear speaks to the kind of intimacy he wants to foster with her. He recognizes that simply seeing each other in person won’t necessarily help their relationship or deepen their connection with each other. Rather, what will help them is to continue to talk like they have been until they feel more comfortable with each other and develop a sense of closeness. When Jessie insists to the reader that she understands this, it shows that she does, on some level, understand that her virtual relationship with SN is just as meaningful as her in-person relationships with others.
Themes
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Jessie announces to Dri and Agnes that she’s drunk. She tries to decide if she’s being sloppy and asks if it’s possible to have a crush on multiple people at once. Agnes says it definitely is and Dri asks who she likes. Jessie is about to admit she likes Ethan. She knows that Dri will tell her more than she ever wanted to know, but before she can say anything, Gem races up, gets in Jessie’s face, and tells her to stay away from Liam. Jessie is drunk and confused. Gem storms away and Dri giggles. Agnes explains that Gem has been off since her dad got arrested last year for tax fraud and soliciting a prostitute, but Jessie can’t sympathize. Jessie assures Dri she doesn’t have a crush on Liam, texts Scarlett, and notices Ethan sleeping alone as she leaves the party.
What Agnes has to say about Gem’s home life shows again that Jessie isn’t the only one with a difficult family situation. Plenty of kids at school, even the wealthy and popular ones, are struggling to figure out how to deal with their families—even if they don’t have the specific issues of navigating a blended family for the first time. That Gem attempts to intimidate Jessie at all suggests that Jessie suddenly appears like more of a threat—especially because Liam shows an interest in her. Jessie’s friendship with Liam now seems a liability, not a plus.
Themes
