Tell Me Three Things: Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

Ethan laments that The Waste Land is long and too complicated. They discuss poetry and he mentions the line “A rose is a rose is a rose” from a Gertrude Stein poem. Jessie tells the reader that her mom loved Stein, so when she got sick, Jessie read Stein out loud to her. She tells Ethan about this and after a moment, Ethan offers his condolences. He says that he hates how people pretend bad things don’t happen so they don’t risk saying the wrong thing, but he insists that people should say something even if it’s wrong. Jessie realizes how much she likes Ethan. He’s brave, honest, and good.

Jessie and Ethan are still at Starbucks an hour later, just chatting. They talk about Oville. Ethan cryptically says he wishes they could just play for fun like they did “before,” but “before” clearly refers to more than just the time before Liam joined. They discuss whether Ethan gets stage fright. He doesn’t, but being onstage makes him feel alone. When Jessie incredulously points out that girls line up to talk to him at lunch, Ethan says that’s because of something else but again won’t elaborate. Ethan shares that he and Liam write most of their songs, but Caleb, who’s not in the band, writes some of them. Jessie thinks this makes sense; SN would totally write melancholy lyrics but refuse to sing them.

Jessie wonders if Ethan, Caleb, and Liam have talked about her and wonders if Gem got in her face because people think she’s is obsessed with Liam. She wonders out loud if she’ll ever figure Wood Valley out. Ethan says he still hasn’t, but he has a secret: no one has to. Jessie is gripped with the desire to touch Ethan’s hair or hands and ask him how can act like a friend one minute and be cold the next.

At home, Jessie finds the dinner Gloria left for her and messages SN that her day was great. SN also had a good day. Jessie saw Caleb once in the hallway. He saluted her with his phone, which Jessie figures means that they’re never going to talk in person. Right after the salute, SN messaged Jessie and it seemed to drive home the point. Jessie is disappointed, since Caleb is attractive—but less distracting than Ethan. SN types that his mom cooked tonight and seems off meds, but SN might just be feeling optimistic. That night, Jessie dreams that Caleb and Ethan are in her room ignoring her.