They Both Die at the End

They Both Die at the End

by

Adam Silvera

Last Friend Term Analysis

Last Friend is an app, developed by Dalma Young, that helps Deckers find a friend for their End Day. So-called “Last Friends” can be either befriend fellow Deckers or a person who isn’t slated to die today. Some people are passionate about promoting Last Friend—for instance, Gabriella tags buildings with promotional graffiti because she feels so strongly about Last Friend’s mission. Others, however, abuse the platform; there’s a serial killer still at large that uses it to find victims.

Last Friend Quotes in They Both Die at the End

The They Both Die at the End quotes below are all either spoken by Last Friend or refer to Last Friend. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
).
Mateo, 1:52 a.m. Quotes

But I was wrong, go figure. This is exactly the person I always wanted to be—loose, fun, carefree. No one will look at this photo and think it was out of character, because none of these people know me, and their only expectations of me are to be the person I’m presenting myself as in my profile.

Related Characters: Mateo Torrez (speaker), Rufus Emeterio
Related Symbols: Photos
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:
Mateo, 3:14 a.m. Quotes

Rufus E. (3:19 a.m.): Hey, Mateo. Nice hat.

He not only responded, but he likes my Luigi hat from my profile picture. He’s already connecting to the person I want to become.

Related Characters: Mateo Torrez (speaker), Rufus Emeterio (speaker), Lidia
Related Symbols: Photos
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:
Rufus, 7:53 a.m. Quotes

I don’t know if he’s playing it off like he doesn’t know this from my Last Friend profile or if he’s impacted by this piece of history between me and my sister or if he overlooked this on my profile and is some ass who cares about who other people kiss. I hope not. We’re friends now, hands down, and it’s not forced. I met this kid a few years ago because some creative designer somewhere developed an app to forge connections. I’d hate to disconnect.

Related Characters: Rufus Emeterio (speaker), Mateo Torrez, Dalma Young, Olivia
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis:
Mateo, 7:34 p.m. Quotes

“I always wanted to stumble into someone like you and it sucks that I had to find you through a stupid app.”

“I like the Last Friend app. [...] I think the app puts you out there more than anything else. For me, it meant admitting I was lonely and wanted to connect with someone.”

Related Characters: Mateo Torrez (speaker), Rufus Emeterio (speaker)
Page Number: 340
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire They Both Die at the End LitChart as a printable PDF.
They Both Die at the End PDF

Last Friend Term Timeline in They Both Die at the End

The timeline below shows where the term Last Friend appears in They Both Die at the End. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Mateo, 1:52 a.m.
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Choices and Consequences Theme Icon
...He decides he needs a coach or a friend, so he decides to download the Last Friend app,  which gives any Decker a friend in their last hours. He specifies that it’s... (full context)
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Business, Ethics, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
...much about him. He checks his bank account: he has about $2,000. Then, he downloads Last Friend . He fills out his profile and notes that Dad is in a coma, that... (full context)
Mateo, 2:02 a.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Business, Ethics, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
There are 42 local Last Friend users online. Mateo receives a message from Wendy Mae, a girl who just wants to... (full context)
Mateo, 2:52 a.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Business, Ethics, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
Mateo feels vindicated for living his life alone; everyone on the Last Friend app is horrible. He ignores the Last Friend notifications and immerses himself in his Xbox... (full context)
Rufus, 2:59 a.m.
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Friendship and Chosen Family Theme Icon
Business, Ethics, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
...Now, he pedals hard. At a gas station, Rufus stops and notices graffiti advertising the Last Friend app. He thinks that he never gets to say proper goodbyes to anyone—he didn’t get... (full context)
Mateo, 3:14 a.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Friendship and Chosen Family Theme Icon
Business, Ethics, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
...that it seems stupid to leave when someone or something will kill him, and some Last Friends supposedly have the cure to death in their pants. Rufus says that he reported Philly,... (full context)
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Choices and Consequences Theme Icon
...just wants to know that he can trust Mateo. He explains why he wants a Last Friend instead of his real friends: he watched his parents and sister die, and he doesn’t... (full context)
Rufus, 3:31 a.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
...of the way, Rufus thinks they’ll be friends. At the very least, Rufus having a Last Friend should make his real friends feel better about him running around. It makes Rufus feel... (full context)
Mateo, 5:20 a.m.
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Business, Ethics, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
...in foster care. Mateo realizes how little he knows about Rufus and how one-sided this Last Friends hip is. Rufus points out the Decker discount. Meals are free, which is unusual. (full context)
Mateo, 6:14 a.m.
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Choices and Consequences Theme Icon
Friendship and Chosen Family Theme Icon
Mateo feels like the worst Last Friend ever and says that this is going to be awful. He tells Rufus that Lidia... (full context)
Rufus, 7:53 a.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Friendship and Chosen Family Theme Icon
Rufus thinks he’s lucky to have a Last Friend with his support network gone; he’s able to keep his family alive this way. He... (full context)
Mateo, 11:32 a.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
...friends are out of commission today, and that’s the only reason they ended up on Last Friend . It has to be fate. It starts to pour down rain as Rufus helps... (full context)
Rufus, 12:35 p.m.
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Choices and Consequences Theme Icon
...needed to snap and that if he needs to snap again, Mateo will support that—they’re Last Friends for life. (full context)
Zoe Landon, 2:57 p.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Choices and Consequences Theme Icon
...New York to start at NYU and was feeling lonely, but she turned to the Last Friend app. She messaged Mateo first but then found Gabriella. Zoe and Gabriella avoid two boys... (full context)
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Friendship and Chosen Family Theme Icon
...refuses to take it. She tells Gabriella to keep it as a gift from her Last Friend . The black woman speaks up again and says that she’s happy that Zoe found... (full context)
Dalma Young, 6:20 p.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
...she was going to die, she’d spend the day with her half-sister and maybe a Last Friend , since she created the app. She tries to convince her half-sister, Dahlia, that she... (full context)
Mortality, Life, and Meaning Theme Icon
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
Business, Ethics, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
...a Moulin Rouge! quote. Dalma has thought often about what she’d choose. She knows that Last Friend is a great resource, even though a serial killer murdered 11 users last summer. She’s... (full context)
Mateo, 7:34 p.m.
Human Connection and Social Media Theme Icon
...he hates that they found each other through an app. Mateo says that he likes Last Friend ; it forces people to get out there and admit that they want to connect. (full context)