This Is Where It Ends: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Tomás stays low to the ground as he makes his way through the auditorium. He can see Tyler leaning over Autumn onstage. He wishes that he’d done something about Tyler’s behavior earlier; he thinks that, after all, the other boy was “never one of us.” He feels protective of Autumn, since she’s his sister’s girlfriend. Reaching a football player he knows, Tomás taps him on the shoulder and urgently whispers for him to run. This situation is nightmarish, but soon everyone will be safe and Tyler’s power over them will be ended for good.

Tyler “seethes” at Autumn that he hates her, especially because all she cares about is dance. He tells her that if she wants to dance so much, she should use the stage she has now; hoping to distract her brother from further shooting, Autumn takes up fifth position and prepares to dance, disregarding the confused and angry looks of the students around her. She has lots of solos prepared for her Julliard audition, but instead she starts dancing one of her own impromptu compositions, inspired by her love for Tyler and all the good times they’ve shared. However, she can’t concentrate on these memories anymore; she can’t stop thinking about his cold smile as he watched their Dad hit her, or his brutal shooting of Nyah.

When Autumn catches sight of Sylvia, she’s able to dance again with joy and hope. But then her ankle twists, and it gets harder to move. She thinks about Sylvia’s Mamá, who’s getting sicker every day, and the possibility that Sylvia will stay in Opportunity to care for her rather than going to college. They never talked about these things, and Autumn never admitted her fear of losing Sylvia; she wonders if by not speaking up, she’s pushed her girlfriend away for good. Suddenly, Tyler kicks her legs out from under her and she lands on her back.

Sylvia taps a particularly dazed and terrified sophomore to tell him that the doors are open, but he can barely focus on what she’s saying. She instructs him to find as many people as he can and get out, but he still doesn’t move. Trying another tactic, she points to Asha and tells the boy, whose name is Steve, that she just lost her sister and needs someone to care for her. She’s learned from Mamá’s illnesses that giving people specific tasks works better than vague instructions. As Steve moves off, Sylvia starts to believe that she really can save everyone.

In a rare display of affection, Coach Lindt hugs Claire and Chris, but he doesn’t have any more information on the situation than they do. The police officer leads the two students to a quiet corner of the parking lot to debrief them; they can see the cars of concerned parents speeding down the road toward the school. Claire is unsurprised to see that the Opportunity gossip mill has sprung into action so quickly; here, “even the staunchest enemies come together to share the latest news.”

Before the officer can ask any questions, Claire desperately asks if they can help the rescue operations in some way. The officer ignores her and asks her to repeat everything she saw and heard before running from the school. Chris quickly explains the situation, their reasons for skipping the assembly, and the shots that they heard. When the officer asks if they’ve had contact with anyone inside, Claire realizes that although her phone is in the locker room, she could borrow someone else’s to call Matt. But then the officer mentions Tyler’s name, and she feels sick.

On Twitter, Jay demands that reporters stop asking him questions and “GTFO of my feed.”