Character Description
The narration is first-person perspective from the protagonist, Jack Rothman. Rothman is a character, all right, and has a way with words. Not in the sense of talking like most high school teens you have ever met, but there is always that one guy with a little verbal elan, so give the author a break. And Jack’s gift of gab does not always stretch the suspension of disbelief. It would not be completely unreasonable for a high school kid to describe someone in this wise, metaphorically speaking:
“Ben Parrish is like a beach ball—short, bouncy, round, and somehow always radiating happiness.”
On the Catwalk
What would a novel about a gay boy be without at least one reference to a catwalk? Except, in this case, it is not a modeling runway, but an actual catwalk perched precariously in the rafters high above a stage. If you have never been treated to the exciting instability of such architecture, you might not be able to fully appreciate the metaphorical imagery here. He’s not being overly dramatic:
“I reach the top of the ladder and step out onto the swaying catwalk…It’s black metal but a grate, and I can see the stage below me—farther than I thought. I would not look good as a splatter on the floor.”
Motherly Advice
Even self-described sexually promiscuous sluts have mothers have mothers ready to dispense relationship advice. Well, some do, anyway. And that some includes our narrator/protagonist, Jack. His relationship with his mother turns out to be a pretty big deal, plot-wise, because intersection between her younger boyfriend and Jack’s mysterious stalker. She readily offers advice couched in metaphorical imagery:
“Relationships should always be handled carefully. Sex is one thing—throw your bodies together, wake up the next day—but if you want to really know someone, it’s best to remember that while you look like skin, people are glass on the inside.”
The Stalker’s Love Notes
The stalker starts out as a simple secret admirer. The way that the receiver of a secret admirer’s love notes responds can often be the catalyst for the transformation into stalker:
“I begin tearing the note up. I tear and stack the pieces on top of each other and tear again and again until they’re confetti, and then I drop them all on the floor, right under my locker. It looks like an explosion.”
He’s a Giver, You See
The narrator, Jack, well, what you have to understand is that he is complicated. He is complex. He is a giver. Or so he thinks:
“It’s not about making myself less amazing so I blend in—it’s about making sure everyone around me sparkles with their own shade of glitter”
