Fangirl

Before her drive to Omaha to visit her father, Cath goes to downtown Lincoln, hoping to catch Levi at the Starbucks he works at. He insists on making her a special drink of his own creation.

At home, her father is working on an advertising pitch for a company named Gravioli in the dark. They decide to get dinner from a taco truck, and Cath sends an email to Wren assuring her that their father’s “eyes are in his eyes, you know?” (94). The next morning, she sees that her father papered his ad ideas all over the room, but with a semblance of order. Cath identifies their father’s behavior as “a little bit manic” (95), in an acceptable way to her. While he is gone, she does the dishes and makes sure the house is still in working order.

She works on Carry On over the weekend while her father works on his Gravioli job. She tries to reassure herself that their father will be okay when she leaves. Right before Cath meets her ride back to school, her father tells her he has been talking to her and Wren’s mother, who wants to see them again. He already told Wren over email, and she is considering meeting her. Cath is extremely upset and does not want to give her mother a second chance.

For the final, Professor Piper assigns a 10,000-word short story. After Cath works in the library with Nick, Levi meets her to walk her home. He recognizes Nick and asks if he has ever offered to walk Cath home; Cath does not understand the point he is trying to make.

Cath meets Wren for lunch. Wren has not told her about the email from their father, and Cath wonders what other secrets she is keeping. When Cath brings up seeing their mother, Wren assures her she is only thinking about it. She thinks their mother has already done the worst thing she could do—leave them—but Cath thinks it would be worse to put themselves in a situation where she could leave them twice.

When Professor Piper passes back their unreliable narrator assignments that Friday, she asks to talk to Cath after class. Cath had turned in a piece of Simon Snow fanfiction, and Piper has failed her for plagiarism. Piper says that the assignment “stole” Gemma T. Leslie’s characters and universe, but Cath insists that the “story” is still hers. Piper is dismissive, condescending, and disappointed in Cath.

Usually, when she or Wren face tough situations, they have an “Emergency Kanye Party,” where they dance to Kanye West’s music, but it is Friday night and Cath cannot get ahold of Wren. She has a solo Emergency Kanye Party in the dormitory. Levi knocks and is shocked to find “mopey” Cath listening to rap. She tells him about the emergency dance party, and he joins in.

When Reagan arrives, she is shocked to see Cath dancing but invites her out with her and Levi. Cath checks her phone to see an emergency text from Wren asking her to come to Muggsy’s immediately. Levi jumps into action. The bouncer recognizes Levi and lets them in. When they find Wren, she is drunk and does not know why Cath is there. She meant to send the text to Courtney. As they talk, a drunk man will not stop talking about his fantasies about “hot twins.” Cath hears Levi telling the man he is being inappropriate. The man persists in his lewd comments and looks, and he is joined by another, similar “fratty guy.” The man with Wren, Jandro, punches him, and the four go outside. 

Cath and Levi try to get Wren to go home, but Courtney joins them and insists Wren stay out with her and Jandro. Levi takes Cath to a 24-hour truck stop to get food. They talk, and Cath tells him what happened in her fiction writing class. Levi guessed it had to do with Simon Snow; he saw her fan paraphernalia, and Reagan told him Cath writes fanfiction. Levi has only seen the Simon Snow movies but thinks her stories are “cool” and asks about them. She tells him what fanfiction is and why she writes it and then asks about what Professor Piper said about her assignment. Levi says if it was her story and her words, it was not plagiarism, even though he can see why her professor would not want her to turn in fanfiction to a fiction writing class. He makes Cath feel a bit better.

When Cath sees Nick before class, she avoids his questions about what Piper wants to meet her about, but they agree to meet and write together that night.

Back at the dorm, Levi shows up. Cath thanks him for helping her last Friday. He asks her to read him her fanfiction. She is worried he wants to make fun of her, but he is curious about her hobby. She begins to read, and Levi interjects with impassioned outbursts about the content and admits that the Simon Snow canon does lend itself to a reading that Simon and Baz have romantic feelings for each other.

When Cath tries to stop reading, worrying that Levi is bored, he urges her on. At a critical point in the story, Reagan enters. Levi does not want Cath to stop reading, but Cath says she has to write a biology essay. Before Levi leaves to go study with Reagan, he gives his number to Cath so she can continue the story later.

Cath’s relationship with Wren is still tense, which worries Cath, because they always got through their struggles together. Levi calls to invite Cath to a party at his house that night. Cath does not want to drink, smoke, or talk to drunk people, so she declines. Levi asks her to read him the rest of her story instead. Cath declines, not wanting to read over the phone. A moment later, Levi knocks on her door, holding a coffee for her.

Levi remembers the exact line Cath left off on, and she resumes her story. When Reagan enters and Cath stops reading, Levi asks her about the fanfiction community: if many people write stories where Simon and Baz are in love and how many people write Simon Snow fanfiction. Levi seems to understand the appeal of being able to live in a fictional universe even after the books are over, though Reagan does not.

Cath and Wren’s father picks them up for Thanksgiving. He lets it slip that Wren is seeing their mother later, and Wren admits she has talked to her on the phone a few times. Cath is upset, both that Wren kept it a secret and that their mother is trying to re-enter their lives after 10 years. 

Later, Cath’s father comforts her. He says that just because Wren has things to figure out with their mother, that does not mean Cath has to speak to her too. He admits that he does not like her re-entry into their life and that he also feels nervous and upset by the idea of seeing her again.