Honestly Elliott

As they drive, Nina and Elliott pass the grocery store and Sugar Rose, a donut shop. The landmarks make Elliott think about eating in-season fruits and vegetables and about the diversity in downtown Avery. The line at Sugar Rose extends outside, and Nina says that someday people will line up for Elliott’s food. He hopes so, but he won’t be making donuts; he learned from Griffin Connor that baking is easier than cooking and that it doesn’t elevate people’s palates. Nina does not like the negativity in that idea, and she cautions Elliott to think things through and not just believe everything Griffin Connor says.

Nina and Elliott arrive at the Avery Sixth Grade Center, which is a large, glass building in the middle of the city. All sixth graders are sent to the same school so that they can mingle. Elliott does not like the school; it’s too large, and he gets lost sometimes, prompting other kids to laugh and bully him and call him Smelliott. He also doesn’t like the large projects his teachers assign because they are overwhelming. Nina reminds Elliott of his four new friends he sits with at lunch—Kunal, Victor, Gilbert, and Drew—but they are only lunch friends, not after-school friends. They all play Kingdom of Krull, a video game Nina and Mark have banned Elliott from playing. Elliott also suspects that they hang out without him. Nina pulls to the front of the drop-off line, and Elliott gets out and begrudgingly prepares to go inside.

Elliott’s first class of the day is Advisory with Ms. Choi, and it is where he first met his four lunch friends. Elliott sits in the front of the classroom with the other students who are easily distracted. He did not know that sixth grade would be so different from elementary school, and he finds it difficult to stay organized while having multiple teachers and classrooms. For a time, he stopped doing his homework, shoving it into his closet instead. His parents couldn’t access the grade portal for the beginning of the year, so they didn’t notice his grades falling until he was almost failing. Ms. Choi advocated for Elliott during the meetings following the discovery of his poor grades; she recognized that he needs more support and helped put it into place.

Ms. Choi assigns a business project, which will account for 50% of their grades. She hands out packets of information to everyone, explaining that the students will be required to come up with a business plan and to present their products, prototypes, or services at the annual Avery Local festival. The students can keep the profits if they sell a product. Elliott immediately sees an opportunity to make money to pay back Mark. Ms. Choi then announces that it is a group project, and groups must have two to five people, with no exceptions. Elliott tries to get Gilbert’s attention to ask to be in a group with him, but Gilbert seems not to understand. He stops when Ms. Choi stands next to him, but he is impatient to get to his friends.

When Ms. Choi lets the students get up and divide into groups, Elliott rushes over to Gilbert, Kunal, Victor, and Drew, but they refuse to let him join the group. Kunal tries to get the others to let him in, but they still refuse, saying “no offense,” though they are being offensive. Elliott pretends that it’s fine and walks back to his desk, trying not to cry. Ms. Choi asks if he needs help finding a group, but he says no and gets up to sharpen his pencil. Maribel Martinez, a smart, popular girl, walks away from her group after an argument, and Elliott can see that she is trying not to cry. He asks if she wants to be in a group with him.

Elliot regrets asking Maribel to work with him, because she is popular and smart and he worries that he will disappoint her, but Maribel agrees. She walks away, and Elliott assumes that she was joking when she said yes. He goes back to his desk and gets nervous and almost cries when Ms. Choi asks the students to hand in a sheet listing their group members. Maribel comes to him and asks how to spell his name. Ms. Choi finds them “an interesting pair” (80), and Maribel tells Elliott to brainstorm ideas. She is determined to get an A.

Elliott asks readers to guess whether his day got better or worse. They play pickle ball in gym, which Elliott does not like, and when he gets to math class, Elliott realizes that he forgot his homework at his dad’s. In language arts, they talk more about the business project, which is overwhelming, and he feels out of place at lunch as his lunch friends are talking about the project from which they excluded him.

After school, Elliott checks on his guinea pigs and lets them out to get some exercise, and he eats some leftover noodles, which are better than they were when fresh—“[s]ometimes the most important ingredient for any recipe is a little patience” (84). The whiteboard in the kitchen has a reminder for Elliott to do his homework. While digging out his homework, Elliott talks to his guinea pig, Omelet, about his bad day. As he starts his math homework, he remembers his weekend homework at his dad’s. He gets his phone, but calls Kate instead of Mark. Kate asks if Elliott is alright, and she talks about how good the noodles he made were. She asks again if he is okay, and Elliott admits that he had a bad day. He sobs for a moment, then calms himself and explains that he called to get his homework. Kate agrees to scan him a copy.

On Tuesday, Elliott walks to Dr. Gilmore’s office for his therapy session. He takes a peppermint candy from Ms. Jolene, the assistant, and waits a few minutes until Dr. Gilmore comes for him. Elliott looks at the emotion words—mad, sad, brave, and calm—painted on the wall and the large painting of the ocean. Dr. Gilmore is calmed by the ocean, but the ocean makes Elliott uncomfortable because it is unpredictable. Elliott picks out a card game to play and tells Dr. Gilmore that Mark wants Elliott to pay him back using the money he saved for his camp. Dr. Gilmore asks Elliott to talk about The Incident, but Elliott refuses. They talk about the saying “[d]on’t make a mountain out of a molehill” (92), but Elliott thinks that the Incident is too big to discuss. Dr. Gilmore points out that everyone makes mistakes, and Elliott replays the images and sounds of a broken basement window in his mind. They reach the end of their session, and Elliott leaves.

Elliott goes outside and meets his dad, who is on a work call. After he finishes, the two of them leave to meet Kate at Luna, a restaurant. On the trip, Dad asks if Elliott wants to talk about anything, but he doesn’t. They meet Kate, who is in the restaurant looking at the menu. She hasn’t been there before, so Elliott recommends a fish dish that comes with pickles because Kate loves pickles. When Mark says that he wants a salad, Elliott warns him that the dressing has cilantro, so Mark should request oil and vinegar as a substitute. Elliott tells them about the business project and invites them both to come to Avery Local to see his booth. Mark has a work trip scheduled for that day, but Kate says that she will go and take pictures.

Kate loves her meal, and Elliott is happy because he made a good recommendation. Elliott tells them about his work partner. He is self-deprecating, and Mark does not like hearing Elliott talk negatively about himself. The support makes Elliott feel good, but the feeling quickly fades when Mark starts criticizing Elliott for not working hard enough. Mark wants Elliott to do a science or technology project, but Elliott says that the project will probably involve cooking. Mark makes a disapproving face, and Elliott blurts out that the project will be profitable so that he can pay his dad back. After a pause in the conversation, Mark agrees that if Elliott can make the extra money, he can still go to camp. Elliott hopes that Mark will see how important and lucrative cooking can be.

On Friday in Advisory, the students are divided into their groups to work on their projects, and Maribel has a binder put together for the project. They discuss the fact that Elliott wants to make enough money to pay for camp and that Maribel did not like her first group’s project. Elliott struggles to listen to her, distracted by other things going on. He reflects on how ADHD is an inaccurate name because he doesn’t have a deficit of attention, he has a surplus. Maribel has to ask Elliott a second time what he wants to do for the project, and he says that he wants to do something involving cooking, of which Maribel approves. She continues to work and talk to him, but he can’t follow what she is saying, so he pretends to be listening.

Elliott gets home from school and checks on his pets. Shortly after, Kate arrives to pick him up, which is strange because Mark always picks him up. She stands awkwardly outside, and Elliott comes outside to talk to her. She explains that Mark is in a meeting. Elliott invites her inside while he gets his things, but she stays outside. Nina comes out to talk to her, asking how she is feeling, while Elliott packs. When he gets back outside, they are still talking politely, and Elliott says goodbye to Nina to stop the awkward conversation.

They drive to Kate and Mark’s house. After putting his things away, Elliott goes to the kitchen and finds a tired Kate. He looks in the fridge as they talk about dinner and finds a large cabbage. Kate explains that the baby is the size of a cabbage, according to her baby book, which is why she bought it. She shows Elliott the book, and they laugh at the strange comparisons of fetuses to produce, particularly the final comparison to a watermelon. They are still laughing together when Mark arrives with pizza. They eat together in the kitchen, and Elliott feels happy.