Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone

Reagan reassures Mal that everything will be fine, but Mal feels anxious and desperate. Being with Reagan is the only thing that makes her feel secure, and she is disappointed when their sleepover is canceled. Mal’s thoughts flash back to the Incident in the chapel’s basement bathroom. She hears Reagan’s voice taunt Jennifer. Mal wishes she can fall into her mother’s comforting arms, but she fears her peers will see her. The adults organize a search party, and Mal’s mother, who is always direct with her daughter, tells her that she doesn’t know if Jennifer will return.

Chapter 3 flashes back to the morning Jennifer and her mother, Rebecca, moved to Nowhereville. Mal’s mother, Leah, bakes a pie to welcome them, and Mal is eager to make her friends jealous and be the first one to meet the much-gossiped-about Jennifer. Rumors have spread in town that Jennifer and her mother are dangerous criminals. Mal comments that the town doesn’t care much for the truth and that what others say about a person matters more. 

Mal wants to learn firsthand if the rumors about Jennifer “karate-chopping” someone to near-death are true. Leah, who is half-Korean, tells her daughter that the rumors are mean and racist, and she hopes Mal will take a stand against stereotypes. Leah had dreams of becoming an Asian American studies professor, but the local college doesn’t have an Asian American studies department. Mal makes excuses that she and her friends are just curious. Mal’s relationship with her mother has become strained as she has gotten older, and she becomes self-conscious when Leah notices her wearing the eyeliner that Reagan had given her. On their way to the Chans’ home, Leah tells her daughter to be kind, and Mal wonders when her mother started to see her as someone who wasn’t a good person. She tosses the thought aside and thinks that impressing her friends is more important than what her mother thinks of her.

At the Chans’ home, Jennifer is talkative and energetic and asks Mal about her Asian background. Mal flushes and responds that her mother is half-Korean. Jennifer says she is Chinese and comments on how there aren’t many Asians in the area. She tells Mal about her passion for searching for extraterrestrial life; she shows Mal a box that contains information she has collected on the subject, which she calls her “INVESTIGATION box.” Jennifer is self-aware about her niche interest and admits that people may think she’s a “walnut.” However, she says that researching aliens was something she did with her father, who recently passed away. Mal is certain that Jennifer’s hobby will make her an outcast at school and thinks being her friend may not be worth the effort. 

Mal texts Reagan, who refers to Jennifer as a “ninja.” Reagan wants to know if Jennifer is as “weird” as two of their other classmates, Kath and Ingrid. Mal used to be friends with Ingrid but suspects Ingrid hates her now because she became popular. Mal decides not to mention Jennifer’s interest in aliens to Reagan. Jennifer gives Mal Volume VII of the journals she is writing so Mal can learn about aliens, too. Mal is both anxious and touched that Jennifer trusts her. Jennifer believes that humans aren’t the only intelligent beings in the universe. She is eager to be the first person to contact aliens and to have them help solve humanity’s problems. Mal finds her “intellectual curiosity” and optimism infectious, and Jennifer is pleased that Mal is someone she can trust and who isn’t afraid to believe. 

The chapter ends with an entry from Jennifer Chan’s Guide to the Universe, Volume IV, titled “How to Find Your Alien Hunting Allies” (29). Jennifer discusses a scientific theory that her father told her about that is called “the altruism theory” (29). It posits that if an alien race becomes advanced enough for space travel, then they must have survived many challenges like “nuclear wars and climate change,” and “the only way they could have survived is by learning to be good” (30). Jennifer’s father believes there is nothing to fear in aliens, and by extension, in other humans, since they are still learning to be good. He tells her trust is both a powerful and scary thing to give, and Jennifer can’t imagine how trust can lead to harm.

The novel’s timeline returns to the night of the concert. At home, Mal anxiously texts her friends in their group thread and privately messages Reagan. Mal regrets feeling so needy, but she wishes Reagan was with her. Only with Reagan does she feel protected from the rest of the world in their “invisible bubble.” When Reagan doesn’t text back, Mal begins to feel anxious. 

Mal has grown closer to her father since her recent tensions with her mother. He makes her dinner and informs her that Jennifer is still missing. He also tells her that Jennifer has run away before, but that she returned after a few days. Mal asks him why Jennifer keeps running away, and he says he doesn’t know why and doesn’t try to guess. Mal asks him if his faith in God keeps him from trying to find the answers, and he tells her that’s not what he meant. Mal is annoyed that her father will often not respond to questions to let people make up their own minds. He is religious, but Leah is not, and Mal considers herself as someone who “believes in I don’t know” (34). Mal thinks that there could only be two reasons why Jennifer ran away this time: either aliens, or Mal herself.

The narrative flashes back to a week after Mal meets Jennifer. Although Mal doesn’t believe in aliens, she finds Jennifer’s enthusiasm exciting, and she accepts Jennifer’s invitation to sleep over. Mal is embarrassed that she feels nervous sleeping away from home. All her previous sleepovers with Reagan had been at Mal’s house, often because Reagan is frequently left at home alone. 

At Jennifer’s house, the two girls sleep in a tent in the backyard, and Mal relishes being under the stars. Jennifer wears a bright orange t-shirt that reads “ALIENS WALK AMONG US!” (36). Mal is embarrassed for Jennifer and thinks she needs to keep her hobby a secret if she wants to fit in. Mal characterizes her town as a place where everyone has matching mailboxes, lawns, and American flags. Jennifer responds that she has no concern about what people think of her, whereas Mal believes that people’s opinions mean everything. Reagan has taught Mal tricks to help her fit in, but with Jennifer, Mal feels she doesn’t have to try to fit in at all and can just be herself. Jennifer’s complete self-assurance makes Mal feel a mixture of envy and anger, and she begins to think that Jennifer pities her and feels superior. 

Jennifer is convinced she has seen crop circles in town. She explains that in the 1970s, scientists picked up an unidentified signal from space—a beep that lasted seventy-two seconds. The scientists jotted the word “Wow” on a printout, but there were no further investigations. Jennifer comments that the government is more invested in funding the military and making bombs than in searching for intelligent extraterrestrial life. In a ritual to open herself up to the universe, Jennifer stands up, raises her arms, and hollers a greeting to the night sky. Mal is tempted to follow her routine but drops her arms and remains quiet.

Back in the present, Mal can’t fall asleep and is haunted by thoughts of Jennifer and the Incident. She witnesses a strange light outside her bedroom window and thinks it may be the search party. However, the red light flashes three times and disappears. Mal fights the urge to hide under her covers and climbs out her first story window, into her backyard. The air feels uncomfortably humid, and Mal sees a red, oval light—“big as a helicopter but long and slim as a Tic Tac” (47)—float over the treetops. Then, it hovers over Mal’s head, mimicking her movements. Mal is terrified and calls out Jennifer’s name; the light blinks three times again and disappears. At first, Mal doesn’t believe aliens would ever visit a place as dull as Nowhereville. Gradually, she accepts her experience as reality but knows that no one will believe her. 

The chapter ends with an entry from Jennifer’s journal, Volume VII, called “How to Tell If You’ve Been Contacted by Aliens” (49). She describes signs like changes in animal behaviors, radio static, and beeps that can cause headaches. Jennifer also says that one of the signs is a light flashing three times. Then, she recalls her father’s assurance that the aliens mean no harm. Seeing these signs means that she is special and chosen. Jennifer ends the entry by asking herself how she can live up to the aliens’ expectations and trust.