Shattering Glass

The chapter opens with a quote from Lance Ansley: “Glass? Rob’s posse thought I was dumber than duck doo, but Glass fooled them not me. Simon wasn’t what anybody thought he was” (7).

The narrator is worried about being late for class, but Rob is nonchalant. They walk into class late, and there’s an attractive substitute teacher. Rob sweettalks her, and she excuses him and Young. In fact, she even lets them out of taking a test. After class, Young questions Rob, wondering if he feels bad that the sub might not be able to teach here again after not enforcing the rules or test. Rob doesn’t, and Young thinks, “Even when I allowed myself a fleeting suspicion that Rob was wrong, he made so much sense that I had to follow his lead. We all followed. He made it easy” (10).

Young and his friends get lunch and exchange sarcastic banter with the lunch lady. At the table, Rob introduces his idea of making Simon popular. He says that true power would be making over “the sheep” like Simon, and that “dork baiting is amateur hour,” which refers to the bullying Lance has done previously (11). Rob moves to sit down next to Simon, who is sitting alone in a corner. The three friends follow Rob’s lead. They make small talk with Simon, who seems weary of their sudden amity, and Rob tells Simon that he has a deal to discuss with him later.

The opening quote in this chapter is from Jeff Cooper, aka Coop:

It’s been five years since that night in the gym. What you don’t understand is that he helped me. Maybe what he and the others did changed my plans for the future, but he’s paid for that in more than one way. The future I have now is a good one and I wouldn’t have it without him. So, sure I’m going to help him now. It’s what a decent person does (15).

After school, the four friends work out in the weight room. Coop asks about the deal Rob’s going to make with Simon, and Rob says, “We turn Simon Glass into Prince Charming” (15). Everyone seems skeptical; Rob says that it will be a challenge, but that he loves a challenge. Bobster agrees that it might be fun, and Coop says that “it would be cool to help Glass. I feel sorry for him” (17).

Young takes Coop home. Coop’s dad is an overweight alcoholic who immediately asks Coop to get him a beer and the remote. Coop’s mom was the “bouncy cheerleader who married the school gridiron star” but she left the family when Coop was young (19). Coop is terrified of becoming like his father, and he views playing football as the only escape. He must pass English to have any chance at a scholarship, which is why Young lets him copy his English notes. 

The opening quote comes from Bob “Bobster” DeMarco: “I didn’t talk about it then. I don’t talk about it now. What’s five years? I won’t be talking about it in twenty-five years. What happens to Young now, happens. I’m not involved” (21).

The four friends meet in the Commons the next morning before school. Rob walks over to Simon and says something him. Simon looks at the three friends and shakes his head. “Rob grinned, spoke again, placed his hand on Simon’s shoulder, and guided him through the maze of tables. Few disguised their stares” (22).

Simon seems on edge at their table, but Rob reassures him that nobody will do anything mean to him. Rob says, “Simon, you can’t let them treat you like the class goat anymore. Your days of being a mook are numbered” (22). Simon asks Rob what’s in it for him, and Rob says, “Satisfaction” (23). 

The opening quote in this chapter comes from Blair Crews, Rob’s former girlfriend. She says that she knew Rob had a dark side, and that there “was a cold center” in him (24). She says that Simon never lost himself in Rob like Young did, and she feels like she should have warned Young about Rob somehow.

Rob tells Simon, “I get off on a challenge. I get pissed when the herd pushes one of the weak out. I don’t want them to say who stays and who gets shit on. I want to even up the score” (25). Coop agrees that they want to stop Simon from getting bullied. Young observes Simon’s response and notices “There was no bumbling or confusion in his glance. Simon was calculating, sorting the debits from the credits. But something else. Something that said more, but I didn’t know what kind of more it was. What didn’t we know about this guy?” (25).

Rob tells everyone to meet him in his office, which is really the equipment room in the gym. Rob stole the key, and the friends meet in there from time to time, to talk in privacy. Once in the room, Rob tells Simon that in return for making him popular, he can do small favors. Rob also says that, although there’s not much they can do today, Simon can at least comb his hair and zip up his pants because the “babes call you ‘Peek-a-Pecker’” (27). They all make plans to go clothes shopping for Simon that weekend.