The Truth About Forever

After a catering job late one night, Delia asks to use Macy’s restroom when the crew drops her off, and Bert becomes upset at the delay, which will cause him to miss the doomsday show he’d been planning to watch. Believing her mother isn’t home, Macy invites the entire crew inside to watch the show.

Macy is surprised to find Deborah is, in fact, home. She’s been careful not to mention her work at Wish or her new friends since her previous discussion with her mother, who does not approve of the recent developments. When Deborah pulls Macy away for a private conversation, “her disapproval [is] palpable” (254). Before Macy rejoins her friends, Deborah mentions how unfortunate Kristy’s scars are and how “she’d be a pretty girl, otherwise” (255). Later, Deborah walks in on a discussion between Macy and Wes, where she overhears a mention of Wes’s past arrest. Deborah’s negative judgment of Wes is immediately clear to Macy, and she attempts to nudge Macy back in line by mentioning Jason will be in town this weekend and will visit Macy at the library.

The following morning, Deborah tells Macy she does not want her hanging around the Wish Catering crew outside of work, believing they’re not good influences. Macy’s car is blocked in the drive by one of Deborah’s salesmen, so her mother drives her to work at the library. On the drive, Deborah questions why Macy does not look well. Instead of insisting she’s fine like normal, Macy takes a stand for the first time and mentions her nightmares about her dad. Deborah attempts to redirect the subject, “a conversational nudge, her way of easing [Macy] back between the lines” (265).

At work, Macy endures the same monotony of the library and the hostility of Amanda and Bethany. While waiting for Jason to arrive, she attempts to imagine what she’ll say but realizes she doesn’t know if she even wants to save their relationship. Wes makes a surprise visit to Macy at the library, where he mentions how chaotic the latest catering job is currently going and how they could really use Macy’s help, if only she wasn’t tied down by her library job. Realizing she’s had enough, Macy quits then and there, leaving the library with Wes.

Macy and Wes are tasked with occupying Delia’s daughter, Lucy, as she frantically begins the potato salad for her latest client. The catering job goes eerily well as the team not only avoids disaster but also has a fortunate string of good luck. When Macy spaces out during the event, Wes asks her if she’s preoccupied with how Jason will react to her quitting the library. She admits that she hasn’t thought of him once and they’re officially over, especially after the stunt she pulled, and that she’s worried about the consequences she’ll face from her mother. As they’re packing up at the end of the night, the chaos finally hits when Delia goes into labor.

Driving Delia to the hospital passes in a blur as Macy is assaulted by the memories of the same trip with her father a year and a half earlier. After Delia has her baby, the emotions finally catch up to Macy, and she breaks away from the group to cry in the hallway. Wes finds her and pulls her comfortingly into his arms.

Eventually, Wes, Bert, and Macy leave the hospital. After inviting Macy on his morning run by mentioning he’ll be running a loop in her neighborhood tomorrow morning, Wes drops Macy off at the Commons, where her mom is hosting an Independence Day picnic and parade. Deborah greets Macy with anger, ordering her home and to bed without hearing her explanation. The following morning, Deborah tells Macy she can no longer work at Wish Catering, cannot see her friends there anymore, has a strict 8:00 pm curfew, and must work for her at the model home Monday through Saturday, “handing out brochures and greeting clients” (296).

Macy is miserable in the monotonous routine her mother forces her into, completely isolated from her friends. One night, she receives an email from Jason that is surprisingly emotional, as he apologizes for being harsh on her about the library job at the beginning of the summer. Upon recently struggling with the declining health of his grandmother, he now realizes how much Macy must have been struggling with the grief over her father. The email scares Macy, convincing her that if she “[doesn’t] take action, somehow, by the fall everything that had happened with Wish, and with Wes, [will] be smoothed over, forgotten, no more than a dream” (303).

In her panic, Macy breaks her mother’s rules by driving to visit Wes. Upon discovering he’s not home, she drives to Monica and Kristy’s doublewide; when Kristy is not home either, Macy rants to the infamously laconic Monica to no avail. On the way home, she runs into Wes on the road, and they pull over for conversation. When Macy asks if he wants company on his errand that he claims he needs to do, Wes nervously declines, admitting she would not want to come on this particular task. Macy becomes defensive when she mistakenly believes Wes is blowing her off, mentioning she must get home to answer an email from Jason anyway and that they might get back together—even though she’s already decided they won’t. Halfway home, Macy decides to turn around for Wes and, following a gut feeling, heads to World of Waffles, where she finds him sitting in a booth with his girlfriend, Becky. With that painful revelation, Macy turns back around once more and heads home.