Summary

The chapter “Dangling Conversations” begins at school the next day. Joni and Paul talk about Joni’s kiss with Chuck, although the conversation is oddly acrimonious. Paul finds Noah, and they begin to talk, with Paul discovering that he had dropped his note from the previous day in the incorrect locker. They are interrupted by Infinite Darlene, who is also mad about Chuck’s new flirtation with Joni. Paul and Noah make plans to spend time together after school.

The chapter “Painting Music” describes the afternoon that Noah and Paul spend together after school. Paul goes over to Noah’s house, where he meets Noah’s outspoken younger sister, Claudia. Noah’s parents are intensely involved in their careers, and as a result are rarely at the family’s house. Noah shows Paul his room, which has already...