40 Summary

Camelia attempts to work things out in her mind. She laments that just as she is about to trust Ben, the Debbie situation occurs. Camelia heads home to find her parents are not there yet, and that everything is dark. She goes inside and turns on the lights, and someone begins calling her. No one answers. Camelia orders a pizza, and then Ben calls to see if she is okay. Ben says he is going to come over.

The phone rings again, and the voice on the other end tells Camelia not to forget the mailbox.

40 Analysis

Camelia, like the reader, is confused by events. Just as Ben seems trustworthy, events dictate otherwise. Not only that, but a series of phone calls where no one is on the other end of the line further scares Camelia, who nevertheless has the instinctive reaction to call Ben...