Summary

In “Anthony,” a month after the shooting, Anthony discovered that the shooter was related to the boy who had died during Anthony’s college fraternity party. Confident he would recover from the scandal, Anthony told himself the boy “was a short-stringer, before there was such a thing” (211, Erlick’s italics).

Ben wrote to A about short-stringers and unhappiness. He apologized for being negative, confessing that his friend had died recently.

In “Amie,” Amie read B’s letter “over and over” (214). B’s thoughts about the marginalization of short-stringers made her feel guilty. Desperate to talk, she contacted Nina. While walking in the park, Amie told Nina about her correspondence with B. She was confused as to how she felt about B. Nina shared her experience dating a short-stringer.

In “Javier,” when Jack said nothing to Javier about Anthony using “the sob story of...