*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*
This is part 15 of my review and summary of Intensely Alice for those of you who have not been able to read the book yet and are dying to know what happens.
WARNING: Please do not continue reading if you do not want to know what happens.
Chapter Seventeen – The Unthinkable
Alice begins to think that she may not know her brother as well as she thought because so far an unidentified woman caller has called twice and Lester just received a letter from a married ex-girlfriend. She leaves the letter in Lester’s drawer so Pamela does not find it though Pamela’s problem has not been snooping. It has actually been leaving dishes everywhere in the apartment other than the sink. The other girls, including Alice, also have their own faults that bother the other girls. Alice figures that this ten day stay at Lester’s apartment is a preview of future apartments and roommates.
Later that night, a knock is heard at the door. The girls think that it is Mr. Watts coming up for doughnuts, but when Liz answers the door, Alice hears the voice of the woman caller! She immediately heads to the door and sees a woman with dyed hair and too much makeup. The woman is obviously confused about the situation she sees in front of her so Alice invites her in and asks her where she met Lester. The woman tells her she met Lester and his two friends last week and he said she could call him. Since Lester did not give her his number, just saying he lived in Tacoma Park, the woman looked him up in the phonebook because she felt like she really hit it off with him. After seeing a picture of Lester, George, and Paul, the woman realizes that the man she met was not Lester. They had obviously tricked her. After the woman leaves, the girls hope they are never that gullible, stupid, or desperate and hope they never meet those guys.
When Lester calls to check up on Alice, she tells him about the woman. Lester has an idea of the jerks who might have done that to the woman who he feels sorry for. Alice then decides to tell Lester about Crystal’s letter. Lester asks if she opened it and Alice says no. Lester then instructs her to write “Return to Sender” and to mail it back to Crystal. Alice asks Lester if he is curious as to what Crystal might want and Lester tells her this is Crystal’s second letter to him. He wishes he never opened the first one. Basically, Lester tells Alice, Crystal is someone who wants something she cannot have and she needs to learn to work through her problems, whatever they may be.
The rest of the week is uneventful. Keeno comes over to see Elizabeth and they sit in his car. Austin calls Gwen. The girls spend Saturday cleaning the apartment to get it ready for Lester’s return. After they finish, the phone rings. Alice picks up the phone and it’s Crystal. She wonders why her letter got returned to her and Alice tells her she did what Lester told her to do. Alice then tells her that Lester told her she needs to work out her problems with Peter and that she always wants what she cannot have. Crystal thinks the reason Lester is being this way is because he might have a girlfriend. Alice tells her that she does not know all the details of Lester’s personal life, but if he wanted to send back her letter, then he most likely meant it. When Crystal says that things would not be this way if she married Lester, Alice does not answer. Crystal ends up thanking Alice for being honest and tells her to tell Lester that Crystal says good-bye.
The next day, Mr. Watts tells the girls he was sad to see them go because they provided a lot of fun moments. Lester calls Alice and thanks her for watching the apartment.
As summer was reaching the middle of August, Alice just wanted to be busy again pitching ideas for The Edge to keep her mind off Patrick. The regular group all worked during the day and met up during the evenings to hang out. They were enjoying it before the rush of senior year. Alice remarks to Sylvia how glad she is to see Elizabeth having fun again, especially with Keeno. The last part of the chapter is broken down in time. 6pm: Close up shop at the Melody Inn. 6:30pm: Sylvia makes chicken and Alice and Ben make salad. 7pm: They eat dinner and Ben serves them ice cream. 8pm: Patrick calls and they talk for twenty minutes. 8:22pm: As Alice heads downstairs, the phone rings. Ben calls to her to pick up the phone. When Alice answers the phone, she hears sobbing on the other line. It’s Elizabeth. Mark has died. The accident happened around 6:30pm. Both girls are crying uncontrollably. Alice sinks to the floor. She feels like she cannot listen to the rest, but knows she has to. Liz tells her Mark was waiting to make a left turn behind an SUV when a truck came from behind and did not stop. Mark was trapped. As both girls continue to cry, Ben and Sylvia walk in. Ben yells Alice’s name when he sees her on the floor. All Alice can do is say, “Oh, Daddy! Mark’s dead.”
MY TAKE: The end of this chapter was shocking. I knew someone was going to die, but I never suspected it would be Mark. As I read what happened, my whole body felt paralyzed. I felt how Alice and Liz were feeling. Shock. Sadness. Uncontrollable grief. Just when we were beginning to learn more about Mark and see him become more of a good, decent person, his life ends so quickly. I know this is a fictional book, but as I have said before, I have grown up with Alice and to see her lose one of her good friends is simply tragic. I felt like I lost one of my close friends. Mrs. Naylor has written this series so well that this part of the book is so emotional for me that it is hard for me to even type this. I even had tears in my own eyes.
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