Jersey Bound at 3543 Words

Not much going on in the novel, but the first surprise (to me) of the novel is that Annalise has decided to take Ethan with her to New Jersey. She was dropping him off at his father's pristine suburban home when she had a lengthy memory interlude that made her change her mind. For context for these excerpts, Brock Hartfield is Ethan's father. Emily is his wife (and Ethan's stepmother).

Brock and Emily turned their attention to Ethan, who accepted their expressions of affection with only slight embarrassment. Though at times Ethan was eerily similar to her in temperament, it was moments such as this one that she felt such gratitude that he had lived such a different life. Her heart felt painfully full each time she realized that Ethan accepted that to be loved was his birthright, and he wore it naturally, with an ease she had never managed to imitate. 

Annalise paused, and considered the scene unfolding before her- the white smiles, the expensive clothes, the beautiful home. Her son looked perfectly suited to this scene- and standing between Brock, darkly handsome and polished, and his wife Emily, blonde, poised, authentically happy, she thought he looked as though he could have been their son, and not hers. For a moment, she felt that she was on the outside of a bubble, a perfect, beautiful, shining bubble. One that would burst if she moved too quickly, or spoke too loud, or stepped too close. She didn’t belong here.

Emily shouldered Ethan’s backpack, and Brock took hold of Ethan’s suitcase as the three of them began to walk toward the front door, and Annalise’s feeling of alienation deepened. The moment broke when Ethan turned toward her, a look on his face that she recognized from the many times she had dropped him off at this house over the years. Something passed between them, an unspoken communication. He didn’t belong here either.

After much more time of standing in the driveway thinking (memories sure occupy a helpful number of words...) she makes a decision.

“You know what? Change of plan,” she said firmly, prepared to dismantle any objections that Brock or Emily might have. “Ethan is coming with me.” Ethan looked mildly surprised, but not as shocked as she had anticipated. Brock and Emily trailed behind them, ineffectually raising mild concern, but she could tell their hearts weren’t in it.

“You will call the school and explain,” she said pointedly to Brock, who agreed instantly. His willingness to go along with whatever she wanted was one his more useful, if infuriating, qualities.

They returned Ethan’s things to the trunk of the car, and resumed their regular exchange of pleasantries: a warm goodbye, an assurance that they would call when they landed, a wave out the window as Annalise backed out of the driveway. Ethan looked at her, his eyebrows raised with an unspoken question. She shook her head, unable to explain the feeling that had overtaken her. She was grateful when he accepted this without further question, put his earbuds back in his ears, and gazed out the window.

She was unable to explain to Ethan, or even herself, what had happened, or why. She still couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that had settled in the pit of her stomach, but something told her that she had made the right decision by bringing Ethan with her. Whatever Jersey threw at them, they would face it together.