Unfriended

The school sends Clay’s parents an email about his lackluster math performance, and his father tells him he can’t succeed only by his “charm.” He sends Clay to his room, and Clay sends Brooke a selfie with the letter x on his eyes and a blue frown on his mouth.

Brooke calls Clay, and Clay wonders if Brooke is calling him while she’s “pooping.” She isn’t, but the bathroom is one place where she has privacy. She tells Clay to stop comparing himself to JT and to take ownership of his choices. Clay should do his homework. After speaking with Brooke, he “hangs out” on FaceTime with JT.

Natasha’s plan worked. She posted the question on tellmethetruth.com, and she posted hateful comments so people would think the author was Truly. The plan was a “boom.”

Natasha’s mother sees what’s happening, and Natasha lets her mother believe Truly posted the contemptuous comments. Natasha’s mother excoriates Truly and shows Natasha photos that Truly just posted. These posts claim Truly and the girls “love” Natasha. Natasha’s mother wants to “hit back.” Natasha suggests planting rumors.

Truly has a carnivalesque dream that reflects her alienation from the popular kids, and she wonders if they were ever her true friends: Maybe she was a “moral experiment.” Truly admits that she left Hazel for a “better offer” and that she feels like she’s worked hard for the things she’s had. Truly doesn’t want to apologize for her success. At the same time, she remembers the odious voice in her dream, saying that the name “Truly” doesn’t fit her anymore.

Lulu says Natasha’s mother is tracing the comments, and Natasha’s mother is 99% certain that the comments belong to Truly. Truly left nice comments, but under Truly’s comments, there are comments asserting that Truly wrote the mean comments, too.

Brooke sees Truly sitting with Clay. Brooke claims she doesn’t care about their closeness. Evangeline thinks Truly used Jack and is now ditching him for Clay. As Lulu walks by Truly, she calls Truly a “slut.”

When Clay arrives at school, he wants to discuss last night’s phone conversation, but Brooke is engrossed with her girlfriends by the wall, so he sits with Truly, who’s by herself. The girls go by, and Clay thinks Lulu calls him a “slut.” Clay blames Natasha for telling Lulu more “crap” about him.

Truly offers Clay a quote from President Harry Truman: “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog” (292). Clay is confused, and Truly tells him she’s thinking about friendships. She also tells him the meaning behind the word “algebra.” Truly feels like a collection of “broken parts.”

Jack confronts Clay about Truly. Jack likes Truly and doesn’t want Clay to plot against her. People believe Truly wrote the comments under Natasha’s post, but Jack knows she didn’t. Clay assures Jack he has no devious plans for Truly. Jack notices Clay repeats the word “plotting” like he’s saying “pooping.”

Though the popular girls express sympathy for Natasha, they don’t invite her to sit at the popular table. Looking for an ally, Natasha speaks to Marilicia, who sits at a table with her “weird friends.” Natasha issues a belated apology and suggests going for a walk.

Marilicia and her friends laugh at Natasha. Marilicia calls Natasha an “asshole” and declares that Natasha isn’t a “perfect peach.” Natasha doesn’t understand the metaphor, but Marilicia continues to scold Natasha. She refers to the popular milieu as “Samesville.” Once, she would’ve given a minor organ to be with the popular group, but she realizes the popular crowd is toxic. Marilicia likes the friends she has now.

Natasha admits that Marilicia looks comfortable with herself. She also likes Marilicia’s boots. Marilicia believes the popular group can’t see the wonderful world due to their focus on their trivial conflicts. Natasha remembers working with Marilicia on the sixth-grade science fair project: They got an A+. Now, Natasha thinks Marilicia is deceiving herself. Natasha believes Marilicia still wants to sit with the popular kids.

Truly wanders the halls alone and counts the minutes—172—till school ends. She’d hide in the C stairwell, but she’s too worried about getting suspended to risk it. Truly feels “stuck.”

Hazel’s revenge plot worked out well since it helped isolate Truly from the popular group. If Hazel was a “bad guy” who wanted to take over the world, she’d be issuing an “evil cackle.” Yet Hazel concedes vulnerability. She wanted to comfort Truly—seeing Truly’s attempts to appear fine broke Hazel’s heart—but Hazel didn’t want Truly to reject her again. Hazel admits her friends don’t inspire her, and their interactions mainly consist of perfunctory congratulations about their various achievements.

Hazel’s grandmother will enter a nursing home, and Hazel’s parents continue to get along. Hazel takes a selfie and jokingly writes that Brooke should come over again, with no deaths this time. She sends it to Brooke, but Brooke doesn’t reply. She thinks about sending Truly a text telling her to stop looking hurt and sad, but she doesn’t.

Natasha believes everybody wants to be “on top,” but people go about it differently. Jack expresses his desire to conquer through his physical strength, while Brooke dominates with niceness. Marilicia and Hazel acquire power by presenting themselves as not caring about it. Natasha argues that people inevitably get jealous, and people like to present themselves as unique, but most people are unremarkable.

Natasha praises her mother for raising her differently. She knows she doesn’t have many outstanding traits. Yet Natasha and her mother work together. Natasha quickly creates new social media accounts, and her mother helps her figure out what to say about Truly. Natasha also posts the “sexy” photos she took of Truly a few weeks ago.