Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World

Before going to bed, Ari writes in his journal. He writes about his sisters moving and his mother’s comment that life can change very quickly. He addresses Dante and tells him “you changed my life and changed its direction” (140). He writes about how Cassandra is a new friend, even though she has always been an enemy. Just like that, Cassandra has become an important figure in Ari’s life. Ari himself feels different, though he is not just how to describe it.

Ari goes for a run and does a lot of thinking. When he returns, he tells his mother he wants to invite Gina and Susie over so he can come out to them. Lilly tells him she is proud of him and promises to cook something special.

Ari calls Dante and tells him the plan, wanting him to be present for the occasion.

Ari takes a deep breath and calls Susie. She is pleasantly surprised to be hearing from him, since he has never called her before. When he invites her and Gina over for lunch, Susie gets emotional. She admits to Ari that she has always wanted to be his friend, and that his loneliness always made her sad. She tells him that she and Gina have tried hard to be close to him, and always felt discouraged when he brushed them off. For the first time, Ari thinks it is sweet that Susie is so sensitive. She promises to bring Gina over for lunch around noon.

When he hangs up, Ari is trembling. He realizes that what he is about to do is a big step, and he is afraid. He is so nervous he runs to the bathroom and pukes.

After calming down, Ari takes some deep breaths and thinks about Dante to steady himself.

Before the girls come over, Ari and Dante sit on the front steps. Ari tells Dante all about his past with Cassandra, and how they are friends now.

When the girls arrive, Ari introduces them to Dante, who hugs them warmly. They have some playful back and forth and the girls decide quickly that they like Dante.

Inside, Lilly joins the kids for lunch. The girls are very appreciative of her cooking before turning to Ari to ask why he invited them over. Ari tells Gina and Susie that he is gay, and that Dante is his boyfriend. Gina and Susie are immediately both emotional and supportive.

Soon Gina and Susie are asking Dante about his relationship with Ari, and he is more than happy to indulge them. In the middle of the gathering Jaime comes in, surprised to see such a lively scene in his kitchen. Jaime asks Susie to return some books he borrowed to her father, at which point Ari learns that Jaime and Susie’s father other exchange and chat about books.

When they clear the table, Ari offers to do the dishes for the first time in his life.

After lunch, Gina and Susie offer to take Dante home. Ari can already tell that he will be one of their favorite people.

When they leave, Ari looks down at Legs and tells her he loves her, wondering why it was so easy for him to say those words to a dog and so hard to say it to people.

At Diego’s funeral, Dante and Ari sit next to Jaime, with Susie and Gina on the other side. The service was a typical funeral Mass, but bigger. There were a lot of young men in attendance who all sat at the back of the church with a lot of sadness in their eyes. It made Ari angry to think that they may not have felt welcomed in the church.

After the funeral, Ari and Dante are quiet. Ari had only seen Cassandra once during the service when she walked down the aisle with her mother. Ari motioned to Susie and Gina, and they all went and stood next to Cassandra. She took Ari’s hand and thanked her friends for having her back.

Ari writes a journal in which he writes about how he is nervous about the upcoming school year.

On the first day of school, Ari joins his friends before the first bell. He starts a debate among the girls when he catcalls one of them to get their attention. He tries to argue that his catcalling them is harmless given that he is gay, but they agree that the act itself is still deplorable.

On the second day of school, Ari gets into a fight. A group of people are bullying a boy named Rico when Ari decides to stand up for him. Ari is fighting the group on his own when a boy named Danny comes to his aid; together they take the whole group down. Danny tells the guys to leave Rico alone or he will beat them again.

After they make sure Rico is okay, Ari asks Danny how he knows Rico. Danny says Rico is a friend of his sister’s, and that Rico is gay. Danny knows Ari as the guy who beat up one of his friends, but he asserts that the beating was justified given his friend’s anti-gay violence.

When they part ways, Ari feels like he can trust Danny.

Noticing Ari’s bloody knuckles, Mr. Blocker keeps Ari after class to ask what happened. Mr. Blocker tells Ari that when he was a teenager, he was a champion boxer, and that Ari is not the only one who likes to “turn to his fists to get him through the hard times” (171).

In the nurse’s office, Ari meets Mrs. Ortiz, the school nurse. He learns that she is an old friend of his mother’s. Mrs. Ortiz tells Ari he has his mother’s eyes, which she immediately recognized. She tells Ari his mother is a wonderful woman.

Ari is sitting by himself at lunch when he is joined by Susie, Gina, and Cassandra. They cannot help but notice his black eye. Ari mentions that Danny fought with him too, and Cassandra recognizes Danny as the one boy at school who she respects.

Cassandra spots Amanda Alvidrez, who she claims is just as bad as her mother. Wanting to keep up a certain pretense, Cassandra kisses Ari’s hands, as if they are dating. Cassandra tells Ari he should be grateful that she is making him the center of attention in the cafeteria. The girls all tell him that despite his efforts to be invisible, he has always attracted attention.

One of Ari’s teachers, Mrs. Flores, is right out of college. She is very smart, and Ari thinks of her as an angel. On the first day in her class, she and Ari have some playful banter. After class, one of Ari’s classmates, Hector, comes up to him and tells him he is different this year, not so socially disengaged as he usually is. Another classmate, Elena, agrees that Ari seems different. Another boy, Julio, joins in on the fun and shakes Ari’s hand.

Mrs. Ardovino was very formal about how she carried herself. When she sees Ari’s bandaged hands, she becomes concerned about his ability to take notes and wonders if he should record the lecture with a tape recorder. They have some back and forth before Ari tells her that he got into a fight, but that his hands will be fine within a day or two. Ari’s classmates are amused by his performance, which Mrs. Ardovino eventually picks up on. She scolds the class for laughing at her, and Ari feels guilty. After class, Ari apologizes to her. Unexpectedly, she starts giggling; she tells Ari she herself thought their exchange was funny. Ari tells her she is an interesting lady. She tells him she retired two years ago but was offered this last-minute gig when the initially hired teacher had to go on maternity leave. She admits that her husband tried to talk her out of it, concerned that she would make a fool of herself. She realizes now that she should have turned down the offer. Ari is blown away by her honesty and vulnerability.

At the end of the school day, Ari finds Cassandra waiting at his truck. She offers to drive him home, after which Gina will give her a lift home. Ari tries to argue with her but is unsuccessful.

When Cassandra pulls into Ari’s driveway, he tells her she is a good driver. When Cassandra suggests the comment is based on an intrinsic belief that girls are bad at driving, he dismisses her assumption. He tells her that he does not spend much time thinking about what girls do; when she points out that he only thinks that way because he is gay, Ari gets upset. He is not sure why, but he starts crying. Cassandra starts crying too, upset at the thought of having offended him.

At home, Lilly is upset with Ari for getting into a fight. He tries to explain himself, but she insists that fighting is never the answer.

While hanging out at Dante’s, Ari asks Dante if he thinks Cassandra became a woman too soon. Dante offers, “I think she decided not to be anybody’s victim” (187). Ari tells him that he feels a powerful connection to her, which he assumes bothers Dante. Ari assures Dante that there is no reason to feel threatened by Cassandra, and that what he feels for her is not sexual.

Sometimes Ari likes to go to the Charcoaler alone to grab a bite to eat. One day he pulls up and sees Gina doing the same thing. She greets him and tells him she loves to stop by for a burger and listen to music in her car sometimes. When she finishes her burger, she waves goodbye to Ari.

Ari realizes that each one of his friends is different, and “each friend knows something about you that your other friends don’t know” (188). Ari is beginning to learn a lot about friendship, and he is enjoying himself in the process.