One of Us Is Next

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prelude-Chapter 6

Chapters 7-11

Chapters 12-15

Interlude-Chapter 20

Chapters 21-25

Chapters 26-30

Chapters 31-34

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Maeve’s Superstitions

Maeve’s narration is intertwined with her own personal battle with leukemia. At the start of the novel, Maeve leans on her tendency toward superstitions in the effort to find comfort and security in her uncertain and scary battle with cancer. For example, Maeve spills salt while sitting at Café Contigo, and immediately throws a pinch of it over her shoulder. She learned this trait from her grandmother, Ita, who gifted her a lucky bracelet and who taught her that when clocks are stopped, “Time is literally standing still” (64). Through these superstitions and good luck charms, Maeve establishes a sense of security amidst the uncertainty of her cancer and her future. She continues to partake in these good luck charms and mannerisms but uses them, not just to find solace with her leukemia but with the entirety of her major life decisions. These superstitions come to represent Maeve’s inability to take control and an active role in her own life.

Maeve’s superstitions foreshadow certain events. For example, when the reader first meets Maeve, she is at Café Contigo watching Cooper play baseball. Unfortunately, Cooper and his team lose, and Maeve becomes uneasy about what this lose may mean. Maeve locks eyes with Nate, Bronwyn’s boyfriend, who looks at her as if to say, “It doesn’t mean anything, Maeve It’s just a game” (16). This nonchalant attitude and downplay foreshadows the game to come and the damage it will cause to the characters involved. However by the end of the novel, Maeve acts against these superstitions even if they prove her desires futile. This determination is seen when Maeve tries to make amends with Knox at the auditorium. She counts the stage lights and thinks, “If it’s an even number, Knox will forgive me today. Ten, eleven, twelve…thirteen […] Doubly unlucky” (123). While Knox does not forgive Maeve that day, she takes a massive step on her own part toward a reconciliation with Knox: she deletes Unknown’s number from her phone. Ultimately, she mends her friendship with Knox, and Maeve learns that she must take an active role in her life to find happiness.

Luis assist Maeve in her evolution, helping her to find meaning within herself as opposed to looking for superstitions around her. It is not until Maeve insults Luis and agrees to tell her parents to receive testing, that she understands that she must let go of her superstitious crutch she has used all her life. After receiving negative test results, Maeve decides to change the way she approaches life. She finally holds herself accountable for her actions, and the superstitions are never mentioned again.

The Construction Site

The construction site between the Bayview mall and the bus station will be a parking garage once it is finished. Its central location causes many to take a shortcut through the site on their way to downtown. Knox cuts through the dangerous construction zone numerous times throughout the novel. He does so to avoid being late to his internship at Until Proven, to overcome his fear of heights, and to exert a level of control and dominance over his father, whose company, Myers Construction, is bidding on the site. Knox treats the construction zone as a place to exercise his individuality and experiment with his self-image. Knox feels unwanted by his father, who is a symbol of masculinity, and remains conflicted about his relationship with Maeve, another instance where his manhood is questioned. Knox thinks as he cuts through the site, “now it’s a well-known shortcut from the mall to downtown. Which, to be clear, my dad would kill me for taking. But he’s not here and even if he were, he pays less attention to me than Eli does” (31). The resentment Knox feels toward his father for not including him in the family business has sparked a desire to rebel against construction safety protocols.

The construction site mediates Knox’s self-exploration, which he outgrows once he realizes that bravery and courage are within everyone. After saving Ashton and Eli’s rehearsal dinner from Jared’s homemade bomb, Knox finally stands up to his father in a mature and firm manner. Knox has no need for the construction site anymore, and he moves onward from his desire to become like the stereotypical man he feels society has pressured him to pursue.

Knox also bears witness to Brandon Weber’s death on the roof of the site, a fate that could have been Knox’s own had Brandon not been issued the dare. With so many teenagers treating the construction site as a cut-through to the bus station, and more importantly, a safe place to explore, the site becomes a social escape for pushing boundaries that are expected to be respected.

Social Media

Social media places a central role in the novel as it is exploited and leads to the death of Brandon Weber, the alcohol poisoning of Emma Lawton, and numerous other harmful events. The students at Bayview High refuse to turn in Unknown due to the principal’s no-tolerance policy against bullying. Instead of losing their phones, they would rather engage with Unknown. Many characters measure their self-worth from social media, and the reader sees this notion in Monica, who feels left-out when she isn’t issued a dare. She says, “Who or what does a girl have to do to get a freaking Dare around here?” (177). Jules also uses the Truth or Dare game to leverage popularity while simultaneously failing to comfort Phoebe. The game bullies the students who have secrets revealed about them. Phoebe and Knox have their sexual histories exposed. A dichotomy is created where those who accept Dare and take an active role in the game, are rewarded, whereas those who refuse to play are punished for their inactivity. Emma Lawton reveals at the end of the novel, that such an approach was intended to encourage Brandon Weber to take the dare. The manipulative nature of social media, to distort reality and perspectives, is put on full display.

In the second half of the novel, this dichotomy is turned on its head as Phoebe, Knox, and Maeve band together. The three realize that social media and gossip only have as much power as they give it. This realization is strong for Phoebe, who originally decides to not engage with the Truth or Dare game. After her secret is made public, she reflects on second chances when she sees Addy, who is the “queen of second chances, and right now I really need the reminder that those exist” (53). Phoebe sits by a park and scrolls through her texts and thinks that one mistake shouldn’t condemn a person for life. By the end of the novel, Phoebe has blocked Unknown herself and encouraged others to do the same. Phoebe tells Maeve

Whoever’s behind Truth or Dare is on a massive power trip. And the thing is we’re giving them that power. By caring. Reacting. Spending all our time worrying about who’s next and what’s true. We’re feeding the beast and I, for one am done (121).

This realization provides Phoebe with a kind of armor against all the bullying she receives at school.

Café Contigo

Café Contigo serves as a social and communal space for the entire Bayview community. The novel opens with multiple generations from Bayview High congregating at Café Contigo to cheer on Cooper Clay, one of the Bayview Four. Ashton Prentiss’s bachelorette party also takes place at the café and it is Maeve’s most frequented spot. As such, it becomes a place where secrets originate and are shared. Phoebe has this very realization at the end of the novel, when she thinks, “My lonely brother hanging out at Café Contigo, where Maeve told Bronwyn what happened between her and Knox” (284). Café Contigo becomes a favorite spot for the locals, one rife with gossip and rumors. The café holds a social aspect that leaves its customers vulnerable. Phoebe experiences such vulnerability when she begins to be stalked at the café during her work shifts as a waitress. Jared Jackson, dubbed as Intense Guy, goes to Café Contigo in search of Phoebe, ultimately leaving her a threatening letter. In this way, all social platforms—physically or online—have an aspect of vulnerability and danger.

Café Contigo also becomes a foil for the Truth or Dare game. While the texting game is completely online, it has its roots in physical interactions and conversations. Some of these interactions happen physically at the café before they are shared online. The café provides a sense of security for the characters as they can see who they’re around and who they’re dealing with, versus a terrorizer who hides behind anonymity online. The café even provides a sense of cultural appreciation as it serves Latino dishes that comfort its customers. The online space in which the Truth or Dare game originates only serves to isolate and divide, with no regard to individuality unless it is weaponized for harm. However, the two share commonalities, such as an overlap of generations, sharing a physical space, and it is not affiliated with Bayview High. Most importantly, both the online space and the café foster an atmosphere ripe for the sharing of secrets.