Hush, Hush: Chapter 11
ZeldaQueen: In which Nora's IQ continues to drop
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 11
ZeldaQueen: Nora is in Biology class, and astonishingly we do not get some incredibly sexist talk form the teacher. Instead, she notes with anxiety that Patch isn't in class and could very well have something to do with Vee's attack. There's another part of her that dismisses those thoughts and while I know that Fitzpatrick has a point when she says that there are a million legitimate reasons that Patch could be skipping class, by this point in the story I'd think he's just as likely to skip class to attack a girl as he would be to call out sick.
At the end of class, the teacher gives Nora a note from one Miss Greene. Nora is confused, as the school has no Miss Greene teaching, but apparently this woman has taken over as the new psychologist and is sending Nora a note to come and make up those two therapy sessions she missed. Nora trots on over to the office, and we are abruptly introduced to Miss Greene
"Miss Greene had flawless pale skin, sea blue eyes, a lush mouth, and fine, straight blond hair that tumbled past her elbows. It was parted at thecrown of her oval-shaped face. A pair of turquoise cat's-eye glasses sat at the tip of her nose, and she was dressed formally in a gray herring bone pencil skirt and a pink silk blouse. Her figure was willowy but feminine. She couldn't have been more than five years older than me"
ZeldaQueen: Gee, do you guys think Fitzpatrick had the hot anime secretary look in mind? *rolls eyes*
Nora heads on in and has a seat, and there's a lot of pointless description about how the office used to look and how it looks now. Given that this is the first of...maybe two times Nora has therapy sessions in this book, I don't care. I'm also not entirely certain if this is some sort of clumsy foreshadowing for Miss Greene, who Nora quickly takes a disliking too. You see, she - le gasp - tries to talk to Nora about her mother's job and That's Terrible. Nora tells us "I hadn't exactly loved my sessions with Dr. Hendrickson, but I found myself resenting him for retiring and abandoning me to Miss Greene. I was starting to get a feel for her, and she seemed attentive to detail. I sensed her itching to dig into every dark corner of my life".
First of all, I have no idea idea what her sessions with Dr. Hendrickson were like and thus there is no basis for comparison and thus I do not give a fuck.
Second of all, oh yes a psychologist wants to discuss stuff about your life the horror! I mean, how out of line for them! It's not like you were told to have sessions with her because of stuff in your personal life! And I might chalk this up to a case of unreliable narrator, with Nora being pissy because she doesn't want to face what's going on, but that her behavior is definitely unhealthy, except that I know where this all goes. Suffice to say that it reads pretty much like Meyer's opinion of Charlie telling Bella to move on past Edward and see a therapist in New Moon.
Anyway, Miss Greene starts going on about how lonely Nora must be in her life annnnnd I think I know where this is going. Nora defensively says that she has the housekeeper in the evenings, and Miss Greene points out that that's hardly someone like a friend or mother. She then asks if Nora has any best friends or boyfriends. Fantastic, now we're moving towards Patch again. *head desk*
Nora tells her about Vee and Miss Greene drops all pretenses and specifically asks if Nora has a boyfriend, noting "You're an attractive girl. I imagine there must be some interest from the opposite sex". Ummm...people, I've never seen a psychologist, so help me out. Is sidling into inappropriate territory, or is that just my lack of knowledge?
Oh, and Nora's still pissy
"'Here's the thing,' I said as patiently as possible. 'I really appreciate that you're trying to help me, but I had this exact conversation with Dr. Hendrickson a year ago when my dad died. Rehashing it with you isn't helping. It's like going back in time and reliving it all over again. Yes, it was tragic and horrible, and I'm still dealing with it every day, but what I really need is to move on.'"
ZeldaQueen: Dude, reliving what? She asked you about whether or not you're being left alone with no one to confide to! She didn't ask you about your father's death and for all she knows, your home circumstances have changed since you last had that conversation!
Miss Greene gives a generic "thank you for telling me how you feel" response and makes a note of this all. Nora stands up and says that she's sorry she has to cut things short, but she has to be somewhere. Oh, that must be one of those two-second therapy sessions I've heard so much about. Miss Greene says, and I quote, "Oh?", and for some reason Nora acts like she has to respond to that and gets even more pissed. And while yes, I'll admit that Nora shouldn't have to tell the woman everything, I fail to see why she's so suspicious and distrustful of her. Granted the boyfriend thing was a tad creepy, but she asked just a few questions, which I'd hardly call probing for her innermost secrets!
Anyway, Nora feels the need to lie about her destination, so she says that she has to go to the library for Biology homework. Miss Greene notes how Nora seems to be doing very well in her classes (I guess we'll take her word for that, since we've seen no evidence of it) and apparently has a note saying that Nora "agreed" to tutor Patch. I think that this moment is the only reason for that stupid tutoring thing to have been put into the book, because otherwise it serves no purpose at all to the plot. So yeah, here goes.
""To give you fair warning, I'm going to talk with Mr. McConaughy and see about setting some parameters for your tutoring sessions. I'd like all meetings to be held here at school, under the direct supervision of ateacher or other faculty member. I don't want you tutoring Patch off school property. I especially don't want the two of you meeting alone.'
A chill tiptoed along my skin. 'Why? What's going on?'
'I can't discuss it.'
The only reason I could think why she didn't want me alone with Patch was that he was dangerous. My past might frighten you, he'd said on the loading platform of the Archangel."
ZeldaQueen: *scrunches face* Okay folks, yes, that bit there? That's supposed to be foreshadowing. You can tell it's supposed to be foreshadowing, because that's got to be the most random conclusion Nora could come to.
Nora has made it more than obvious that Patch makes her uncomfortable. She told the teacher he makes her feel threatened and unsafe. There was that horrible class when Patch sexually harassed her and Vee showed signs of intelligence and condemned his actions. Nora has done nothing but tell everyone how Patch freaks her out and she hates him. Now, we have the school psychologist saying that she's going to talk to the teacher and see to it that Nora and Patch aren't going to be left alone together, which is perhaps the wisest thing someone's said thus far.
What's Nora's conclusion? She's frightened because it looks like he might be dangerous. And there's the implication that Miss Greene knows something other people don't.
...What? Why is "Patch could be dangerous" such a revelation? Wouldn't it occur to Nora that someone concerned about her wellbeing told the new psychologist what Patch was doing to her? Why is this treated like some vaguely mystical and weird reveal?
Whatever. We get some pointless descriptions of Nora kicking around the library, before she goes to the hospital to see Vee. Apparently Vee actually had her left arm broken, and was just getting out of surgery. While at the library, Nora goes to the online database for old theater reviews and has the idea to Google Patch's name. She's instantly confused because "I frowned at the search results. Nothing. No Facebook, no MySpace, no blog. It was like he didn't exist". Oh my God, how terrifying! No blog or Facebook! That definitely makes him an unperson! I mean, it's not like there just aren't people who don't have those things! Or, I don't know, that he has an online name! Lord. I must not exist, if that's the case. Sorry guys, apparently you're reading sporkings by a ghost.
Anyway, this leads to her poking around old newspapers and this leads to her finding a headline saying that Elliot Horn was a suspect in a murder case. What.
"A sixteen-year-old Kinghorn Preparatory student who police were questioning in what has been dubbed 'The Kinghorn Hanging' has been released without charge. After eighteen-year-old Kjirsten Halverson's body was found hanging from a tree on the wooded campus of Kinghorn Prep, police questioned sophomore Elliot Saunders, who was seen with the victim on the night of her death"
ZeldaQueen: Oh, of course. If a guy seems nice, he's actually a murderer. What a lovely moral!
And speak of the Devil, Elliot shows up right behind Nora. Apparently he has figured out that she knows his secret, because this guy has abandoned any sense of niceness and is now in Total Douche Mode (TDM). His eyes are narrow and his voice is cold and he gets right up next to Nora, freaking her out, and starts asking her what she's been up to. She manages to poke the button that shuts off the computer monitor and then tries to run by saying that she has to get something to eat and get home. He urges her to have dinner with him and to call her mother and lie to her about homework keeping her late. You know, the sort of thing Our Hero Patch encourages her to do. *cough*
Nora makes a stand and tells him that her mother won't like her going out with a strange boy, and Elliot points out that she's a hypocrite seeing as she went out with him to the amusement park just that Saturday. Now if Elliot really wanted to win some points, he'd remind Nora how she's been flouncing around with Patch, who at no point in the book ever had the excuse of being safe to be around. Instead of that happening, Nora grabs her backpack and flees the room. When she looks back, Elliot is gone. She prints the page about the murder investigation and heads off to visit Vee in the hospital
Onward to: Chapter 12
Back to: Chapter 10
Return to to: Table of Contents
Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...
Chapter 11
ZeldaQueen: Nora is in Biology class, and astonishingly we do not get some incredibly sexist talk form the teacher. Instead, she notes with anxiety that Patch isn't in class and could very well have something to do with Vee's attack. There's another part of her that dismisses those thoughts and while I know that Fitzpatrick has a point when she says that there are a million legitimate reasons that Patch could be skipping class, by this point in the story I'd think he's just as likely to skip class to attack a girl as he would be to call out sick.
At the end of class, the teacher gives Nora a note from one Miss Greene. Nora is confused, as the school has no Miss Greene teaching, but apparently this woman has taken over as the new psychologist and is sending Nora a note to come and make up those two therapy sessions she missed. Nora trots on over to the office, and we are abruptly introduced to Miss Greene
"Miss Greene had flawless pale skin, sea blue eyes, a lush mouth, and fine, straight blond hair that tumbled past her elbows. It was parted at thecrown of her oval-shaped face. A pair of turquoise cat's-eye glasses sat at the tip of her nose, and she was dressed formally in a gray herring bone pencil skirt and a pink silk blouse. Her figure was willowy but feminine. She couldn't have been more than five years older than me"
ZeldaQueen: Gee, do you guys think Fitzpatrick had the hot anime secretary look in mind? *rolls eyes*
Nora heads on in and has a seat, and there's a lot of pointless description about how the office used to look and how it looks now. Given that this is the first of...maybe two times Nora has therapy sessions in this book, I don't care. I'm also not entirely certain if this is some sort of clumsy foreshadowing for Miss Greene, who Nora quickly takes a disliking too. You see, she - le gasp - tries to talk to Nora about her mother's job and That's Terrible. Nora tells us "I hadn't exactly loved my sessions with Dr. Hendrickson, but I found myself resenting him for retiring and abandoning me to Miss Greene. I was starting to get a feel for her, and she seemed attentive to detail. I sensed her itching to dig into every dark corner of my life".
First of all, I have no idea idea what her sessions with Dr. Hendrickson were like and thus there is no basis for comparison and thus I do not give a fuck.
Second of all, oh yes a psychologist wants to discuss stuff about your life the horror! I mean, how out of line for them! It's not like you were told to have sessions with her because of stuff in your personal life! And I might chalk this up to a case of unreliable narrator, with Nora being pissy because she doesn't want to face what's going on, but that her behavior is definitely unhealthy, except that I know where this all goes. Suffice to say that it reads pretty much like Meyer's opinion of Charlie telling Bella to move on past Edward and see a therapist in New Moon.
Anyway, Miss Greene starts going on about how lonely Nora must be in her life annnnnd I think I know where this is going. Nora defensively says that she has the housekeeper in the evenings, and Miss Greene points out that that's hardly someone like a friend or mother. She then asks if Nora has any best friends or boyfriends. Fantastic, now we're moving towards Patch again. *head desk*
Nora tells her about Vee and Miss Greene drops all pretenses and specifically asks if Nora has a boyfriend, noting "You're an attractive girl. I imagine there must be some interest from the opposite sex". Ummm...people, I've never seen a psychologist, so help me out. Is sidling into inappropriate territory, or is that just my lack of knowledge?
Oh, and Nora's still pissy
"'Here's the thing,' I said as patiently as possible. 'I really appreciate that you're trying to help me, but I had this exact conversation with Dr. Hendrickson a year ago when my dad died. Rehashing it with you isn't helping. It's like going back in time and reliving it all over again. Yes, it was tragic and horrible, and I'm still dealing with it every day, but what I really need is to move on.'"
ZeldaQueen: Dude, reliving what? She asked you about whether or not you're being left alone with no one to confide to! She didn't ask you about your father's death and for all she knows, your home circumstances have changed since you last had that conversation!
Miss Greene gives a generic "thank you for telling me how you feel" response and makes a note of this all. Nora stands up and says that she's sorry she has to cut things short, but she has to be somewhere. Oh, that must be one of those two-second therapy sessions I've heard so much about. Miss Greene says, and I quote, "Oh?", and for some reason Nora acts like she has to respond to that and gets even more pissed. And while yes, I'll admit that Nora shouldn't have to tell the woman everything, I fail to see why she's so suspicious and distrustful of her. Granted the boyfriend thing was a tad creepy, but she asked just a few questions, which I'd hardly call probing for her innermost secrets!
Anyway, Nora feels the need to lie about her destination, so she says that she has to go to the library for Biology homework. Miss Greene notes how Nora seems to be doing very well in her classes (I guess we'll take her word for that, since we've seen no evidence of it) and apparently has a note saying that Nora "agreed" to tutor Patch. I think that this moment is the only reason for that stupid tutoring thing to have been put into the book, because otherwise it serves no purpose at all to the plot. So yeah, here goes.
""To give you fair warning, I'm going to talk with Mr. McConaughy and see about setting some parameters for your tutoring sessions. I'd like all meetings to be held here at school, under the direct supervision of ateacher or other faculty member. I don't want you tutoring Patch off school property. I especially don't want the two of you meeting alone.'
A chill tiptoed along my skin. 'Why? What's going on?'
'I can't discuss it.'
The only reason I could think why she didn't want me alone with Patch was that he was dangerous. My past might frighten you, he'd said on the loading platform of the Archangel."
ZeldaQueen: *scrunches face* Okay folks, yes, that bit there? That's supposed to be foreshadowing. You can tell it's supposed to be foreshadowing, because that's got to be the most random conclusion Nora could come to.
Nora has made it more than obvious that Patch makes her uncomfortable. She told the teacher he makes her feel threatened and unsafe. There was that horrible class when Patch sexually harassed her and Vee showed signs of intelligence and condemned his actions. Nora has done nothing but tell everyone how Patch freaks her out and she hates him. Now, we have the school psychologist saying that she's going to talk to the teacher and see to it that Nora and Patch aren't going to be left alone together, which is perhaps the wisest thing someone's said thus far.
What's Nora's conclusion? She's frightened because it looks like he might be dangerous. And there's the implication that Miss Greene knows something other people don't.
...What? Why is "Patch could be dangerous" such a revelation? Wouldn't it occur to Nora that someone concerned about her wellbeing told the new psychologist what Patch was doing to her? Why is this treated like some vaguely mystical and weird reveal?
Whatever. We get some pointless descriptions of Nora kicking around the library, before she goes to the hospital to see Vee. Apparently Vee actually had her left arm broken, and was just getting out of surgery. While at the library, Nora goes to the online database for old theater reviews and has the idea to Google Patch's name. She's instantly confused because "I frowned at the search results. Nothing. No Facebook, no MySpace, no blog. It was like he didn't exist". Oh my God, how terrifying! No blog or Facebook! That definitely makes him an unperson! I mean, it's not like there just aren't people who don't have those things! Or, I don't know, that he has an online name! Lord. I must not exist, if that's the case. Sorry guys, apparently you're reading sporkings by a ghost.
Anyway, this leads to her poking around old newspapers and this leads to her finding a headline saying that Elliot Horn was a suspect in a murder case. What.
"A sixteen-year-old Kinghorn Preparatory student who police were questioning in what has been dubbed 'The Kinghorn Hanging' has been released without charge. After eighteen-year-old Kjirsten Halverson's body was found hanging from a tree on the wooded campus of Kinghorn Prep, police questioned sophomore Elliot Saunders, who was seen with the victim on the night of her death"
ZeldaQueen: Oh, of course. If a guy seems nice, he's actually a murderer. What a lovely moral!
And speak of the Devil, Elliot shows up right behind Nora. Apparently he has figured out that she knows his secret, because this guy has abandoned any sense of niceness and is now in Total Douche Mode (TDM). His eyes are narrow and his voice is cold and he gets right up next to Nora, freaking her out, and starts asking her what she's been up to. She manages to poke the button that shuts off the computer monitor and then tries to run by saying that she has to get something to eat and get home. He urges her to have dinner with him and to call her mother and lie to her about homework keeping her late. You know, the sort of thing Our Hero Patch encourages her to do. *cough*
Nora makes a stand and tells him that her mother won't like her going out with a strange boy, and Elliot points out that she's a hypocrite seeing as she went out with him to the amusement park just that Saturday. Now if Elliot really wanted to win some points, he'd remind Nora how she's been flouncing around with Patch, who at no point in the book ever had the excuse of being safe to be around. Instead of that happening, Nora grabs her backpack and flees the room. When she looks back, Elliot is gone. She prints the page about the murder investigation and heads off to visit Vee in the hospital
Onward to: Chapter 12
Back to: Chapter 10
Return to to: Table of Contents