Opening
A backyard scare, a first love, and a broken routine collide to push the Bell family toward crisis. As a health emergency rattles the household, the twins’ bond frays when JB chooses a girlfriend over his brother, leaving Josh stranded between fear for his father and jealousy of his twin.
What Happens
Chapter 61: I’m on Free Throw Number Twenty-Seven
In the driveway, Chuck "Da Man" Bell shoots free throws with his sons while keeping the mood light. Mid-shot, he doubles over, clutching his chest, coughing without sound, and gasping—an abrupt, terrifying collapse. Josh 'Filthy McNasty' Bell freezes, eyes wide. Jordan 'JB' Bell bolts for the hose and sprays their father.
The cold water shocks Chuck back. He straightens, grins, and turns the fright into a splashy brawl. They all laugh—until Josh admits his laughter lives only “on the outside,” while dread pounds inside him about what he just saw and what it might mean.
Chapter 62: He probably
Later, Josh corners JB: they should tell Dr. Crystal Bell. Something is wrong with their dad. JB shrugs it off, saying he “probably just got something stuck in his throat.”
The exchange exposes a split. Josh notices patterns and worries; JB clings to normal, naming excuses rather than fear—an early flare of the family’s pattern of Health and Denial.
Chapter 63: i·ron·ic
The phone rings. A girl asks for JB. The swaggering twin goes silent and tosses the phone to Josh. While Josh covers, the poem defines “ironic,” offering quick snapshots: their friend Vondie Little hates astronomy though his mom works for NASA; more piercingly, “It’s not ironic / that Grandpop died / in a hospital / and Dad doesn’t like / doctors.”
That definition becomes backstory. Chuck’s distrust of medical care roots in family loss, tying this moment to Legacy and Father-Son Relationships. Meanwhile, the final twist lands softly: JB—the confident one—needs Josh to talk to a girl for him.
Chapter 64: This Is Alexis—May I Please Speak to Jordan?
Josh, pretending to be JB, meets the caller: Alexis, “Miss Sweet Tea.” She’s bold and curious, asking if their family is rich and what their famous father is like. Josh stumbles, juggling his twin’s image and his own nerves.
He leans into the role, improvising answers and trying to sound smooth. Even as he performs “JB,” he feels a flicker of interest himself—the first hint that this call will complicate everything.
Chapter 65: Phone Conversation (I Sub for JB)
Alexis asks outright: are they official? Josh fumbles, stalls, and races to get JB’s input. JB panics and bolts for the bathroom, abandoning both the phone and the moment.
Left alone, Josh decides for them. He tells Alexis that “he” likes her a lot and wants her to be his girlfriend. With a few words, he seals a relationship that isn’t his—and feels the line between the twins blur.
Chapter 66: I gotta pee
Behind the bathroom door, JB dodges responsibility with a nervous excuse: “I gotta pee.” The lame cover shows how unready he is for the conversation—and how ready Josh is to step in.
The dodge also turns Josh into the decision-maker. He holds the phone, takes the risk, and becomes the voice of JB’s new romance, even as resentment quietly starts to rise.
Chapter 67: She said she likes me a lot
When JB returns, Josh teases, “She said she likes me a lot,” before correcting: she likes you. The slip lands heavier than a joke. Josh has done the talking, made the choice, and felt a charge that isn’t his to claim.
That moment exposes the heartbeat of Identity and Self-Discovery in the twins’ story: if JB’s life suddenly includes Alexis, where does that leave Josh? The brothers’ identities—once intertwined—begin to pull apart.
Chapter 68: JB and I
School routines start to change. At lunch, JB doesn’t sit with Josh. He walks in hand-in-hand with Alexis, already orbiting a new center of gravity.
Josh watches the empty chair. The absence feels louder than any argument. Something unspoken breaks: the private world the twins share begins to close its doors to one of them.
Chapter 69: Boy walks into a room
JB greets Josh—“Hey, Filthy McNasty”—and Alexis snickers along. The nickname, a gift from their father, suddenly sounds like a joke at Josh’s expense.
The inside joke isn’t inside anymore; it’s been repurposed for a different audience. The moment stings, marking a pivot in Family and Brotherhood: the language that used to bind the twins now isolates Josh.
Chapter 70: At practice / Second-Person / Third Wheel
During team meditation, Josh sees JB in a hospital bed—an image of tubes, beeps, and fear. He opens his eyes to find JB staring back, as if they both just witnessed the same nightmare. The shared glance says more than words.
Walking home alone for the first time, the narration shifts to “you,” pulling the reader into Josh’s solitary steps, empty sidewalks, and looping thoughts. For once, there is no twin beside him—no second voice to fill the silence.
He goes to the library to get JB’s copy of The Giver. The librarian sends him upstairs. Behind a shelf, he finds them: Alexis kissing JB, their world tucked away where he can’t reach it. The image fixes him in place—the permanent “third wheel”—and sets the stage for the painful choices ahead, deepening the arc of Conflict and Forgiveness.
Key Events
- Chuck’s collapse in the driveway prompts fear, then a forced playfulness
- Josh urges telling their mother; JB minimizes the episode
- Josh impersonates JB on the phone with Alexis and defines the relationship for them
- JB publicly shifts allegiance at lunch, holding hands with Alexis
- The nickname “Filthy McNasty” turns from bond to burn
- In meditation, the twins share a hospital vision
- Josh discovers JB and Alexis kissing in the library and feels shut out
Character Development
As Chuck’s health fears rise, the twins diverge: Josh grows vigilant and isolated; JB opens a new chapter and neglects the old one. Alexis doesn’t intend harm, but her presence becomes a wedge.
- Josh Bell:
- Becomes the observer of danger and the keeper of dread
- Acts for JB on the phone, then feels displaced and jealous
- Experiences the “second-person” loneliness that forces self-definition
- Jordan “JB” Bell:
- Steps into romance, a key stride in Coming of Age
- Avoids uncomfortable truths about his father’s health
- Redefines routines, leaving Josh behind without noticing the damage
- Chuck Bell:
- Reveals physical vulnerability, then masks it with jokes and play
- Inherits a distrust of doctors from family history, reinforcing denial
- Alexis:
- Arrives confident and direct, catalyzing JB’s independence
- Unwittingly becomes the pivot around which the twins’ bond loosens
Themes & Symbols
Health and denial shadow every scene. The driveway collapse and JB’s dismissal reveal a family instinct to minimize pain—an instinct rooted in loss, named explicitly in the “i·ron·ic” poem and traced through Health and Denial. Chuck’s bravado becomes a mask; JB’s optimism becomes avoidance; Josh’s attentiveness becomes anxiety.
As JB and Alexis connect, the twins’ identities detangle. Romance accelerates JB’s independence and forces Josh into the uncomfortable work of Identity and Self-Discovery. Their shared language—nicknames, routines, even silence—shifts meaning, redefining Family and Brotherhood. The Giver, the book Josh seeks, mirrors the Bells’ instinct to flatten hard feelings; suppressing pain seems safer, but it erases the honesty they need to face what’s coming.
Key Quotes
After practice, you walk home alone.
This feels strange to you, because
as long as you can remember
there has always been a second person.
The second-person switch drops the reader into Josh’s solitude. Form mirrors feeling: “you” is both intimate and alienating, making the reader inhabit the absence of JB in real time.
It’s not ironic
that Grandpop died
in a hospital
and Dad doesn’t like
doctors.
The “definition” of irony turns into family history. What looks like stubbornness becomes grief in disguise, explaining Chuck’s resistance and sharpening the stakes of ignoring symptoms.
“Hey, Filthy McNasty.”
Once a badge of love from father and brother, the nickname stings when shared with a new audience. Language that used to bind now excludes, marking the fault line running through the twins’ relationship.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters pivot the novel on two axes at once. Externally, Chuck’s health crisis moves from background worry to urgent threat. Internally, JB’s relationship with Alexis dismantles the twins’ shared routines, leaving Josh cut off from the person who has always defined his “we.”
Together, the threads deepen the novel’s exploration of love, jealousy, loyalty, and mortality. First love brings joy and independence even as it exposes the cost of change; denial feels protective until it endangers everything. This stretch sets up the emotional and moral choices that will decide whether the Bells confront truth—or lose each other avoiding it.