Summary
The next day, A wakes up in the body of a girl named Kasey, who has a broken ankle. Immediately, A checks for messages from Rhiannon but finds none. Remembering that one other person knows who A is, A checks for emails from Nathan. Twenty increasingly desperate messages await. The final email reads, “All I ask for is an explanation. I will leave you alone after that. I just need to know” (282). Finally, A decides to tell Nathan the truth, and the two agree to meet at a Mexican restaurant by Nathan’s house. When Nathan arrives, he is shocked to see A’s current form. Nathan expects to find “Andrew,” not a girl named Kasey. After telling Nathan that only one other person knows this story, A explains everything. Having waited so long for the truth, Nathan immediately believes A's tale. Nathan tells A that their conversation was very helpful and agrees to keep the story a secret. Before they part ways, Nathan asks to meet A again the next day in order to see the switch for himself, and A tentatively agrees. A comes away from the meeting thinking that it went well.
The next day, A wakes up in the body of a girl named Ainsley. Seeing that there are no emails from Rhiannon, A decides to accept Nathan’s offer to meet up again. This time, Nathan asks to meet at his house. When A arrives, Nathan is acting strange, but A assumes it is just surprise at seeing A in yet another body. Nathan leaves to get A some water, but when he returns, Reverend Poole is with him. A realizes that the meeting was a trap, but Reverend Poole is large and intimidating, making it impossible for A to escape. Nathan then leaves A and Reverend Poole alone to converse. At first, A sees Reverend Poole as the religious zealot the media has portrayed him to be, but then Reverend Poole makes a shocking revelation. There are more people just like A—and some of them know how to stay in other people’s bodies for much longer than one day. The person standing in front of A is not Reverend Poole at all, but rather another disembodied spirit who has been possessing Reverend Poole for an undisclosed amount of time.
The person occupying Reverend Poole’s body tells A that there are others like them. This revelation is incredibly shocking for A, who has always felt alone in the world. The person occupying the reverend also says they can teach A to stay in a host body for longer periods of time. Even though A initially felt both scared and intrigued, the spirit’s obvious darkness and menacing energy give A pause. A calls out for help, ripping open Ainsley’s shirt in order to make it appear like the reverend was assaulting her. Nathan comes to A’s rescue, detaining the reverend so A can escape. After leaving, A feels conflicted. The new spirit was clearly nefarious, but for the first time, A does not feel alone in the world. A spends the rest of the day thinking about the fact that others like A exist. In A’s view, this fact could change everything.
The next day A wakes up in the body of a boy named Darryl. Throughout the day, A cannot stop thinking about the claims of the person possessing Reverend Poole. If what this person said is true—that the one-day limit is only for the inexperienced spirits—A could possibly learn to stay in one body and live a normal life. This would allow A to realize their dream of being with Rhiannon, but it is also a moral dilemma. A wonders if this type of prolonged possession would cause the host to stop existing, or if it would condemn the host to a life like A’s, switching from body to body. Later that day, an apologetic email arrives from Nathan. In it, Nathan claims that he truly thought Reverend Poole would be able to help A. A forgives Nathan and tells him it wasn’t his fault. Encouraging Nathan to get back to his normal life and to stay away from Reverend Poole, A deletes the email account, permanently ending their correspondence. That evening, Rhiannon sends A an email to check in. A wants to tell Rhiannon everything but decides to hold back, instead. A writes a short reply saying that it has been a difficult two days and that there may be others like A out there.
The next day, A wakes up in the body of a girl named Zara, whose girlfriend Amelia snuck in the previous night and slept over. Amelia and Zara are clearly in love, which makes A feel both happy and sad. At school, A notices that Amelia and Zara have many mutual friends, and that they fit well in a group dynamic. A begins to truly understand Rhiannon’s sadness at not being able to integrate A into her friend group, realizing that it might be lonely if it was only the two of them. Even so, spending the day with such a loving girlfriend makes A miss Rhiannon. A asks to borrow Amelia’s car after school and drives over to Rhiannon’s town, waiting outside Rhiannon’s school to catch a glimpse of her. Rhiannon emerges and surveys her surroundings, as if she were looking for A. Hoping to avoid recognition, A looks away.
Before returning to Zara’s school, A stops at Target and buys all of Amelia’s favorite snacks, arranging them to spell out Amelia’s name on the dashboard. A then enjoys the afternoon with Amelia, but thoughts of Rhiannon persist. At one point, A asks Amelia if she would still love Zara if Zara woke up in a different body each day. Immediately, Amelia says she would love Zara no matter what. A reflects on how easy it is to say things like this when they will never be put to the test. Although Zara’s life is exactly the kind of life A would like to keep forever, A knows it would be immoral to follow Reverend Poole's example. A prepares for the nightly switch, leaving Zara with all the happy memories of the day.
On the final morning in the novel, A wakes up in the body of Alexander Lin and takes an immediate liking to him. Alexander’s room is full of well-loved books, guitars, and post-it notes with his favorite quotes scribbled on them. Alexander also seems to have a great relationship with his parents, who happen to be going away on a trip for their anniversary. A accesses Alexander’s memories and learns that he has a gift for his parents hidden in his room. Alexander has wrapped the gift in dozens of post-it notes, each one with a piece of advice from Alexander's parents written on it. Inside, Alexander has included 10 hours' worth of music for his parents’ drive and freshly baked cookies.
At school, A’s affinity for Alexander deepens. Alexander has good friends who care about him, and he is a genuinely kind person. Alexander is also a musician, and A learns that he is participating in an upcoming Battle of the Bands as a member of three different groups. Alexander’s life is exactly the kind of life A would want to hold onto, and A begins to have a hard time fighting the urge to stay. Finally, A emails Nathan and asks for Reverend Poole’s contact information, resolving to ask the reverend some questions.
After emailing back-and-forth with Reverend Poole, A contacts Rhiannon and plans to meet her at the bookstore. When A arrives, Rhiannon is already waiting. Rhiannon is happy to see A, but she is still deeply conflicted about their relationship. A asks Rhiannon to pretend they are meeting for the first time, forgetting all of their past struggles to live in the present moment. At first, Rhiannon is skeptical, but she eventually goes along with A’s plan.
Free from the burden of talking about Nathan, Reverend Poole, or any of the other struggles they’ve faced, A and Rhiannon spend the day together. They meander through the grocery store picking out foods for a vegetarian picnic and swapping stories in each aisle. Then, they go back to Alexander’s house and cook together, falling into an easy rhythm. Finally, they take their dinner up into Alexander’s treehouse, finishing off the perfect date. For the first time in a long time, things seem easy between Rhiannon and A. It cannot last, however, as A has been waiting all day to reveal the truth to Rhiannon.
A explains the events of the past several days, telling Rhiannon all about the disembodied spirit occupying Reverend Poole’s body and his claims that it is possible to stay in a body for longer than one day. When A emailed with Reverend Poole earlier that day, however, A decided against attempting this type of prolonged possession, once and for all. Reverend Poole’s responses to A's questions were chilling, showing no regard for the lives of hosts, which led A to a shocking decision. A decided to run away, not only to escape Reverend Poole, but also to set Rhiannon free. A then reveals the final part of the plan: setting up Rhiannon with Alexander. A believes that Alexander is truly a good person, someone who values “kindness” and “creativity” and “engagement in the world” (309). Explaining that Alexander will remember having a great day with Rhiannon, A suggests that this could lead to a relationship developing between them. Rhiannon is devastated to lose A, but A knows that Rhiannon will move on and fall in love again. At the end of the night, A has one request: to fall asleep next to Rhiannon. Promising to remember each other forever, A and Rhiannon fall asleep in Alexander’s bed just before midnight hits.
The next day, A wakes up in the body of a girl named Katie, whose life is about to be temporarily derailed. Viewing this day as the beginning of a major life change, A runs away from Maryland.
Analysis
These chapters return focus to Every Day's antagonists, Nathan and Reverend Poole, after several chapters focusing on A's relationship with Rhiannon. During the climactic encounter at Nathan's house, Reverend Poole reveals himself to be exactly like A: a disembodied spirit who must exist by occupying host bodies. When A comes face-to-face with Reverend Poole, A describes the moment as being "like when Red Riding Hood first met the big bad wolf," as it fills A with "as much intrigue as terror" (288). Levithan's allusion to this well-known folktale captures the dramatic energy of this long-awaited confrontation, but it also hints at the ethical test and temptation A is about to undergo. Reverend Poole's revelation transforms him in A's mind from a narrow-minded zealot into a calculating, powerful being, one who happens to be the only person who can truly understand A. As a result, A feels as much "intrigue" as apprehension. Although A is fearful of Reverend Poole's methods, the possibility of feeling less alone in the world, as well as the possibility of staying in one body to build a more stable relationship with Rhiannon, proves tempting. This chapter sets up the moral dilemma that A will grapple with until the novel's close: is it possible to get the life A wants without compromising A's character?
The following days A spends in Zara's and Alexander's bodies serve as intense ethical tests. In A's view, Zara and Alexander have perfect lives, lives that A would give anything to be able to keep for longer than 24 hours. A, however, ultimately resolves to resist the temptations Reverend Poole has introduced and concludes that "it would be murder to stay," and "no love can outbalance that" (317). It is ultimately Reverend Poole's cold disregard for host lives that solidifies A's opinion, prompting A to run away. This moment represents the satisfying conclusion of A's moral development; after several chapters in which A strayed further and further from the ethical code that had previously defined A's existence, A finally and definitively rejects the temptation to stay in one host body, prioritizing the hosts' lives over A's personal happiness. This moral triumph is a powerful moment for A as an individual character, but it also represents an important truth about love and relationships.
A's decision to run away at the end of the novel harkens back to Levithan's reference to The Giving Tree. Earlier, when A and Rhiannon discussed their hatred for The Giving Tree's main character, A declared that "love means never having to lose your limbs" (222). Both A and Rhiannon criticized the relationship in The Giving Tree for being off balance, for portraying love as unconditionally giving to a partner, even at great personal expense. By the end of the novel, A realizes that their relationship with Rhiannon has become like the relationship in The Giving Tree, except in their case, both members of the relationship are giving up all of their limbs. This is ultimately unsustainable and unfair to both A and Rhiannon, something A finally realizes, stating "There are more things I need to find out. And I can't keep stepping into your life. You need something more than that" (319). A's decision to let Rhiannon go, possibly to pursue a new relationship with Alexander, is another example of character development, and moral triumph, for A. At the end of Every Day, A gives up what they have desired most throughout the novel: a relationship with Rhiannon. However, A keeps something much more important: the commitment to doing the right thing that has always defined A. It is a bittersweet but satisfying conclusion to an inventive, unique story.
