Summary
Part One: Simon Says, Chapter 1
Chapter One begins on Monday, September 24. It introduces us to two of the four narrators who will take us through the events of the novel.
Bronwyn Rojas’s narration appears first: she reveals that she lives in fear of Simon Kelleher and his gossip app About That. As she reads the latest post, he appears over her shoulder and warns her, “‘Wait til you see tomorrow’s post.’” Bronwyn and Simon discover they are both heading to detention in Mr. Avery’s classroom. Bronwyn is therefore missing Mathlete practice as well as time with her crush, Evan Neiman. Simon is surprised to see her there, as are the other attendees, Nate Macauley, Cooper Clay, and Addy Prentiss, due to her sterling reputation.
Bronwyn smells a conspiracy afoot: she is in detention because Mr. Avery heard her cell phone go off during her class—only it wasn’t her cellphone. The other students claim they likewise had phones planted in their bags. Mr. Avery does not believe their explanation, and asks them to write essays on “how technology is ruining American high schools.”
The narration switches to focus on Cooper, the school’s star baseball player. He writes right-handed to preserve his left, pitching arm. Simon gets up and notes that his water bottle is missing. Thirsty, he takes one of the lab glasses and fills it from the water fountain. He also accuses Nate of playing a prank with the fake cellphones. Meanwhile, the group hears a car accident in the parking lot.
Mr. Avery puts Bronwyn in charge while he goes to investigate. Simon insults the other students, telling them, “‘you’re all walking teen-movie stereotypes’”: Cooper the jock, Nate the criminal, Addy the princess, and Bronwyn the brain. Simon claims that he himself is “‘the omniscient narrator.’” Cooper reflects on the usual veracity of About That, as well as the terrible things Simon could write about Cooper.
Suddenly, Simon has an allergic reaction to the water. His peanut allergy is well-known, and Nate searches his belongings for an EpiPen. Mr. Avery returns, and sends Cooper to the nurse’s office to look for EpiPens. There are none. He returns to the lab just as paramedics arrive.
Part One: Simon Says, Chapter 2
Chapter Two begins with Addy’s narration, taking up that afternoon. She calls her boyfriend Jake, but is so overwhelmed that Cooper takes the phone; he’s Jake’s best friend. A teacher, Ms. Grayson, suggests Simon may have had a delayed reaction to something he ate at lunch. Cooper and Addy meet up with Jake, who drives her home. Her mother Mrs. Calloway is “theatrical” in her concern, and we learn right away that Addy has a low opinion of her mother, who has been married twice and now has a much younger boyfriend. Moreover, she thinks Jake is “too good” for Addy. She tells Jake Addy was “useless” in the face of the crisis.
Next, Nate narrates his Monday afternoon. He goes to the parking lot with Bronwyn, whom he offers a flask of Jim Beam and a ride home on his motorcycle. He has stolen the whiskey from his alcoholic father. Nate and Bronwyn have known each other since grade school, and he observes that she’s always trying to create and join groups. Bronwyn tells him she is sorry for his mother’s death, which she heard about through the grapevine.
She accepts the ride, and Nate is impressed by the huge Victorian Bronwyn lives in. Standing outside, the two find out that Simon has died.
Analysis
These chapters introduce the main mystery around which the novel revolves: who killed Simon Kelleher? In Chapter 1, his allergic reaction might be viewed as an accident, although there are already hints at the other characters' possible motives. This chapter introduces the motif of social media, which in this high school, is a source of constant concern. Simon regularly posts about the ins and outs of his peers’ lives, and Cooper and Brownyn both express concern about what he might know—although at this point in the narration, they do not reveal their secrets.
These chapters also introduce the idea of stereotypes and the way they shape their victims’ lives. Nate is “the criminal,” and he knows that the other students are unsurprised to find him in detention. Moreover, they are surprised when he knows that it is important to look for Simon’s EpiPen. Similarly, Addy is “the princess,” and she knows her own mother thinks she is a weak woman who needs the protection of a man. In the face of Simon’s tragedy, she falls into her expected role and is unable to take action, but she feels shame rather than pride at living up to her stereotype. Bronwyn, as “the brain,” already seems to feel a pressure to create bonds between herself and the other teens who have experienced trauma, which will shape the narrative to come.
When Simon calls himself “the omniscient narrator,” he refers to his app, About That. This is also notable in a book narrated by four individual, subjective narrators: none of them have the entire story, but can only recount their perspectives. Because the so-called “omniscient narrator” dies at the beginning of the book, we are left to question his self-assessment, as well as the accuracy of the four narrators.
The title of the book itself further invites the audience to speculate on whether the book’s four narrators are entirely truthful. Simon has died—does one of them know more than they claim to in these initial chapters?
Finally, these chapters introduce allergy as a metaphor: characters live in fear of the app About That, something toxic that can upend one’s life. Gossip, in this case, is a kind of “allergen” that can be potentially fatal. Simon seems to know the precise thing that can “end” his peers’ lives, just as peanuts end his.
