47 pages • 1 hour read
Greetings From Witness Protection!
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Chapters 14-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary: “Battlefield: School”
The following morning is the first day for Charlotte and Jackson at Loblolly Middle School. When they arrive, they meet the vice principal, who asks Charlotte to pick some school activities. She opts for the school’s mediocre basketball team to maintain a low profile. The two newcomers are then ushered to their homerooms. Ms. Millar presides over Charlotte’s homeroom, but effusive Holly Fiellera is the self-appointed head of Charlotte’s welcoming committee and her official school buddy for the first week.
As Holly steps close to Charlotte, she accidentally knocks over a cup of pencils on the teacher’s desk. Charlotte’s reflexes as a trained pickpocket kick in. She manages to catch the mug, scoop up pencils in mid-fall, and snatch several more with her left hand. Everyone in class gasps at her speed and dexterity. “Some boy shouts, ‘Do it again! The thing with the pencils!’” (185). Charlotte is mortified to have drawn so much notice on her first day of class. Once she takes her seat, Charlotte is peppered with more questions from the bubbly Holly. A blond jock seated to her left leans in to make small talk. His name is Archer Bradley, and Holly warns Charlotte away from him.
As Charlotte leaves homeroom for her first class, Brit accompanies her. Brit has made a helpful map of the campus to guide Charlotte around. Charlotte asks about Brit’s latest gaming tournament, which she won. Her online name is BritneySpeargun. Charlotte marvels at her shy, self-effacing friend, who is also the scourge of the gaming world. She thinks, “It’s reassuring to have a friend who knows a thing or two about hiding in plain sight. If Brit can pull it off, maybe Charlotte Trevor has a shot, too” (189).
The chapter ends with an anonymous letter sent to Deputy Marshal Eddie Harkness. The sender implies that he has been watching Eddie’s son and that it would be a shame if anything were to happen to him. An associate of the writer will contact Eddie, asking for information: “If you choose not to answer the questions, or if you share this letter with anyone, I would be forced to visit you myself. The outcome of that meeting, I fear, would be unpleasant” (192).
Chapter 15 Summary: “The Eye of the Storm”
Charlotte moves on to math class, which proves uneventful. Later, her language arts class goes to the library to spend the session choosing books to check out. Charlotte loves to read and loves the library’s atmosphere. She concludes, “I couldn’t ask for more. It almost makes me forget about the rocky start to my morning. Between my room at home, Brit’s comfy beanbag, and the library, I might just be able to make something of this place” (199).
The chapter ends with a recorded conversation between Arturo Cercatore and his lawyer. Arturo has just escaped conviction. He’s the hitman for the entire crime family, and his lawyer implies that his next assignment will be difficult since Elena Cercatore Sicurezza is his sister. Arturo doesn’t seem fazed by the prospect of killing a blood relative.
Chapter 16 Summary: “The Lunchroom”
In the cafeteria, Charlotte prepares to sit with Brit when she’s intercepted by one of Deidre’s posse. Charlotte learns that Deidre is running for student council president against Holly and wants to cultivate a friendship with Charlotte. Charlotte declines the invitation and goes to join Brit when Holly likewise arrives to lobby for Charlotte’s vote. In addition, she wants to involve Charlotte in the student advisory committee, which she says will be very low profile. This fits Charlotte’s need to avoid drawing attention to herself.
Chapter 17 Summary: “How Do I Kill Thee? Let Me Count the Ways.”
At the end of the school day, both Charlotte and Jackson are exhausted. Later, Jonathan says that he and Harriet will go over their children’s homework each day to make sure nothing is better than a B-minus. No one’s supposed to excel at anything. This will be an effort for both Charlotte and Jackson because they should be in advanced placement classes, but they agree.
That night, as the Trevors eat dinner and watch television, they learn that Arturo Cercatore has just been released. Harriet is very upset. She tells Charlotte that Arturo’s nickname is the “BARD.” The acronym means that he has never been prosecuted beyond a reasonable doubt. He’s the family’s cold-blooded hitman and is also her brother: “‘For Arturo, I’m afraid the promise of blood is more powerful than blood, if you follow my meaning,’ Harriet says, shuddering. ‘Of all my relatives, I fear Arturo the most. We all should’” (217).
The chapter ends with an email from Charlotte to Janice informing her of Arturo’s release. Janice gives a terse reply indicating that the marshals are aware of the situation and that Charlotte should communicate only in the event of an emergency.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Deidre for the Block, Charlotte for the Steal, Holly for the Win”
The day of the student council election finally arrives. Charlotte observes Deidre in a private conversation with her minions. Later, five of them appear to be stuffing ballot boxes with additional votes. Charlotte assumes that Deidre is increasing her own vote count and lifts a packet of votes from the backpack of one of the girls. To her surprise, Charlotte finds that all the fake ballots have forged signatures matching Holly’s. She realizes that Deidre wants Holly to be disqualified for cheating.
The campus has five ballot locations, and Charlotte must quickly intercept Deidre’s friends before they can slip the fake votes into the ballot boxes. She reaches all but one in time. Thinking quickly, Charlotte grabs a carton of milk and props it next to a ballot box, where a student accidentally tips it over. Charlotte then swoops in to help the student in charge of the polling location to salvage the ballots. She manages to pull out all the fake ballots before he sees her. When the votes are finally counted, Deidre wins a seat on the student council, but Holly is elected president.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Jackson’s Dangerous”
For the next six weeks, Charlotte keeps watch over the Trevor family and does her best to remain average at school. Archer notices her mediocre performance on the basketball court and in class and offers to coach her, but she declines his help. Brit shows up later to inform Charlotte that Jackson has been venting his rage on Facebook. This news panics Charlotte because the Trevors are forbidden to have a social media presence. When Charlotte reads some of Jackson’s posts, she knows that the hints he drops about his former life might lead Arturo straight to their hiding place.
During the car ride home, Charlotte steals Jackson’s phone and deactivates his Facebook page. After Harriet leaves to go to the store, the enraged Jackson confronts Charlotte and starts throwing food at her in the kitchen. Then, he runs up to her bedroom to destroy her cherished stuffed animal, Fancypaws. Jackson doesn’t realize that Charlotte has hidden her taser in Fancypaws, so he receives a shock when he touches it. Once he recovers, Jackson seems contrite for his outburst, and Charlotte helps him clean up the kitchen.
When Harriet arrives home, she says that Janice informed her of what Jackson did. Janice then gives Charlotte an earful about not being vigilant enough, even though she has managed to curtail the damage. Charlotte says, “That’s why you put me here, Janice! Because I get it. I get him, whether he likes it or not. He’s angry. Angry kids lash out. Just be grateful that we caught it so quickly” (253). Afterward, Jackson thanks Charlotte for helping him out. That evening, Charlotte goes to Brit’s house to watch her gaming competition. She thinks, “Today was the wildest yet, and not even retreating to my room or to Brit’s house seemed to help. I’m still totally grateful for both, of course, but it’d sure be nice to have a place to go where I wasn’t hiding something” (258).
Chapters 14-19 Analysis
This segment focuses almost exclusively on Charlotte’s experiences at Loblolly. While she’s doing her best to maintain a false persona of blandness, highlighting the theme of The Effects of Living With a Fake Identity, she’s also acutely aware of the ways that all her schoolmates are presenting fake identities of their own. She has already seen the degree to which Brit shrinks away from notice by her classmates. However, she uses Brit’s self-effacement as an inspiration to keep her own cover intact. Because of the number of schools that Charlotte has attended during her years in foster care, she comes to Loblolly with the critical eye of an outsider. She already anticipates that nothing is as it seems and makes a rueful comment about the school’s mission statement:
It’s a set of classroom expectations—We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all students should come prepared to learn, to respect one another’s ideas, and to do their best. Hmmm. Nothing about cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages (181).
While her comment might seem cynical for a 13-year-old, her assessment of the games that her schoolmates play is accurate: “I can see why Brit prefers her virtual war zones; Loblolly is more than enough minefield for me. I’m just glad I’ve got a map” (191). Charlotte soon finds her attention drawn to Deidre and her cohort as the reigning queen seeks to curry favor with the newcomer. She also makes the acquaintance of workaholic Holly, who is determined to be Charlotte’s best buddy during her first week. Charlotte then meets Archer, who is intent on slaying her with his charm.
The machinations and fake identities of her classmates turn ugly when Charlotte finds Deidre attempting to stuff ballot boxes to implicate Holly and eliminate her as competition for the role of student council president: “I spend the rest of the afternoon listening to Deidre whisper about Holly, about the election, and about how she is so totally and for sure not a thief. That one […] I’ll give her—we thieves are generally less devious” (207). After foiling Deidre’s evil scheme, Charlotte once again recognizes the degree to which duplicity forms a core characteristic of school-age children:
I think sometimes they forget that kids are putting on performances all day, just acting like the people we think we are until, like, ten years from now, when we figure out who that actually is. At least I had my personality handed to me in a file (209).
The need to maintain a fake identity proves too great a strain for Jackson. He cracks under the pressure and vents his frustration in several Facebook posts to his old friends:
‘I don’t care anymore!’ he says, half screaming and half crying. ‘I want my old friends back. I want my grandma, and my aunts, and uncles, and cousins! I want my old house, and my old school, and most of all I want you gone! You’ve destroyed my life!’ (248-49).
The real irony is that Charlotte is doing her level best to save Jackson’s life. His old existence may well be gone, but his future could be eradicated, too, without her intervention. She removes his Facebook account, but not before vital information about the family falls into the hands of the enemy. Despite Jackson’s resentment, he comes to realize that Charlotte may have saved him. She even runs interference for him with Janice when his rash actions come to the attention of WITSEC. This is another transformative moment when Charlotte earns the gratitude of the most unwilling member of the Trevor clan.
In addition to an examination of fake identities at Loblolly, these chapters touch on the theme of False Families and the Lack of Authenticity. The novel provides the first glimpse of the person who will be sent to kill the Trevors, and it turns out to be Harriet’s own brother. She emphasizes the fact that Arturo is dangerous because shedding blood matters more to him than preserving his blood ties. Harriet’s relationship with her brother once again parallels Charlotte’s relationship with her biological father. Both are blood relations, yet both betray members of their kin group.
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