When We Collided

Vivi calls Jonah to come and get her, and Vivi tells him what happened with her father. After leaving James’s house, Vivi was pulled over for not wearing a helmet. A stranger helps Jonah lift the Vespa into the back of the van while Vivi sits in the front passenger seat crying. Jonah is not sure what to say to Vivi and thinks that high schools should “distribute a book called The Field Guide for Broken People” (148). Jonah eventually buys Vivi a pair of flip-flops from a gas station and gets her pancakes from a diner. Although Vivi does not want to eat, Jonah encourages her to do so, making airplane noises and feeding her. Vivi laughs and then proceeds to eat, telling Jonah everything that happened.

Vivi talks her feelings out, telling Jonah all her anger for both James and her mother, for her mother trying to protect her and failing to do so. Vivi talks about her disappointment in her father and at the reality of his ordinary and boring nature. Jonah replies, saying that he is unsure James is her real dad: “I think maybe your mom is your mom but your dad is the Man in the Moon.