Small Steps

On their evening walk, Armpit tells Ginny that Coo didn’t win. Ginny is sad but holds back her tears. When they talk about school, Armpit notices that Ginny’s stutter gets worse, so he changes the subject and tells Ginny about Tatiana. Ginny cheers up and teases Armpit about “Tati-ahna,” telling him that she had smelled Tatiana’s perfume on Coo. When Armpit admits that he doesn’t know whether Tatiana likes him or just wants to go to the concert, Ginny reassures him that Tatiana must like him because he is a “v-very thoughtful and caring p-person” (88).

When Tatiana tells her friends that she is going to the concert with Armpit, they ask whether she is scared. Tatiana replies that she thinks he’s sweet, to which they respond, “Sweet? He almost killed two people, girl!” (89). Then her friends start talking about how smelly he must be to have the nickname “Armpit.” Tatiana doesn’t disagree with them but says it will be “cool” to see Kaira DeLeon.

On Saturday, the day of the concert, Armpit works his landscaping job then visits Ginny before getting ready to pick up Tatiana. He finds Ginny crying because her father, who left when she was a baby, had called.