What Happened to Goodbye Chapter 3 Summary

  • Jackson High is not as bad as the kids at the party made it out to be—basically it's like most other high schools that Mclean has attended. She's pretty well versed in what different high schools are like, after all.
  • Her homeroom teacher doesn't let her correct her name (she wants to go by Liz), so she's stuck as Mclean for now.
  • As she passes by the office, she hears a couple talking about their son's schooling, and how he's had problems ever since he transferred from private school to Jackson High. She looks at the dude—who seems familiar—before realizing that it's Dave from last night. Except now he's wearing a button-down with khakis, and has short hair.
  • The girl named Riley comes up to hug him, relieved that his parents are letting him stay at Jackson High… for now.
  • At lunch, Mclean is approached by a painfully perky girl who's dressed like a J. Crew mannequin. She comes up and says that her name is Deb, and she's got some gifts from the hospitality committee—apparently her job is to welcome new students to the school.
  • Mclean is kind of cornered by her perkiness and enthusiasm, and is relieved when the girl sitting with Riley calls her name and tells her to come over.
  • When she gets to their lunch table, the blonde girl introduces herself as Heather and tells her that there is no hospitality committee—Deb's the only one. Mclean looks over to see that Deb is now sitting under a tree and eating lunch by herself.
  • Riley—who is Dave's best friend—explains his backstory. Apparently he's a genius who was attending the private school and could have graduated way early, but decided to come to Jackson High to have a normal teenage experience. He even got an after-school job at Frazier Bakery.
  • After school, Mclean takes the bus to Luna Blu and sees that her dad is talking on the phone with Chuckles, his boss. The UPS guy comes in and delivers a bunch of cardboard boxes, which Opal signs for.
  • When Mclean asks about the boxes, Opal explains that she agreed to create a model of the town in exchange for city council not shutting down the parking lot next to the restaurant. She really cares about this restaurant after all.
  • Opal tells her that she's been working at Luna Blu for forever. In fact, it was her first real job, and even after college, she came back to work at the restaurant and just ended up staying.
  • When Mclean has a moment alone with her dad, it's clear that he's not impressed with the way that the restaurant is being run. It's basically a zoo—and they don't even have any customers.
  • He asks her to come to the staff meal tonight so that he'll have someone who likes him there, since the entire staff seems to regard him as akin to Genghis Khan.
  • The next morning, Mclean's dad has worked himself into a state where he's convinced that the restaurant is a disaster and that there's no way to save it. Mclean knows the drill though—this is just a part of the process.
  • Sure enough, after a few minutes, her dad starts talking about the place's potential again. Typical. Then he gets a phone call and starts talking work to someone on the other end.
  • As he yells over the phone angrily, Mclean sees Dave and his mom, Mrs. Wade, approaching their house with something. Mrs. Wade welcomes Mclean to the neighborhood and hands her some nut-free, gluten-free, and sugar-free brownies. Yum?
  • Mrs. Wade seems put-off by Mclean's dad's outbursts in the background, but he comes over and smoothly introduces himself as the interim chef at Luna Blu. She tells him that she loves Luna Blu—especially those rosemary rolls. Ha.