Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
First Person/Central Narrator
Boy Meets Boy is Paul's story, and he's telling it to us. Hanging out with Paul on the page is a lot like hanging out with him in a diner late at night: we get the intimate details straight from the source, who's not afraid to throw in a little snark about other characters he doesn't like, such as Tony's parents:
I can't even talk to Tony anymore—I tried on Sunday, but his mom hung up on me, muttering something about the devil's influence, which I think was a little overstated. (15.3)
There's also his jab at Claudia's outfit the first time he sees her:
A girl has appeared behind him. She is dressed in a lethal combination of pastels. She's young, but she looks like she could be a hostess on the Pillow and Sofa Network. (1.37)
By telling the story from Paul's perspective, Levithan paints him as a sympathetic character, even when he's being kind of catty. Think about it: this is a guy who could sound like a real jerk if we got the story from Noah's perspective… or Ted's… or Joni's. But because we're in Paul's head, we see that though he screws up sometimes, he's basically a good guy. He lets us know he loves his friends a lot and would do anything for them, like holding Tony when he has a breakdown:
He is shuddering and shaking and gasping. He has kept all this white noise inside him, and now some of it is coming out. His face is newborn raw, his arms wrap around his body. I move over to him and hug him tight. I tell him that he's brave. (24.76)
So instead of seeing Paul as the evil ex-boyfriend who kissed another guy, as we might if Noah were telling the story, or the nosy, judgmental friend we might see through the Joni filter, we see him as a bumbling but lovable person, which makes us relate—after all, we're bumbling and lovable too, right? See how that works?