Eleanor
- The next morning, Park's already put a stack of comics on her bus seat before she even sits down. She takes them, but doesn't want to read in front of him because "It would be like... admitting something" (10.3).
- When she gets home, Eleanor finds Park has given her his pristine collection of Swamp Thing comics. Eleanor turns the light on after her siblings go to sleep so she can read. She obeys Richie when he comes in and tells her to turn off the light. She thinks Richie looks "like the human being version of a rat" (10.10).
Park
- Eleanor "read stuff as fast as he could give it to her" (10.13), and treats Park's comics with such care that he can't even tell she's read them, except that they smell like roses (10.15).
- They still don't talk on the bus, but the silence is "almost friendly" (10.17).
- Today, Park's forgotten the stack of comics he wanted to give her, so he knows he'll have to say something. Finally, spotting a song title doodled on her notebook, he asks her if she likes the Smiths.
- Eleanor says she's never heard them. "So you just want people to think you like them?" (10.25), he asks. That pretty much kills the conversation.
- In English class, Mr. Stessman tries to get Eleanor to talk. They're discussing Romeo and Juliet, and Eleanor says she doesn't think it's a tragedy, because Shakespeare is "so obviously making fun of them" (10.37).
- Mr. Stessman calls on Park, asking him why the play has survived for so long. "Because people want to remember what it's like to be young? And in love?"(10.50) Park answers. Mr. Stessman agrees with him.
- When Park gets on the bus in the afternoon, Eleanor actually talks to him. She explains that the song title on her notebook is "more like a wish list" (10.56), songs and bands she'd like to hear. Park asks her why she doesn't listen to them, and Eleanor is completely annoyed, saying they don't play them on the radio. Whoops. Conversation over.
- That night, Park makes Eleanor a mix tape with his favorite Smiths songs, among others, and "puts the tape and five more X-Men comics into his backpack" (10.66) before bed.