I'll Give You The Sun Chapter 5 Summary

The Invisible Museum (Noah, Ages 13-1/2-14)

• A few days after the "closet" party, Noah finds an IM chat on Jude's computer. He assumes that she's chatting with Brian. Jealousy ensues.
• Not only is Noah super upset: also, he and Jude aren't talking. They may not ever talk again. Dramatic, much?
• One day, he hears Heather in the house talking to his dad. Noah jumps out his window to escape. Classic Noah.
• Wandering around town, Noah decides to visit the studio of an artist who the English guy mentioned at the party.
• The artist's studio is, like, a rock pit. Wouldn't you know, it's Guillermo Garcia. He's with a bunch of students who seem to admire him a lot.
• For a long time, Noah watches Guillermo work with his students. Noah is super impressed.
• Finally, he leaves. He passes a car that looks like his mom's. Wait. It is his mom's car.
• Also, she seems to be trying to hide in the car? Noah sees her though. She makes excuses.
• Noah gets in her car and they drive away. Mom says she was on her way to the dry cleaner's, but Noah's not buying that at all.
• Finally, Noah comes to the conclusion that she must have been following him. Hmm. Maybe.
• Mom is so distracted that she drives up to the wrong house. She doesn't realize it until she's almost to the door. Weird.
• All at once, Noah realizes that his mom is really sad. He has no idea what's going on. She tells him not to worry.
• Things is getting intense, yo.
• Fast-forward a few months. It's been raining all the time and Noah's mom is still acting weird. Noah works on the painting for his art school admissions portfolio.
• He's dreading Christmas break because it means Brian will be in town. He thinks that Brian and Jude are still a couple.
• Noah walks into his room and finds his dad sitting on his bed. Dad wants to get dinner.
• They head to a restaurant and have a really good dinner. Noah's dad is talking about how proud he is of Noah's art.
• Noah's blown away. What is going on? His relationship with his dad is normally not so hot. Plus, they get double dessert.
• As they drive home, Noah finds himself feeling hopeful. Could he and his father be friends?
• At home, his dad asks about Heather. Are she and Noah an item? Noah lies and says yes. The lie weighs on him.
• After they part, Noah realizes it was his dad's birthday. Everyone else forgot. Noah draws him a special picture. He is his dad, even if he's not so awesome all the time.
• A week later, Mom drops a bomb: Dad's moving out. That's right, Noah's parents are separating.
• Jude and Noah are really upset. Jude's angry at their mom. So is Noah, but he forgives her almost instantly. That's what happens when you're the favorite. (Well, in this case.)
• That night, they watch Dad leave. It's raining. Jude says there's only one thing in Dad's suitcase: Noah's birthday drawing. Aw. Sad aw, not cute aw.
• That night, Jude comes into Noah's room. They have a heart-to-heart talk—their first in months.
• Jude confesses that nothing happened between her and Brian in the closet. Noah's stunned.
• Wait a sec, who was Jude having those IM conversations with? The answer is Zephyr. From the love interest to the bully…great.
• Jude asks Noah if he and Brian are in love. Noah denies it.
• Now Noah's confessing his own secret: he's seen Jude's sand sculptures. She's surprised.
• It's winter break and you know what that means. It's Brian time. Noah is stoked.
• Mom's baking in the kitchen. Jude's on hunger strike out of loyalty to Dad. Noah can't resist the treats, though.
• Here's Brian! He looks older, but he and Noah immediately fall back into their friendship. They leave and run into the woods.
• Oh hey, and all of a sudden they're making out. Way to go, guys. *high five*
• They stop kissing. Brian says he's been wanting to do that forever. Noah's freaking out. Apparently he's been wanting it for awhile, too.
• Brian tells Noah that no one can know about the kissing and stuff. Noah's pretty disappointed to hear this.
• Brian explains that he could lose his scholarship to boarding school. Noah's like, whatever, let's make out more.
• The two lovebirds are hanging out in Noah's room a few days later. Noah's drawing and Brian's messing around on the computer.
• They're telling each other about their Christmases. Meanwhile, Noah's fantasizing about making out with Brian in the shower.
• Brian suggests that they masturbate together. Needless to say, Noah is very much into this idea.
• It's all going great until Noah's mom walks in unannounced. She sees what's happening and bolts.
• Later, Mom knocks on the door. Noah does not want to talk about this, but she's forcing the issue.
• Noah flashes back to right after they were caught. Apparently, Brian freaked out. Evidently another gay kid at his school was bullied, and Brian worries about being bullied, too. So he said they had to stop hooking up. Poor Noah.
• Noah blames his mother. He yells at her, making it about her and his dad.
• When he's finished lashing out, Noah's mom tells him they can talk about her and Dad later. Right now this is about him. And she's proud of him for being who he is.
• Oh. Not what he expected.
• Noah wakes up the next morning. He's panicking because he doesn't want his mom to tell his dad what happened.
• He goes to his mother's room. He can hear her on the phone talking about him. He assumes that it's his dad on the other end. He hears her mention his name.
• He hears his mother arrange a meeting at some place called The Wooden Bird. Noah just knows she's going to tell him everything.
• Noah goes into her room. She's been crying. Is it because she's disappointed in Noah? That's what he thinks, anyway.
• Mom says she has to leave soon for a doctor's appointment. Noah knows she's lying.
• He tells her that he doesn't want her to tell Dad about the Brian thing. She says she won't.
• When she leaves the house, Noah follows her on foot.
• At The Wooden Bird, Noah finds his mother sitting on a bench. He spies on her from the trees.
• He sees the artist from the other day walk up to his mother. That's right—Guillermo Garcia in the flesh. At least that means she's not telling Dad?
• He realizes that Mom isn't meeting Dad; she's meeting Guillermo. She's having an affair. Noah runs away in horror.
• He comes across Brian and Courtney walking to the beach. Brian has lipstick on his face. Noah realizes they've been kissing. Well, that's the final straw.
• Noah screams out that Brian's gay. He instantly regrets it, but when you shout something out loud there's no easy way to take it back.
• Noah runs back to his house, hating himself. He draws a picture and leaves it on his mom's bed. Wonder what it is.
• He goes looking for Jude. She's off with Zephyr, apparently. So many dysfunctional straight couples all at once.
• Later, when Noah comes home, he finds his mother. She's crying again. That picture Noah drew was of her kissing Guillermo, by the way.
• Mom announces that she's asking Dad for a divorce. Noah hates her for this. Like, really hates her. He and Dad may not be best buds, but that's not the point anymore.
• Noah walks away, furious.