Just Listen Chapter 5 Summary

  • So apparently the person who's come to see if Annabel is okay is none other than the mysterious Owen Armstrong. He hands her the fallen notes and gives her some Kleenex.
  • As she's sitting there kind of talking to Owen (how bizarre), Annabel's mom calls to let her know that Whitney can't pick her up. Great.
  • Owen overhears and tells her that he'll take her home—which causes even more people to stare at Annabel as she makes her way to his car. She gets into Owen's old Land Cruiser and ignores all the people staring.
  • In the car Owen is listening to some strange music and he tells her how much music means to him. Then he says that they'll have to swing by to pick up his little sister from school first before he gets to Annabel's house.
  • They arrive at Lakeview Middle and a little girl immediately comes up to the Land Rover and shrieks in excitement—apparently Owen's little sister Mallory is a huge fan of Annabel's modeling work.
  • Owen starts to get annoyed with Mallory when she's pestering Annabel in the car, and Mallory reminds him of his anger management rules. How embarrassing for him.
  • Finally Owen drops Mallory off at their mom's store and apologizes to Annabel again for how annoying she is, even though Annabel doesn't mind all that much.
  • He also has to stop in at the community radio station, WRUS, where he does a morning show. As he goes inside to look for something, a guy pulls up into the parking lot and introduces himself as Rolly, Owen's friend.
  • Owen comes out and explains that Rolly goes to the alternative (a.k.a. hippie) high school and works in a self-defense class as the guy that people practice attacking. Owen's job is different; he delivers pizzas.
  • They start out on the road again and Annabel asks Owen about why he's in an anger management program—it turns out that he got arrested for getting into a fight at a club.
  • Owen tells Annabel that he never lies, and she's skeptical about his claim. As they pull up onto her street (but still kind of far away from her house), she sees her car parked with Whitney inside. She's obviously been crying. Owen asks Annabel if her sister is okay, and she tells the truth: Whitney is not okay.
  • They just pass the car and go toward the house, and Owen realizes that Annabel and her family live in the fancy glass house. From outside, she can see her mother standing at the kitchen counter.
  • As Annabel gets out of Owen's car, she asks him when his radio show is, and he tells her that it's at seven in the morning on Sundays. Who's even listening at that hour, anyway?