Take Me to the End of the World
- Cullen's after school job is at a convenience store called Handy Shop, where he sells fine items such as cigarettes, snacks, soda, gas,lottery tickets, and condoms.
- On that Saturday, he sees Russell Quitman and his friends come in, asking to buy cigarettes. He turns them down because they're not eighteen yet, and they get mad; all along, Cullen is distracted by the image of Ada Taylor outside.
- The day after his run-in with Russell, Cullen hangs out with his brother at the hair salon where their mom works. They talk about how Gabe has to stay in Cullen's room right now since their Aunt Julia is staying with them. The boys don't mind, though, since they're the kind of siblings who actually like each other.
- Even though Gabriel is two years younger, he looks older than Cullen—or at least the same age. They're even able to share clothes.
- Cullen loves his brother and mother to bits, but he's got a difficult relationship with his dad. Even though his dad quit drinking when Cullen was thirteen, Cullen started being mean and resentful to him starting at age sixteen. Maybe it's just all those years of anger catching up.
- The family goes to the funeral. According to Dr. Webb (Cullen's therapist), when someone young dies older people feel guilty for living. Maybe that's why Aunt Julia is so devastated.
- Cullen starts zoning out and thinking about zombies again; this time they're climbing out of their graves in the cemetery.
- As they drive back with Lucas, Lucas brings up some woodpecker that's supposedly been extinct for the past sixty years—but apparently some guy from Oregon claims that he saw one in Lily, Arkansas.
- Lucas may be perpetually cheerful and a solid friend, but he has a tumultuous past—his brother died in a car accident when he was a kid. Now his parents keep a pretty close eye on him.
- One week after Oslo dies, Aunt Julia moves back into her house, which means that Gabriel finally gets his room back. As Gabriel gathers up his stuff, he hugs Cullen and starts to cry, asking what will happen if Cullen dies on him.
- The next day is the last day of school before summer break, and Cullen's totally going because he needs to get a good long look at Ada before she graduates.
- Unfortunately, Ada doesn't show up. After school, Lucas, Gabriel, and Cullen go to pick up Mena and they all head to the river to play in the water.
- Gabriel says that the town needs the woodpecker so that they have some kind of hope or excitement to live for. Nothing ever happens in Lily, after all, it's just a boring, dead little town where dreams come to die.
- People always dream of leaving, but they always come back—it's like they get stuck here. Cullen likens it to a black hole, which isn't very comforting.