Everything, Everything: 76. Pretending Summary & Analysis

Maddy’s heart is the only thing that hurts, so she tries not to use it. She reads existential and nihilist books, doesn’t think about Olly, and resumes her classes after four weeks. Mom hovers worriedly and seems to want things to go back to the way they were before. Maddy doesn’t want to do mother-daughter nights, as she doesn’t enjoy much of anything, but she pretends when she sees Mom getting thinner and thinner. Olly’s emails eventually stop. One night, Mom says she’s asked Carla to come back. She explains that she trusts Maddy, since Maddy learned her lesson the hard way.