All the Bright Places

Easter Sunday falls on April 5. Violet and her parents drive to the A Street Bridge and climb down to the riverbed, where Eleanor died. In the riverbed, they find a license plate with flowers planted around it. Violet goes cold. She knows that Finch did this—and she also knows that she and her parents have survived the last year. On the drive back home, Violet wonders when Finch was there.

When Violet’s parents don’t say anything about Eleanor, Violet starts to talk about her and Eleanor’s plans to see Boy Parade. It was Eleanor who suggested they follow the band across the Midwest. Violet says that Eleanor was great at taking things a step further than Violet would’ve. She thinks that in that way, Eleanor was a lot like Finch. Violet starts to sing her favorite Boy Parade song, and Violet’s mom joins in.

Back at home, Violet thinks about why she wants to start a magazine. She studies her notes and then looks at the spot where her calendar once hung. Violet thinks of the X’s that she used to mark the days off, just because she wanted those days to be over. In her wandering notebook, she writes: “Germ Magazine. You start here.”

Violet hasn’t heard from Finch since March—but now she’s angry instead of worried. She’s upset at herself for “being so easy to leave” and angry at Finch for leaving. Eventually, Violet puts the few things of Finch’s that she has in a box in her closet. Since Finch has their wandering map, Violet buys another map so she can finish their project. On April 11, Violet borrows the car and visits a museum, but she feels like a tourist. She keeps an eye out for a Saturn SUV and tries to tell herself that she’s over Finch. She imagines how he’d look at her if he could see her driving now.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Suze break up, and Ryan asks Violet out. They go to dinner at a fancy restaurant and talk about mundane things. The date is normal and nice, and Ryan is also normal and nice. Suddenly, Violet likes how solid and dependable Ryan is—aside from the stealing. She lets him kiss her when he drops her back at home.

On Saturday afternoon, Amanda stops by and asks to hang out. She and Violet play tennis in the street, and that night, they go to the Quarry. Violet texts Brenda, Lara, and the three Brianas. A bit later, Jordan comes too. The following Friday, Violet goes to the movies with Brenda and then sleeps over at Brenda’s house. Brenda tries to bring up Finch and assures Violet that Finch didn’t leave because of Violet. They stay up all night working on Germ stuff. Violet reads emails out loud from girls at school who want to contribute to the magazine. She realizes that Brenda is her closest friend.