Nineteen Minutes: Part 2, Chapter 1: Five Months After Summary & Analysis

Part Two opens with a Chinese proverb about revenge. The handwritten section preceding the chapter describes how Sterling is a mostly crime-free city, which is part of why everyone was so shocked that the mass shooting occurred there. Yet, as the writer observes, “How could it not happen here? All it takes is a troubled kid with access to guns.” The writer denounces the way in which Sterling residents choose to dig their heads in the sand rather than confront the problems in their community.  

The jury for Peter’s trial is being selected, a difficult task considering that all members need not only to have been unaffected by the shooting, but also to not have been exposed to much media coverage of it. It is August and extremely hot; everyone is exhausted. The next potential juror is called up, a decidedly “normal” man who doesn’t know too much about the case. After grilling him, Jordan and Diana tell Judge Wagner that they are satisfied with him.

Alex and Patrick have now been dating for four months, and Alex feels as if he has entered her life via “osmosis.” This morning, after waking up at Alex’s, Patrick realizes that he’s late for work. As he gets ready to go, Alex realizes that Josie will see him on the way out. Patrick suggests that it might be a good time to tell Josie about their relationship, but Alex is hesitant. Although she doesn’t say this, she’s not worried about what Josie thinks—she’s actually concerned with protecting her own heart from getting broken. Josie shouts up from the kitchen, asking if Alex wants pancakes. Patrick suggests that this presents a perfect opportunity for Alex to distract Josie so he can sneak out.

Once Alex is down in the kitchen, Josie reveals that she knows Patrick stayed over. Alex says she will break up with Patrick if Josie doesn’t want them to be together, but Josie replies that Alex shouldn’t care what other people think. When Josie asks if Alex loves him, she lies and says she doesn’t—another self-protective gesture. Alex hears Patrick trying to sneak quietly down the stairs, and she calls him into the kitchen for pancakes. Selena, meanwhile, is thinking about the differences between infant boys and girls. She thinks that life can be easier for girls, because they are socially permitted to express their emotions and vulnerability where boys aren’t. She wonders who is to blame for this.

Josie is pretending to have a summer job as a volunteer tutor teaching math to elementary and middle school kids. Every evening she tells Alex stories about the kids she tutors, all of which are invented, because she is not really tutoring at all. Instead, she spends her days at the cemetery, where she sits by Matt’s grave and talks to him. Lacy, meanwhile, has driven to Boston to buy an outfit for Peter to wear during his trial. A sales assistant comes to help her, saying she knows how Lacy is feeling because when her “son went away,” she felt like she was “going to die.” For a second Lacy thinks she also has a son in prison, but then realizes the woman is talking about college. Lacy says her son is going to Harvard.

Josie is just about to leave the cemetery when she runs into Patrick. He points out that Alex thinks Josie is tutoring right now, but he says that he is there because he wants to talk to Josie himself. Patrick says that part of his job is constantly wishing that he could turn back time and stop a terrible thing from happening, so he knows how Josie feels. Although this is exactly how she feels, she snaps back that they have “nothing in common.” Patrick says he wants to talk to Josie about the fact that he is dating Alex, but Josie says that Alex doesn’t care what she thinks. When Patrick emphasizes that Alex cares about this more than anything, Josie suddenly finds herself crying. She eventually admits she’s jealous.

Lewis has come to see Peter in jail for the first time in months. When he sees Peter he apologizes, not just for not coming to visit him, but for neglecting him for his whole life. Peter is moved by this, but gets angry in response, telling his father, “Fuck you.” Lewis admits that he’s so distraught that he’s been unable to function. Then, unexpectedly, he and Peter end up joking around a little, and Lewis is overwhelmed with happiness to see Peter smile.

Patrick and Diana discuss the guns Peter used to commit the shooting. Diana tells Patrick that Jordan will ask him why Peter switched between the two handguns—Gun A and Gun B—in the locker room for no apparent reason. Patrick suggests a few possible reasons, all of them inconsequential. Drew arrives; like Patrick, Diana is also preparing him for questioning. Diana asks how Drew is doing, and he says that his shoulder is better but that he’s been told he’ll never play hockey again. He had been counting on getting an athletic scholarship to college, and he wants to prove the doctors wrong. Diana asks Drew to describe what happened on the day of the shooting, which he does.

When Diana asks about Drew’s relationship with Peter, Drew says that he knew Peter “forever,” and that they were neither friends nor enemies. When Diana asks if Drew bullied Peter, he says he didn’t. Patrick feels angry at this obvious lie. On Diana’s subtle signal, he puts his hand around Drew’s throat, addressing him as “you little fuck,” and telling him that they know he bullied Peter. He warns Drew not to try to protect himself, or he will end up in jail. Calmly, Diana repeats her question.

Alex has made “barbecued lasagna” for Josie and Patrick, who examine the meal suspiciously. Alex enthusiastically explains that she burned the lasagna, but decided that this added “an extra, charcoal sort of flavor.” Gently, Patrick mentions that it is a good idea to follow recipes, whereas Josie claims to not be hungry and runs up to her room. It is the night before the beginning of the trial. Alex runs after Josie, and Josie admits that she feels conscious of how, unlike everyone else, she can’t seem to return to normality. Alex recalls a time when, at a Fourth of July party, Josie had ended up at the bottom of a swimming pool. Josie said she was looking for mermaids, and Alex asked that next time, she take Alex with her. Josie collapses into her mom’s arms, sobbing. 

When Alex comes back downstairs, she tells Patrick that she’s going to attend the trial. She asks him why Josie is still alive, how she escaped being shot by Peter. Patrick says there are some things he can’t understand, and Alex feels deeply reassured by his presence. That night, unable to sleep, Josie goes out and lies on the front lawn. Due to being a witness, she won’t be able to attend the trial, even though she wants to.

On the morning of the trial, Lacy dresses in black, as if she were going to a funeral. She doesn’t know if Lewis is coming; he has been sleeping in Joey’s room. Going into Peter’s room, Lacy gets a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray from the shelf. She imagines a portrait depicting a version of herself who expresses all her suppressed emotions. Lewis comes in, wearing his special suit. He and Lacy hold and hands, unable to speak. Meanwhile, Selena has left out a bowl of Cocoa Krispies for Jordan, the meal he always eats before “battle,” along with a note saying “GOOD LUCK.” His eldest son calls from college, also wishing him luck.

When Peter is brought from his cell, he realizes that no one has given him a bulletproof vest this time. He almost asks about it, but then stops himself. Meanwhile, Josie announces that she is going to the trial, too. She knows she won’t be allowed in the courtroom, but she says she can wait with Patrick because he is also sequestered. When Jordan gets to court, he sees a man in the crowd holding a sign reminding people of the fact that New Hampshire has the death penalty. He then sees another man holding a posterboard with pictures of Kaitlin Harvey and her mother, Yvette. The sign reads, “NINETEEN MINUTES.” Jordan catches the man’s eye and mouths, “I’m sorry.”

There is also another crowd chanting messages of support for Peter. They identify themselves as the Bullied Victims of America, and Selena reveals that she encouraged them to come to the trial. Inside, Peter looks weak. Jordan hands him a pair of thick tortoiseshell glass to wear instead of his usual wire ones. He says it will help if Peter doesn’t look like he has the aim to shoot ten people. He encourages Peter to “look pathetic.” Peter has already begun to cry, and Jordan comforts him. Diana begins her opening presentation, setting the scene of Sterling High on the day of the shooting. She shows pictures of the school looking ordinary, then clicks to a gruesome picture of Ed McCabe’s dead body.

Peter tells Jordan he’s going to be sick, but Jordan instructs him to swallow it. Diana describes how Peter brought four guns to school and shot several of the victims before sitting down in the cafeteria to eat a bowl of Rice Krispies. He then got up and shot the rest. She explains that Peter shot the last victim, Matt Royston, twice—once in the stomach and once in the head. She says that while the whole episode lasted only “nineteen minutes,” its consequences will go on forever. She concludes that by the end of the trial, she knows that everyone present will be convinced that Peter deliberately murdered ten people, and tried to murder nineteen others. 

In his own opening speech, Jordan argues that when Peter walked into Sterling High on the morning of the shooting, he didn’t want to murder people but rather “defend himself from the abuse he suffered for twelve straight years.” He describes how this abuse began on Peter’s very first day of school, and how it continued in many different forms over the course of Peter’s life. Jordan mentions that he will be calling Dr. King Wah as a witness, and that Wah has diagnosed Peter with post-traumatic stress disorder. He explains that children suffering from PTSD “can’t distinguish between an immediate threat and a distant threat.” Jordan explains that “self-defense” doesn’t just refer to immediate threats, but also broader, ongoing ones. He characterizes Peter as “a very scared boy” who never got the help he needed. 

Zoe Patterson is on the witness stand. Diana asks her to explain how she left Mr. McCabe’s math class early to go to her orthodontist’s appointment. She describes hearing the explosion while waiting for her mother on the school steps, then seeing Peter approach, point a gun at her, and shoot her in the leg. Zoe explains that she tried to run, but couldn’t. She got an infection from the bullet wound and still needs a cane to walk. She had to quit the soccer team. Diana concludes her questions, and Jordan begins his. He asks Zoe to clarify that Peter wasn’t running toward her, then observes that it seems as if she was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Another Sterling High student, Michael Beach, observes that it’s strange how all the witnesses, from the most popular kids to “losers” like him, are waiting in the same room together. Emma—one of the cool girls, who is now in a wheelchair after becoming paralyzed—asks to share his doughnut. When Michael is called to the stand, Diana asks him if Peter said anything when he ran into the school, and Michael says that Peter asked the jocks to step forward. A senior tried to tackle Peter, but Peter shot him. Michael explains how Peter held the gun to his head, but he was saved because in that moment, Peter needed to change the cartridge.

Michael saw his friend Justin’s face as he died, an image that haunts him to this day. When Diana asks if Michael and Justin were popular, Michael replies that they weren’t at all. When she asks if he has been bullied, Michael replies, “Who hasn’t?” Meanwhile, Lacy thinks about the moment she realized it is possible to hate one’s own child. Lewis had invited an esteemed economist from London for dinner, and Lacy was making an extra effort to get the house ready. The morning of the dinner, Peter rudely protested that he had no clean underwear. While he was at school, she did three rounds of his laundry in addition to finishing cleaning the house.

Yet when Peter got home, instead of thanking Lacy he complained that he would have to put the folded laundry away. A huge fight ensued, and when Peter told Lacy he hated her, Lacy replied, “I hate you, too!” Later, Lacy apologized, although Peter did not respond and did not join the dinner with the economist. The next morning, Peter’s room was spotless, and they never spoke of that moment again. Back in the present, when Haley Weaver goes on the witness stand, Peter can barely recognize her. Her face is disfigured, covered with scar tissue. When she explains that she was homecoming queen, she starts to cry. Judge Wagner calls a recess.

The witnesses are technically not allowed to talk to one another, but no one really monitors their activity in the courtroom cafeteria, where Josie has been spending most of her time. She is moved to see the way Brady protectively holds Haley’s hand and looks at her as if she appears the same as she always did. While Josie is speaking to Drew, John walks over and introduces himself to Josie as if they’ve never met. When she says her name, he struggles to pronounce it. Patrick comes to check on Josie, pulling her away from Drew and John. Patrick admits he hates “the waiting part.” Back in the defense’s room, Josie is planning to read when she sees Lacy. When Lacy expresses surprise at Josie being in this room, Josie replies, “Peter’s my friend.”

On the witness stand, Drew describes how he, Matt, and Josie headed to the locker room to hide, but that Drew was shot on the way. When Diana asks if Drew and Peter were friends, Drew admits they weren’t. When asked if he ever bullied Peter, Drew says he did occasionally, but that he was just “kidding around.” Jordan then questions Drew, raising specific things Drew did to Peter like shoving him in a locker. He then brings up the moment when Matt pulled down Peter’s pants in the cafeteria, and the email Peter wrote to Josie. Drew admits that he sent the email out to the whole school and Jordan asks, “Well, Drew? […] Was it a good joke?” 

Drew is sweating, feeling a burning hatred for Diana for leaving him up there to be grilled by Jordan. However, at this moment Diana gets up again and asks if Drew has bullied anyone other than Peter. Drew admits that he has; that he has called people names, pantsed them, and even sent out other people’s emails. Diana asks, “Any of those folks ever shoot you?” and Drew replies that none of them have. Dusty Spears, the Sterling High gym teacher, was once a jock and a bully like Drew. It is now his turn on the witness stand, and when Diana asks if he ever saw Peter being bullied, Dusty replies it was just “the usual locker room stuff.” He also confirms that Peter never asked for help.

Jordan then questions Dusty and makes him read the bullying policy from the Sterling High teachers’ handbook. Jordan asks Dusty to find instructions for teachers regarding what to do if they witness someone being bullied. After reading, Dusty admits there’s nothing there. Derek is then called to the stand, and Diana quizzes him about his friendship with Peter. She asks him to describe Hide-n-Shriek. She also asks about the day of the shooting, and Derek explains that he’d gone to his car to retrieve a doctor’s note that would excuse him from gym based on his asthma.

While Derek was in the parking lot, he saw Peter getting something out of the back of a car and went over to say hi. However, Peter then looked at him strangely and told him to go home. When Diana asks if Peter ever said anything like that before, Derek admits that a few weeks before the shooting, while the boys were playing Hide-n-Shriek, Peter said, “When this really happens, it’s going to be awesome.” Derek says he thought Peter was joking. He also didn’t take Peter’s words seriously on the day of the shooting, and he went back into school. After hearing the explosion, Derek saw a message on the school secretary’s computer screen, which read, “Ready or not… here I come.” The secretary hid herself and Derek in the principal’s office, where the computer displayed the same message.

Diana then pulls up a television monitor with Hide-n-Shriek playing on it. The avatar is a boy that looks like Peter, who gets to select a weapon from a vast array of choices. After a weapon is selected, the same message appears: Ready or not, here I come. When Jordan questions Derek, he asks Derek to provide details of the ways in which he and Peter were bullied. Derek describes the abuse as happening daily; he explains that there was nothing he could do to stop it, so he just let it happen. Diana gets up to question Derek again, and she asks if Derek ever sought violent revenge himself. Derek replies he hasn’t, adding, “But sometimes I wish I had.” 

Lacy is thrown by her encounter with Josie, whom she holds partially responsible for the bullying Peter endured. She is impressed with what a kind, eloquent, and beautiful young woman Josie has become, and she is moved by Josie’s questions about Peter. However, she suspects that Josie is just being kind to Lacy herself, rather than actually being interested in Peter’s wellbeing. At the end of the first day of the trial, Lacy runs into Alex in the courthouse bathroom. Alex tells Lacy she’s sorry and shares her memories of Peter as a little boy. Lacy is moved to tears and leaves before she has a breakdown in front of her old friend. 

On the drive home, Alex mentions that in court, the email Peter sent confessing his crush to Josie was read aloud. Josie cringes, reliving the humiliation of the whole episode. Josie worries that in court, everyone is going to place blame on her, but Alex assures her this isn’t happening. She asks why Josie stopped hanging out with Peter and Josie replies, “I didn’t want to be treated like him.” Back in jail, Peter thinks about how none of the other inmates cast looks of judgment and shame in his direction. Reflecting on the day in court, he thinks about how—despite the injuries they have sustained—his old bullies still have the same social power as they always did.