One of Us is Lying: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

Thursday afternoon at lunchtime, Bronwyn notices that everyone around her is suddenly pulling out their phones and whispering—some of them are even staring right at her. Maeve shows Bronwyn her phone. Someone has made another blog post to About This, featuring Simon’s final About That post—the post revealing all four of the detention group’s secrets. At the bottom of the post is a note urging readers to try and “connect the dots”; it asks if someone is “pulling the strings” or if all four students are in it together.

As Bronwyn’s friends Kate and Yumiko approach her to ask what’s going on, a voice over the loudspeaker summons Bronwyn, Addy, Cooper, and Nate to the main office. Bronwyn walks “like a zombie” past her staring, whispering classmates straight to Principal Gupta’s office, where she is the last to arrive. Gupta tells everyone that though she’s aware they all have legal representation, she wants her office to be a “safe space” where they can reveal anything that might help the school understand the truth behind the rumors. Cooper and Addy insist they have nothing else to say, and then Gupta is quickly called out of her office—the police are on the phone.

Gupta leaves Bronwyn, Cooper, Addy, and Nate in her office—it is the first time the four of them have been in one room since they met with Officer Budapest last week. They discuss how “unreal” their situation is, and speculate that far more students than just the four of them had motive to kill Simon—he had been leaking people’s secrets and ruining people’s lives for years. When Principal Gupta returns, Cooper tells her that the four of them will not say anything else to her; she lets them know that her door is always open to them, but they are all already filing out.

Bronwyn is anxious all day—until midnight, when Nate calls her on the burner phone. He has been calling her every night since Monday, divulging secrets about his painful home life or just staying on the phone with her as they watch movies simultaneously. Before they start a movie tonight, Bronwyn confesses that she wishes she could remember more about the day Simon died; she is distressed that the police have barely paid any attention to the matter of the dummy cell phones placed in everyone’s bags. Bronwyn wishes she could figure out who the murderer is herself—but she has to admit that out of the four of them she doesn’t really know anyone, even Nate.