One of Us is Lying

by

Karen McManus

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on One of Us is Lying makes teaching easy.

Cooper Clay Character Analysis

The “jock” of the Bayview Four, Cooper is a popular athlete who seems destined for greatness as a baseball player. Originally from Mississippi, Cooper is incredibly close with his tight-knit family and intensely focused on his athletic career. Cooper is kind, pure, and well-intentioned, but desperate to keep the truth about himself—the fact that he is gay and in a closeted relationship with a male underwear model—under wraps for as long as possible in order to continue impressing his conservative family and the baseball scouts who are pounding down his door to offer him scholarships. Cooper is eventually outed when an encrypted About This post comes to light. This traumatic ordeal threatens his social life, his friendships, and his career, but ultimately results in more sympathetic media coverage not just of Cooper but of all of the Bayview Four, who have been hounded by the press and the authorities alike since day one despite a lack of hard evidence tying them to Simon’s death. Cooper is a force for good and truth throughout the novel from that point on, and recognizes the importance of living an authentic, open life no matter the cost.

Cooper Clay Quotes in One of Us is Lying

The One of Us is Lying quotes below are all either spoken by Cooper Clay or refer to Cooper Clay. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Stereotypes and Unlikely Connections Theme Icon
).
Chapter 16 Quotes

Four days after we're featured on the local news, the story goes national on Mikhail Powers Investigates. I knew it was coming, since Mikhail’s producers had tried to reach my family all week. We never responded, thanks to basic common sense and also Robin’s legal advice. Nate didn’t either, and Addy said she and Cooper both refused to talk as well. So the show will be airing in fifteen minutes without commentary from any of the people actually involved. Unless one of us is lying. Which is always a possibility.

Related Characters: Bronwyn Rojas (speaker), Nate Macauley, Cooper Clay, Addy Prentiss, Mikhail Powers, Robin Stafford
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

Sexism is alive and well in true-crime coverage, because Bronwyn and I aren’t nearly as popular with the general public as Cooper and Nate. Especially Nate. All the tween girls posting about us on social media love him. They couldn’t care less that het a convicted drug dealer, because he’s got dreamy eyes.

Same goes for school. Bronwyn and I are pariahs—other than her friends, her sister, and Janae, hardly anyone talks to us. They just whisper behind our backs. But Cooper's as golden as ever. And Nate—well, it’s not like Nate was ever popular, exactly. He’s never seemed to care what people think, though, and he still doesn’t.

Related Characters: Addy Prentiss (speaker), Bronwyn Rojas, Nate Macauley, Cooper Clay, Janae
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

I sit with Mary in the interrogation room after Detective Chang leaves, thankful there’s no two-way mirror as I bury my head in my hands. Life as I knew it is over, and pretty soon nobody will look at me the same way. I was going to tell eventually, but in a few years, maybe? When I was a star pitcher and untouchable. Not now. Not like this.

"Cooper." Mary puts a hand on my shoulder. "Your father will be wondering why we're still in here. You need to talk to him."

"I can't," I say automatically. Cain't.

"Your father loves you," she says quietly.

I almost laugh… He loves when I strike out the side and get attention from flashy scouts, and when my name scrolls across the bottom of ESPN. But me?

He doesn’t even know me.

Related Characters: Cooper Clay (speaker), Mary
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 251-252
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

[Nate] crosses to our table and dumps his backpack next to Bronwyn. She stands up, winds her arms around his neck, and kisses him like they're alone while the entire cafeteria erupts into gasps and catcalls. I stare as much as everyone else. I mean, I kind of guessed, but this is pretty public. I'm not sure if Bronwyn’s trying to distract everyone from Cooper or if she couldn’t help herself. Maybe both.

Either way, Cooper's effectively been forgotten. He's motionless at the entrance until I grab his arm. "Come sit. The whole murder club at one table. They can stare at all of us together."

Related Characters: Addy Prentiss (speaker), Bronwyn Rojas, Nate Macauley, Cooper Clay
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 260
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

We're not getting anywhere with this conversation. But I'm struck by a couple of things as I listen to them talk. One: I like all of them more than I thought I would. Bronwyn’s obviously been the biggest surprise, and like doesn't cover it. But Addy's turned into kind of a badass, and Cooper's not as one- dimensional as I thought.

And two: I don’t think any of them did it.

Related Characters: Nate Macauley (speaker), Bronwyn Rojas, Cooper Clay, Addy Prentiss
Page Number: 269
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

"Let's go back to what we know," Bronwyn says. Her voice is almost clinical, but her face is flushed brick red. “Simon was one of those people who thought he should be at the center of everything, but wasn’t. And he was obsessed with the idea of making some kind of huge, violent splash at school. He fantasized about it all the time on those 4chan threads. What if this was his version of a school shooting? Kill himself and take a bunch of students down with him, but in an unexpected way. Like framing them for murder." She turns to her sister. "What did Simon say on 4chan, Maeve? Do something original. Surprise me when you take out a bunch of lemming assholes."

Related Characters: Bronwyn Rojas (speaker), Cooper Clay (speaker), Simon Kelleher, Maeve Rojas
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 314
Explanation and Analysis:
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One of Us is Lying PDF

Cooper Clay Quotes in One of Us is Lying

The One of Us is Lying quotes below are all either spoken by Cooper Clay or refer to Cooper Clay. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Stereotypes and Unlikely Connections Theme Icon
).
Chapter 16 Quotes

Four days after we're featured on the local news, the story goes national on Mikhail Powers Investigates. I knew it was coming, since Mikhail’s producers had tried to reach my family all week. We never responded, thanks to basic common sense and also Robin’s legal advice. Nate didn’t either, and Addy said she and Cooper both refused to talk as well. So the show will be airing in fifteen minutes without commentary from any of the people actually involved. Unless one of us is lying. Which is always a possibility.

Related Characters: Bronwyn Rojas (speaker), Nate Macauley, Cooper Clay, Addy Prentiss, Mikhail Powers, Robin Stafford
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

Sexism is alive and well in true-crime coverage, because Bronwyn and I aren’t nearly as popular with the general public as Cooper and Nate. Especially Nate. All the tween girls posting about us on social media love him. They couldn’t care less that het a convicted drug dealer, because he’s got dreamy eyes.

Same goes for school. Bronwyn and I are pariahs—other than her friends, her sister, and Janae, hardly anyone talks to us. They just whisper behind our backs. But Cooper's as golden as ever. And Nate—well, it’s not like Nate was ever popular, exactly. He’s never seemed to care what people think, though, and he still doesn’t.

Related Characters: Addy Prentiss (speaker), Bronwyn Rojas, Nate Macauley, Cooper Clay, Janae
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

I sit with Mary in the interrogation room after Detective Chang leaves, thankful there’s no two-way mirror as I bury my head in my hands. Life as I knew it is over, and pretty soon nobody will look at me the same way. I was going to tell eventually, but in a few years, maybe? When I was a star pitcher and untouchable. Not now. Not like this.

"Cooper." Mary puts a hand on my shoulder. "Your father will be wondering why we're still in here. You need to talk to him."

"I can't," I say automatically. Cain't.

"Your father loves you," she says quietly.

I almost laugh… He loves when I strike out the side and get attention from flashy scouts, and when my name scrolls across the bottom of ESPN. But me?

He doesn’t even know me.

Related Characters: Cooper Clay (speaker), Mary
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 251-252
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

[Nate] crosses to our table and dumps his backpack next to Bronwyn. She stands up, winds her arms around his neck, and kisses him like they're alone while the entire cafeteria erupts into gasps and catcalls. I stare as much as everyone else. I mean, I kind of guessed, but this is pretty public. I'm not sure if Bronwyn’s trying to distract everyone from Cooper or if she couldn’t help herself. Maybe both.

Either way, Cooper's effectively been forgotten. He's motionless at the entrance until I grab his arm. "Come sit. The whole murder club at one table. They can stare at all of us together."

Related Characters: Addy Prentiss (speaker), Bronwyn Rojas, Nate Macauley, Cooper Clay
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 260
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

We're not getting anywhere with this conversation. But I'm struck by a couple of things as I listen to them talk. One: I like all of them more than I thought I would. Bronwyn’s obviously been the biggest surprise, and like doesn't cover it. But Addy's turned into kind of a badass, and Cooper's not as one- dimensional as I thought.

And two: I don’t think any of them did it.

Related Characters: Nate Macauley (speaker), Bronwyn Rojas, Cooper Clay, Addy Prentiss
Page Number: 269
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

"Let's go back to what we know," Bronwyn says. Her voice is almost clinical, but her face is flushed brick red. “Simon was one of those people who thought he should be at the center of everything, but wasn’t. And he was obsessed with the idea of making some kind of huge, violent splash at school. He fantasized about it all the time on those 4chan threads. What if this was his version of a school shooting? Kill himself and take a bunch of students down with him, but in an unexpected way. Like framing them for murder." She turns to her sister. "What did Simon say on 4chan, Maeve? Do something original. Surprise me when you take out a bunch of lemming assholes."

Related Characters: Bronwyn Rojas (speaker), Cooper Clay (speaker), Simon Kelleher, Maeve Rojas
Related Symbols: Social Media and Technology
Page Number: 314
Explanation and Analysis: