Such a Fun Age: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Emira walks to the two-story Starbucks near the Chamberlain house to change her clothes and apply some lipstick. Then she rushes over to meet Kelley at Gloria’s, a BYOB Mexican restaurant. Luckily, Kelley doesn’t seem too annoyed that she’s late. After their first date, Kelley invited Emira to get coffee. The meetup was oddly formal—it felt more like a job interview than a date.

Tonight, when Kelley asks about Emira’s employer, Emira remembers the wine that Mrs. Chamberlain gave her. She takes it out of the bag and places it on the table. Kelley is taken aback when he googles the wine and finds out that it cost nearly $60. He asks what Emira’s employer does for work, and Emira admits that she doesn’t really know. Inwardly, Emira considers how strange it is that Mrs. Chamberlain is so excited to score deals on things she could clearly afford at full price.

Over dinner, Kelley brings up the topic of exes. Emira shares that she dated someone over the summer for a few months, and a musician in college. Kelley sees this as proof that Emira hasn’t had a serious relationship. She teases him—is he about to tell her he’s been married with kids? He laughs and gives his own history: he’s had a couple of long-term girlfriends. And in high school, he dated the richest girl in town. Once, on a school trip to Washington, D.C., she placed her luggage in the aisle of the plane—apparently, she’d thought a flight attendant would handle it for her. Kelley remembers the moment as one that showed him how different rich people’s lives are. Emira recalls an opposite experience, where she went to a poor classmate’s house and saw cockroaches crawling on the floor.

Still reflecting on the past, Kelley recalls how his brother once went to a friend’s house in elementary school. The kid’s father apparently walked in on them watching Moesha and called it “nigger shit.” Kelley uses the full word when he tells the story, which shocks Emira, though she doesn’t show it. Emira and Kelley have only jokingly discussed race. She’s only dated one white guy before and hooked up with another. Both men loved showing her off at parties, and after they started seeing her, they’d suddenly become really interested in social justice issues.

Later, at Kelley’s apartment, Kelley reads the printed text across the plastic bag that contains the wine: “Little Lulu’s Ballet Academy.” Kelley thinks the academy sounds awful, but Emira says that it’s actually her favorite thing to do with Briar—she loves watching Briar’s feistiness clash with the rest of the class’s more graceful, subdued demeanor. Next week, the class will hold a Halloween party; Emira is going as a cat, and Briar is going as a hot dog.

Kelley and Emira have some of the wine. It’s amazing. Emira jokingly asks Kelley if his rich high school girlfriend is drinking this wine in first class right now. Kelley laughs before asking Emira if he wants to know why they broke up. She does. Kelley prefaces the story with the fact that he was young and there was a lot of drama in the relationship. Then he explains that his girlfriend used to write him dramatic, emotional letters all the time, and that he’d thought he had to use an equally dramatic breakup line to end things. He recites the line he used to break up with her: “I think it would be best if we went our separate ways, and that those paths never again connected.” Emira thinks the breakup line is harsh, but its boldness impresses her, too.