Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tell Me Three Things, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Blended Families
Intimacy and Growing Up
Wealth, Fitting In, and Bullying
Home
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Instead of staying in on Friday night, Jessie hangs out with Dri and Agnes. She wonders if Agnes is comfortable with her being here but reminds herself that Dri invited her. Agnes moans that she doesn’t understand why everyone makes such a big deal about sex. Dri insists that Agnes is technically still a virgin and Agnes shares her story with Jessie: last summer at drama camp, she was bored with being a virgin so she and a guy started to have penetrative sex. Suddenly, he freaked out about “his bro J.C.” and wanting to wait until marriage. Jessie says it counts—it’s closer than Jessie has ever gotten to sex. Agnes asks if Jessie is a virgin. Jessie says she is; Dri is as well. Agnes says that her sister at UCLA is sleeping with lots of guys to “own her sexuality.” Jessie thinks Scarlett would love this.
Agnes’s story of having sex for the first time reads as more of an attempt to strengthen her relationship with Jessie and Dri than anything else. The sex itself doesn’t seem to matter much to Agnes, which again complicates the novel’s exploration of intimacy. Intimate moments can sometimes be more about bolstering friendships than connecting romantically with others. Agnes’s sexual partner’s sudden recollection of “his bro J.C.” is a colloquial reference to Jesus Christ—and, by extension, the idea that’s common in Christianity that premarital sex is a sin.
Themes
Jessie nervously asks if they know anyone in their class whose sister died. Jessie tries to figure out how to explain her relationship with SN and, prompted by Agnes’s teasing, tells them almost everything. Dri and Agnes feel like they’re soon to be real friends.
Finally, Jessie reaches the point in her relationships with Dri and Agnes that she can talk openly with them. As she does this, it becomes easier for her to feel at home in Los Angeles.
Themes
Back at Rachel’s house, Jessie finds Theo outside their parents’ bedroom. Jessie hears loud shouting inside and Theo says they might be breaking up. Dad curses about a dinner, which is unusual—he never curses. Dad spits that he’s tired of feeling judged by Rachel’s friends, which shocks Jessie. She never thought that Dad would have trouble too. The fight continues; Dad is angry that Rachel corrected his drink order the other day, which makes Rachel sound ready to cry. She insults Dad’s intelligence. Dad insists that Jessie is the only sane one in the house, but Rachel points out that Jessie has no friends. Jessie starts to cry, thinking that it’s not her fault that her mother died and she had to move here—and furthermore, Mom loved poetry and she and Dad still made it work.
Even if Jessie came home on a high after her time with Dri and Agnes, this fight brings her back down to scary real life. The fight reveals that Dad is having a hard time adjusting to life in Los Angeles, just like Jessie is—something that complicates Jessie’s belief that Dad picked them up and brought them here just for his own benefit. Bringing Jessie into the fight makes it clear that Dad and Rachel don’t expect their children to be listening, which suggests that this fight may have major consequences going forward—Jessie now knows that Rachel doesn’t think highly of her, at least when Rachel is angry.
Themes
Theo whispers that Rachel just says mean things when she’s mad. Dad angrily starts to say something about how Theo “gallivants.” Jessie briefly thinks she’d rather listen to them have sex, since this seems more intimate. She wonders if meeting on the internet means that people can connect without context. Jessie can kind of see why Dad was attracted to Rachel: she’s a widow, but she’s rich, successful, and pretty. Jessie can’t figure out, however, why Rachel fell for Dad. When Mom and Dad fought, they just refused to talk to each other for days on end. Dad says he’s not ignorant or homophobic and announces that he’s going on a walk. Rachel screams after him to not come back.
Again, Jessie recognizes that sex isn’t always the pinnacle of intimacy. Rather, intimacy can be more about how couples talk to each other or fight with each other. This will, hopefully, help her understand that her relationship with SN—a nonsexual form of intimacy—is just as valid as a sexual relationship would be. It’s important to note that this fight is extra unsettling for Jessie because she’s never seen a couple fight like this. She doesn’t know how to handle what she hears, and she doesn’t know whether to take Rachel seriously.
Themes
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Theo and Jessie race quietly to Theo’s room. They wonder whether their parents are going to divorce. Surprisingly, that possibility makes Jessie sad—she and Dad couldn’t afford to stay in L.A., and there’s nothing left for them in Chicago. Theo asks if Dad would’ve said something offensive about him being gay and Jessie assures him that Dad wouldn’t do that. Theo explains that he’s known since kindergarten that he’s gay and thinks that everyone should enjoy how fabulous he is. Jessie smiles. She realizes she appreciates how enthusiastic and subtly kind Theo is. He asks who Jessie’s been texting and asks if she wants to share some chocolate. She accepts the chocolate and refuses to mention SN, hoping he’s not Theo.
Jessie’s realization that she doesn’t really want to leave speaks to how at home she already feels in Los Angeles, even if she’s not ready to use those words quite yet. And again, the only relationship Jessie feels able to trust in her new family is her relationship with Theo. This is mostly because she and Theo talk to each other, while Dad and Rachel have stayed away from their children. While Jessie and Theo figure out how to live with each other and make this work, Rachel and Dad fight and make Jessie feel afraid.
Themes
