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
Theo is impeccably dressed in a pinstripe blazer and matching shorts. He says he only offered to do this because he figured Jessie would tell him everything. Jessie says she has nothing to share. It’s the truth; she has no idea what’s up with Liam and Gem, and she’s pretty sure Liam isn’t SN. Theo shares what he knows: Liam is madly in love with Jessie, which Jessie says makes no sense. Jessie says she doesn’t want Liam to ask her out. Theo asks if it’s because of Ethan and says that Jessie shouldn’t date him because of Xander. Everyone knew Xander was into drugs, but they were all shocked when he overdosed on heroin.
Because Jessie doesn’t have anything to share, she gets to listen. This is exactly what she needs right now, as Theo finally seems willing to give Jessie the information she needs to make sense out of Wood Valley and its characters. The simple fact that Theo is so interested in all of this suggests that Jessie has become a major player in Wood Valley drama, whether she likes it or not. In other words, she’s starting to fit in and become one of the crew.
Themes
Jessie doesn’t understand what this has to do with Ethan, though she’s sure it was awful for Ethan to watch a bandmate die like that. Theo says that Xander was Ethan’s older brother. Jessie finally realizes that the faraway look in Ethan’s eyes is because of grief. Things start to make sense and she wants to ask SN if he’s Ethan. His lie might have been to simply sub in a sister for a brother. She vows to not get her hopes up or jump to conclusions. SN messages that if they want to go to a Waffle House, they have to go to Arizona. Instead, he suggests IHOP. Jessie looks through her texts with Ethan and sees that he writes very differently from SN. Later, SN asks if they can meet tomorrow after school. Jessie declines since she that’s when she meets with Ethan. She starts to feel disappointed as they decide on Wednesday.
The revelation that Ethan’s brother died explains why Jessie and Ethan have gotten along so well. Even if Jessie wasn’t aware that Ethan’s brother died, she still likely recognized some of his mannerisms as ones connected to grief. Having this information also makes it easier to empathize with Ethan and see him as a real person. Jessie now knows for sure that Ethan’s home life is just as challenging and hard to deal with as her own—losing a close family member like this leaves its mark, whether one loses a parent or a sibling.
Themes
