The Upside of Falling

Brett searches for his jacket as he prepares to leave for a movie date with Becca. He starts emptying out his closet, and in the process, he unearths “a box of memories [he] [forgot] [he] even had” (246). The box, which contains old football memorabilia and photos of Brett and his dad, triggers Brett’s favorite memories with his dad. Brett’s mom joins him, and they look over the photos together. Brett admits that a “tiny, small part of [him]” (248) misses his dad, and his mother confesses that she doesn’t want to divorce Brett’s father. Brett realizes how much his mother loves his father and how hard the last few weeks have been for her. He promises to give the counseling sessions a real try, and he is even willing to let his dad return to the house if it makes his mom happy. Brett arrives at Becca’s house to find that she forgot about the movie date after a busy day of helping her mom with a new recipe. Brett decides to forgo the movie and instead helps Becca and her mom with the new recipe, and Becca’s mom brags that she “[has] an eye for bringing together unnatural pairings” (252).