Contents
Chapter 33
Overview
Ella discovers her father’s name—John Carter—on her birth certificate and links him to classmate Brittany Carter’s family. When Ella’s hoarding mother returns and confronts her, she dumps a bag of rotting pumpkin across Ella’s room. Fueled by anger and envy of Brittany’s stable life, Ella resolves to take action.
Summary
Alone with the discovery of her birth certificate, Ella realizes her father is John Carter and believes he must know she exists. She hides the document, then searches her eighth-grade class list to verify a suspicion.
Ella finds Brittany Carter on the list and confirms Brittany’s parents as Vanessa and John Carter, concluding Brittany is her half-sister. The connection explains their shared blue eyes and why Ella was excluded from Brittany’s childhood party.
Ella’s mother arrives home, calls for her, and bursts into Ella’s room. Noticing the garbage bag of rotting pumpkin Ella removed from the hoarded bedroom, her mother angrily accuses her of overstepping. She opens the bag and, in retaliation, empties the rancid contents across Ella’s floor, soaking clothes and papers.
Surrounded by the stench, Ella contrasts her deteriorating home with Brittany’s seemingly perfect life and stable parents. Convinced the disparity is unfair if they share a father, Ella resolves to do something about it.
Who Appears
- EllaDiscovers her father is John Carter; links him to classmate Brittany; clashes with her mother; resolves to take action.
- Ella’s motherHoarding and volatile; confronts Ella and dumps a bag of rotting pumpkin across her room in anger.