Contents
Chapter 62
Overview
In a past timeline, Mabel shoves Billy, who crashes into Christos and injures him, then tries to blame Mabel. Christos defuses the moment with humor and escorts Mabel toward home, but his late arrival draws his mother’s ire. Recognizing Mabel’s reputation, Christos’s mother forbids him from seeing her, straining their bond.
Summary
In the school bike shed, Mabel shoves Billy, who stumbles into Christos, sending Christos’s head into the asphalt. Billy tries to pin intent on Mabel, but Christos undercuts him with teasing logic, implying Billy’s fall knocked them both down. Billy leaves fuming, and Mabel and Christos share relieved laughter.
Afterward, Christos insists on walking Mabel home despite his head injury, admitting he returned on a gut feeling to check on her. As they near his shift at the fish-and-chips shop, Christos’s headache worsens, so Mabel accompanies him to ensure he’s safe.
Outside the shop, Christos’s mother confronts him for being late. When she learns Mabel was involved, her demeanor chills, citing Mabel’s troublemaking reputation. Despite Christos’s attempts to soften the story, his mother berates him, partly in Greek, and pointedly declares in English that he must not see Mabel again.
Mabel rides away, shaken by the possibility that Christos will obey his mother, and distressed by the widening social barrier her reputation creates—threatening a fragile, budding connection.
Who Appears
- Mabel (Elsie Waller)Teen protagonist; shoves Billy, worries over Christos’s injury, then faces rejection from Christos’s mother.
- ChristosKnocked down and dazed; defends Mabel with humor; walks her back; scolded by his mother.
- Christos’s motherFish-and-chips shop owner; angered by Christos’s lateness and bans him from seeing Mabel.
- BillyAggressor who falls into Christos; blames Mabel; leaves seething after being mocked.