56 pages • 1 hour read
Maria PadianWrecked
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 13-16
Chapter 13 Summary: “Haley”
Prior to Chapter 13, the short, italicized passage describes the group of young men having the “party before the party” (125), praising Brandon Exley for his great work on the drinks.
Chapter 13 picks up with a switch in perspective to Haley, who has just realized that Richard knows and lives with Jordan Bockus. Internally, Haley is shocked and frustrated, but outwardly, she tries to play off her response, asking casual questions to find out whether Richard likes Jordan. Haley feels grateful when Richard explains that he thinks of Jordan as “just annoying” (128). As Haley listens to Richard, she begins thinking of Jenny, wondering if Richard was at the party where Jenny was raped. Although the two still exchange numbers so that they can go apple picking, Haley leaves it as a maybe, feeling like she has to figure some things out before she can continue seeing Richard.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Richard”
In the italicized section preceding Chapter 14, Jenny thinks about her new status as a “girl worth knowing” (130), since she’s the one with the party invitation.
On Saturday morning, Richard is surprised that Haley still texts him about apple picking. He had been put off when she had left so abruptly from the Grille, assuming that she was more of a snob than he had realized. After getting Haley’s text, Richard thinks about how hungover he is after playing beer pong with his housemates the night before. During the game, the young men had discussed Jordan’s case; Richard had interrupted the conversation to explain that “a girl is accusing Bockus of rape” (133). Many of the young men from Taylor and Conundrum Houses were being called as witnesses, which had caused panic among the group.
Richard responds to Haley’s text, telling her he will pick her up in an hour. Meanwhile, he realizes what Jordan meant when he had said “Exley’s all set” (134) the day before: Exley is the other person whom Jordan had told about Jenny.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Haley”
The italicized passage before Chapter 15 describes Brandon Exley watching as the party gets underway at Conundrum. Jordan asks him, “Where are the girls you said were coming?” (135).
While she waits for Richard to pick her up, Haley comes to a firm decision: “she will tell him about Jordan and Jenny” (136). Even though this is a violation of the confidentiality agreement, Haley is sure that she likes Richard enough to need to tell him the truth.
Richard pulls up, and Haley gives him the coffee she had gotten for him; though he is obviously hungover, they cheerfully head to apple picking. When they arrive at the farm, Richard “wraps one arm around her shoulders” (139), and Haley feels excitement as well as a little nervousness.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Richard”
Chapter 16 is preceded by a short, italicized section that describe the group of freshman girls, Jenny included, being led by Marliese to the house party.
Richard is lying peacefully next to Haley in the apple orchard when Haley explains that his housemate, Jordan, is the one who raped her roommate, Jenny. Snapping awake, Richard reveals that he knows about the situation, and they both grapple with what this means. Haley asks Richard how long he has known about it, and he replies, “Known about them hooking up or about her charging him?” (143).
Haley’s response is immediate fury, and even though Richard wants to remedy the situation, he manages to make it worse. He tries to explain that maybe Jenny wasn’t raped. Despite Richard’s attempts at explanations, Haley looks at him “like he’s just killed somebody” (145) and begins moving to cut the date short. They argue as they walk to the check-out and then fall into an uncomfortable silence for the ride back to campus.
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
One of the core conflicts of Wrecked appears in this section: Haley and Richard are both involved in the rape case but are on opposite sides. This conflict is further complicated by the fact that neither Haley nor Richard has directly chosen to be involved; they have each been pulled into the case reluctantly, creating a critical tension between them: they want to have their relationship with each other but also have some accountability to Jenny and Jordan. Haley is the first to break confidentiality by telling Richard what she knows. At the apple orchard, the conflict breaks open, as Richard tries to defend Jordan, and Haley gets increasingly upset. This incident hints at the potential growth each of these characters might go through by the resolution of the novel: Haley might grow in her ability to empathize and support others, while Richard might improve his capacity for using language more responsibly.
A primary element of the structure of Wrecked is Padian’s choice to place short italicized excerpts that follow a separate chronological timeline from the rest of the story. As the plot contained by the chapters moves quickly towards a climax, the italicized passages feel like they slow down and get more positive. This is an interesting play on Padian’s part: she makes the mood the italicized narrative a direct contrast to the emotions in the chapters from Richard and Haley’s perspectives. Additionally, the short length of the italicized passages keeps them from being a full relief from the tension of the central plot, meaning that even when the passages seem positive, they still contain a sense of foreboding.
By continuing to alternate between Richard and Haley, Padian challenges readers to see and empathize with both characters’ thoughts and feelings. This is an important aspect of the narrative arc of Wrecked because of the nuance it provides to the plot. Even when Richard or Haley does something that is obviously the wrong choice, readers have an intimate perspective of why they do what they do. For example, Padian shows the apple orchard scene through Richard’s perspective so that readers can see the young man as he struggles with why he would find himself arguing for Jordan’s side of the story. Similarly, Padian splits the scene at the Grille between the two characters, revealing how both Richard and Haley feel about their interaction. Through these alternating perspectives, Padian is able to more effectively convey the possible reactions that young adults have to dealing with issues like rape.
