Chapter 18 Summary: Reese

Spoiler Notice

⚠️ This summary contains spoilers for Chapter 18 of Mary Kubica's It's Not Her. Read with caution if you haven’t yet finished the chapter.

Summary

Reese sneaks out after dark to meet Daniel, the alluring resort worker she encountered the previous day. Instead of finding him at the pier as planned, he ambushes her in the woods. He briefly feigns menace before laughing it off as a joke, leaving Reese humiliated, frightened, yet thrilled that a boy this attractive would seek her out. Standing close, he calls her beautiful and suggests they could just kiss and get it over with. Though her heart races, Reese forces herself to play hard to get, terrified of coming across as desperate.

Holding her hand, Daniel leads her deeper into the forest, and Reese fantasizes about being kissed. He asks about her home life, and she admits that her parents fight constantly, sometimes so viciously she imagines one killing the other. He offers her a joint, patiently teaching her how to inhale without coughing. After a few hits, a warm, buzzing lightness spreads through her body.

Eventually the trees thin into a clearing. Daniel shines his phone’s flashlight over stone tablets—a cemetery. He tells her the spot is haunted, that a crying girl in white sometimes appears holding a baby. Reese insists she doesn’t believe in ghosts, but a gnashing noise behind her makes her spin. She senses a presence, and in that instant recalls the three silver dollars her late grandfather seemed to leave on her dresser. The eerie atmosphere tightens around her.

Daniel wraps his arms around Reese, turns her face, and kisses her. The sensation feels like being caught in a rip current. All she can think is not to ruin it, because girls like her don’t get second chances.

Key Events

Daniel surprises Reese in the woods, pretending to threaten her before revealing it’s a joke.
He compliments her appearance, calls her beautiful, and teases her about kissing.
Reese reveals she hasn’t had a boyfriend since fourth grade; Daniel dismisses other boys as foolish.
The pair walk off-trail, holding hands; Reese replays the kiss offer in her mind.
Reese describes her parents’ toxic marriage and her fantasy that one might kill the other.
Daniel rolls a joint and guides her through her first successful hit.
They reach a remote cemetery, where Daniel shares ghost stories about a weeping woman in white.
A noise and a felt presence rattle Reese; she thinks of her grandfather’s posthumous coins.
Daniel kisses her, and she becomes overwhelmed by desire and the fear of messing up.

Character Development

Reese lays bare her insecurity and craving for validation. She has never been called beautiful, believes no one notices her, and is willing to follow a near-stranger into isolated woods simply because he shows her attention. Her family’s dysfunction feeds her loneliness, and she clings to the hope that this night might prove she is desirable. The memory of her grandfather’s coins hints that deep down she wants to believe in something beyond the ordinary world, making her vulnerable to Daniel’s ghost-story manipulations.

Daniel increasingly appears as a figure of charm and control. He shifts easily between menace and tenderness, uses drugs to lower Reese’s barriers, and steers the encounter toward a location he knows will frighten her. His compliments and coaching build a false sense of safety, yet his actions—isolating her, testing her fear, and mocking her family—suggest a darker, potentially predatory intent. The chapter leaves his true motivations ambiguous but deeply unsettling.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Manipulation masked as affection permeates the chapter. Daniel’s flattery, physical closeness, and the joint he shares all serve to disarm Reese, blurring the line between romance and coercion.

Supernatural unease symbolises the danger that Reese cannot see. The haunted cemetery and the ghost story mirror the hidden threats in her life, while the chill and the unexplained noise give shape to her escalating dread, even as she denies it.

Insecurity and desperation drive Reese’s decisions. Her belief that she is unworthy of a “hot” boy’s interest makes her overlook red flags—the stalking implication, the isolation, the scary prank—and interpret them as proof of her sudden desirability.

The cemetery itself stands as a motif of buried secrets and quiet menace, foreshadowing that something—or someone—may not survive the night intact.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 18 pushes Reese further from the safety of the family cottage and deeper into Daniel’s orbit. By placing her in an isolated graveyard, the narrative ratchets up both physical and psychological tension. The supernatural lore, the joint, and the kiss all work to strip away her defenses, while the mention of her parents’ violent undercurrents echoes the danger she may now be walking into. This chapter solidifies Daniel as a figure of ambiguity and potential threat, laying essential groundwork for the mystery and suspense to come.

Study Questions and Answers

How does the author use the haunted cemetery to heighten suspense and develop theme?
The cemetery’s eerie cold, ghost story, and the unexplained noise create an atmosphere of dread that mirrors Reese’s internal fear. The supernatural elements act as a metaphor for the unseen dangers in her life—both from her family and, possibly, from Daniel. The setting amplifies the reader’s anxiety and foreshadows that something sinister lurks beneath the surface.
In what ways does Daniel’s behavior foreshadow potential danger for Reese?
Daniel isolates Reese in the woods, uses marijuana to relax her inhibitions, and deliberately frightens her with ghost tales, all while maintaining a seductive veneer. His playful threat at the chapter’s start and his remark that he “changed his mind” about the meeting place hint at a controlling nature. These actions suggest he enjoys power over her and may not have her safety in mind.
What does Reese’s recollection of her grandfather’s coins reveal about her character?
The memory reveals that Reese is open to the inexplicable and longs for connection beyond the ordinary. The coins represent a sign that someone cared for her from the other side, reflecting her deep need for validation. This vulnerability makes her susceptible to Daniel’s flattery and the eerie mood he cultivates, as she is already primed to accept that the invisible can become tangible.