Chapter 23 Summary & Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Barrett arrives at the offices of the Washingtonian for an interview with editor in chief Annabel Costa, bringing a pre-written article about Dr. Okamoto. Annabel acknowledges the piece is well-researched and that Barrett is a talented writer, but explains it's unusable without direct quotes from Dr. Okamoto or her colleagues. Barrett can't explain the complicated ethics of not being able to quote someone she technically didn't interview in this timeline. The interview lasts longer than her first two attempts, but is ultimately lackluster, and Barrett leaves feeling deflated.
As she exits the newsroom, the computer system crashes, and a staffer named Christina arrives to fix it. In the parking lot, Miles picks Barrett up in a bright pink ice-cream truck called THE BIG FREEZE. They park in the quad and put up a FREE ICE CREAM sign, quickly becoming the most beloved people on campus. For the next couple of hours, they scoop ice cream together, bumping into each other in the small truck.
While serving, Barrett spots Cole Walker, a boy from her high school who has transferred to UW for prelaw. She's visibly shaken—Cole was the person she had her disappointing first sexual experience with. Miles serves him quickly and Barrett retreats to the back of the truck, struggling to catch her breath. Miles places a hand on her shoulder and doesn't push for details.
After the line thins, they discuss bucket lists. Miles reveals he's never had sex and hopes it will be meaningful, that he'd be in love. Barrett admits her own first experience was brief and unsatisfying. She attempts to proposition a random student on Miles's behalf, but he declines. More students arrive for ice cream, and the chapter ends with Barrett relieved to plunge her hands back into the frozen tubs.
Key Events
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Barrett's interview at the Washingtonian fails because her article lacks direct quotes from Dr. Okamoto
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The newsroom's computer system crashes; Christina arrives to fix it
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Miles picks Barrett up in a pink ice-cream truck (THE BIG FREEZE)
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They give away free ice cream in the quad, becoming campus favorites
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Cole Walker appears; Barrett has a panic response and retreats
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Miles serves Cole quickly and doesn't push Barrett for details
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Bucket list conversation reveals Miles's sexual inexperience and Barrett's disappointing past
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Barrett's failed attempt to proposition a random student on Miles's behalf
Character Development
Barrett faces professional rejection in the loop, and it stings more than she expected. Her article about Dr. Okamoto was her attempt to dust off her skills, and Annabel's rejection forces her to confront the limits of what she can accomplish in a timeline where she can't properly interview anyone. Her panic response to Cole's appearance reveals how deeply that high school experience affected her—she's still wondering if Cole ever found her attractive or if it was part of a joke. Her internal monologue about Miles reveals growing feelings she keeps trying to dismiss as a product of isolation.
Miles shows a new layer of vulnerability in this chapter. He admits he's never had sex, and his hope that it will be meaningful and that he'd be in love reveals a romantic idealism beneath his serious exterior. He also shares that he was bullied as a kid (called