Chapter 13 (TEN): Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ 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

Chapter 13 opens with Sage waking up on a city bus, exhausted and sore from a ballet audition that went badly. During the audition, her foot cramped every time she attempted a plié, and the director noticed her wincing. The director dismissed her immediately with a curt dismissal, and Sage was swept offstage, adding another rejection to her long streak of failed auditions.

When she finally checks her phone, she discovers why it's been overheating with notifications: a news article announces that Toronto Thunder's rookie, Elias Westbrook, is off the market. In a televised interview, Elias referred to Sage as his girlfriend, and her social media following exploded from roughly ninety followers to over six thousand in a single day.

Watching the interview footage, Sage is conflicted. She notices how composed Elias looks in his charcoal gray suit, and how his expression shifts to something protective when the interviewer brings up her name. But she interprets his reaction as irritation rather than genuine protectiveness. What bothers her most is that he never corrected the reporter's assumption about their relationship. She doesn't know which is worse—that he let the rumor stand, or that she can't tell what it means.

Sage spirals into self-criticism. She compares her modest achievements—a few awards and competition prizes—to Elias's decorated hockey career. She reflects that her string of ballet rejections makes her an unappealing partner, and she regrets ever proposing the fake relationship arrangement in the first place. She can't bring herself to leverage the sudden media attention, knowing he's already turned her down.

Her brother Sean video-calls, having seen the news. He's shocked that Elias Westbrook is supposedly her boyfriend, and he offers to set him straight. Sage deflects with humor, but Sean presses her with a more serious question: is she actually happy? Sage dodges the question, but Sean's persistence triggers a flood of memories about their difficult childhood.

Sage recalls growing up with parents who struggled with addiction. She remembers making excuses for their absences to protect young Sean, and she remembers her mother's chilling words before being taken away by paramedics—a warning that their family is cursed, that they burn things to the ground and are never good enough to clean up the ashes. Sage has carried that message with her ever since.

She reflects on how she's built her life around escaping that past: working double shifts, constantly moving between auditions, keeping herself busy so the creeping thoughts can't catch up. She admits to herself that if her parents showed up at her door today, she'd still let them in, just to pretend she had their love. What she wants most is to be loved unconditionally, not for what she can do for someone.

When Sean pushes again about whether she's truly happy, Sage tells him she has ballet and him—and, reluctantly, she adds Elias to the list. But even as she says it, she feels disconnected from the version of herself in the media photos, the smiling girl who let Elias carry her and felt safe enough to let go of control.

After the call, a notification from the Hugger dating app catches her attention. She downloaded it the night before, after Elias told her they'd never work, fueled by bitterness and a desire to prove something. She'd swiped through sixty profiles before messaging one man, Derek, who now asks if she's available for a date that night. Sage is surprised to find herself considering it, reasoning that the logical response to rejection by one attractive man is to find another.

Key Events

Sage's ballet audition ends in humiliation when foot cramps cause her to wince, and the director dismisses her.
A news article reveals Elias publicly called Sage his girlfriend in an interview, causing her follower count to surge from roughly ninety to over six thousand.
Sage watches the interview and is upset that Elias didn't correct the reporter's assumption.
Sean video-calls, having seen the news, and asks whether Sage is genuinely happy.
Sage recalls her mother's warning about the family curse and her childhood protecting Sean from their parents' addiction.
Sage admits she would still let her parents back into her life just to feel loved.
A Hugger dating app notification from Derek invites Sage on a date that night, and she considers accepting.

Character Development

Sage is at her most vulnerable in this chapter. The public exposure of her relationship with Elias forces her to confront deep insecurities about her worth, her career, and her background. Her internal monologue reveals how much she measures herself against Elias's success and how little she values her own accomplishments. The chapter also exposes the emotional weight she carries from her childhood—her mother's words about the family curse have clearly shaped her self-perception. Her decision to consider Derek's date offer shows a pattern of using distraction and new connections to avoid confronting painful feelings.

Sean emerges as a perceptive and protective presence. He's growing up—his voice is deepening—and he's learned to read Sage's deflections. His question about whether she's truly happy is the emotional core of the chapter, and his insistence on getting a real answer shows he won't let her hide behind the same excuses she used as a child.

Elias, though absent, looms over the chapter. His public statement about Sage being his girlfriend creates the central tension. Sage interprets his silence on correcting the reporter as rejection, but the chapter leaves open the possibility that his motives are more complicated than she assumes.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The generational curse: Sage's mother's words about their family being cursed—burning things to the ground and never being good enough to sweep up the ashes—haunt Sage throughout the chapter. This is the emotional baggage she carries into every aspect of her life, including her relationship with Elias.

Escapism and running: Sage's constant motion—working double shifts, moving between auditions, keeping busy—is revealed as a strategy to outrun her past. She acknowledges that running won't make it disappear, but she can't stop.

Longing for unconditional love: Sage's admission that she'd let her parents back in just to pretend she had their love reveals her deepest desire: to be loved for who she is, not for what she can do. This connects to her feelings about Elias and her career.

Identity disconnect: Sage doesn't recognize the happy, smiling girl in the media photos. The gap between her public image and her private self-perception is a central tension.

Rebound dating as coping mechanism: Sage's decision to download dating apps after Elias's rejection, and her consideration of Derek's offer, shows her pattern of using new connections to mask emotional pain.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point in the novel for several reasons. It's the first time Sage's family trauma is fully revealed, giving readers crucial context for her insecurities and her reluctance to trust in relationships. Her mother's words about the family curse explain why Sage struggles to believe she deserves happiness or love.

The chapter also escalates the central conflict of the fake relationship. Elias's public statement—calling Sage his girlfriend without correcting the reporter—creates a new layer of ambiguity. Sage reads it as rejection, but the chapter leaves room for other interpretations. The mention of Uncle Marcus, the team's general manager, hints at potential complications ahead.

Finally, Derek's invitation sets up a new complication. Sage's willingness to go on a date with someone else while the media believes she's Elias's girlfriend creates a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.

Study Questions

1. Why does Sage interpret Elias's failure to correct the reporter as a negative sign, and what does this reveal about her self-perception?

Sage assumes Elias let the girlfriend label stand because he's waiting for the story to die out, not because he has any genuine feelings. This interpretation reveals her deep-seated belief that she isn't worthy of real affection or attention—a belief rooted in her mother's words about the family curse and her own string of career rejections. She can't conceive that Elias might have let the statement stand for reasons that have nothing to do with her inadequacy.

2. How does Sage's relationship with Sean contrast with her relationship with her parents?

Sage is fiercely protective of Sean, making excuses for their parents' absences and working double shifts so he won't struggle the way she did. She's committed to always telling him the truth about things that affect them both, unlike their parents, who abandoned them. Yet the chapter also shows the limits of this protection: she still deflects his questions about her happiness, and she admits she'd let her parents back in if they showed up—revealing that her longing for their love hasn't fully healed.

3. What role does the Hugger dating app play in Sage's emotional state at the end of the chapter?

The app represents Sage's attempt to regain control and self-worth after Elias's rejection. Downloading it was fueled by bitterness, but Derek's attention offers a temporary boost to her shattered confidence. However, the chapter suggests this is a pattern of avoidance—using new connections to distract from painful feelings rather than confronting them. Her consideration of the date is less about genuine interest in Derek and more about proving to herself that she's still desirable.