Chapter summaries The Night We Met Abby Jimenez

Chapter 35 Summary: Larissa Confronts Mike's Drinking and Chris's Secret

⚠️ 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

The morning after Larissa moves in with Mike, she calls Lexi to bring a steam cleaner. Mike had passed out drunk the night before, vomited, and urinated on the carpet. Lexi helps clean and points out that Mike’s drinking pattern—heavy binges followed by dry spells—is classic binge drinking. Larissa is shaken; she recognizes the pattern from her father’s self-destructive behavior and fears she is repeating her past. Over the next two days, Mike texts from the cabin, seemingly oblivious. Larissa plans to discuss the incident with Chris during the ride to the cabin for Christmas. But when Chris arrives, he introduces his girlfriend, Heather, who is a physician. Larissa feels blindsided and betrayed. She cannot talk to Chris privately and must sit in the back seat while Heather talks nonstop. Chris does not check on her EpiPen, which hurts Larissa deeply. The chapter ends with Larissa vomiting from stress.

Key Events

  • Larissa moves in early and discovers Mike blackout drunk, having consumed a whole bottle of vodka.
  • She cleans the carpet with Lexi’s help; Lexi identifies the behavior as binge drinking.
  • Larissa reflects on her childhood with an unstable father and her fear of repeating that cycle.
  • Mike texts from the cabin as if nothing happened, staying drunk with Jesse.
  • Chris picks up Larissa for the cabin drive but brings his girlfriend Heather.
  • Larissa cannot speak to Chris privately about Mike and feels abandoned.
  • Chris does not ask to see Larissa’s EpiPen, a routine gesture she counts on.
  • The drive is tense; Larissa vomits into Chris’s water bottle.

Character Development

  • Larissa – Confronts her own trauma surrounding addiction. She begins to see Mike’s drinking through a new, unwelcome lens. Her reaction to Chris’s girlfriend reveals an unacknowledged emotional dependence on him.
  • Mike – Revealed to be a binge drinker who hides his problem behind his health-conscious persona. He remains unaware of the severity of the incident.
  • Lexi – Acts as Larissa’s grounded, blunt voice of reason. She normalizes the recognition of addiction and forces Larissa to face the truth.
  • Chris – His secret relationship with Heather triggers Larissa’s sense of betrayal and complicates her trust in him. His failure to check her EpiPen signals a shift in their dynamic.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Addiction and Denial – Mike’s binge drinking is belittled by Larissa until Lexi names it. The incident forces Larissa to confront the denial that allowed her to downplay earlier red flags.
  • Family Patterns – Larissa explicitly connects Mike’s behavior to her father’s instability, voicing the fear that she is trapped in a cycle of caretaking self-destructive men.
  • Betrayal and Trust – Chris’s introduction of Heather, combined with his failure to check the EpiPen, feels like a personal betrayal. Larissa’s reaction highlights how much she relied on him as a confidant.
  • Sensory Memory – The lingering smell of urine and vomit in the carpet becomes a physical reminder that Larissa cannot escape, mirroring her emotional disgust and inability to ignore what happened.
  • The EpiPen – Its absence symbolizes the erosion of safety and trust between Chris and Larissa.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 35 is a pivotal turning point. Larissa’s romantic and emotional support systems both crack simultaneously: Mike’s drinking problem surfaces, and Chris’s secret girlfriend fractures the trust she placed in him. The chapter sets up the core conflict for the cabin trip—Larissa must navigate Christmas without a confidant, carrying a heavy secret about Mike’s behavior while grappling with her unexamined feelings for Chris. It deepens the novel’s themes of addiction, denial, and the painful reawakening of old wounds.

Study Questions

  1. Why does Larissa feel more betrayed by Chris than by Mike after this chapter?
    Larissa had already begun to process Mike’s behavior as a symptom of addiction, but Chris’s secret relationship and his failure to check her EpiPen feel like a personal abandonment. She had relied on Chris as her emotional anchor and trusted him to always be there for her. His girlfriend disrupts that dynamic, and his neglect of her medical need signals that their bond has changed.

  2. What role does Lexi play in helping Larissa understand Mike’s drinking?
    Lexi names Mike’s behavior as binge drinking and points out that Larissa had normalized it. She provides a no-nonsense perspective that forces Larissa to see the pattern she had been minimizing. Lexi also reminds Larissa that she has already exhausted her capacity to nurture a self-destructive partner, echoing Larissa’s own inner fears.

  3. How does the motif of smell function in this chapter?
    The smell of the soiled carpet lingers despite cleaning, acting as an olfactory cue that Larissa cannot escape. It represents the undeniable reality of Mike’s addiction and the filth associated with his loss of control. The smell also invades Chris’s car in Larissa’s memory, contrasting with the familiar, safe scents of Chris’s vehicle, emphasizing that everything has changed.

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