Another Shoulder
| Another Shoulder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chapter | 52 of 129 (list of chapters) |
| Published | January 15, 2010 |
| Page count | 16 |
| Major characters | Lucy, Paulo, Mike |
| Minor characters | Daisy, Abbey, Rodrigo |
| Locations | Roseville Park, Paulo’s house, Roseville neighborhood, Roseville High School |
| Collected in | Volume Two, Omnibus 1 |
| Chapter navigation | |
| ← Unrequited | Casting Call → |
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Daisy tries to force Mike and Lucy to make up, and it goes about as badly as it possibly could. Heartbroken, Lucy turns up on Paulo’s doorstep asking for help, and he rises to the occasion in ways nobody quite expected.
Synopsis
Mike and Lucy have been avoiding each other all day, and the walk home through the park with Daisy and Abbey is one long uncomfortable silence.[1] Daisy shoves the two of them together and orders them to talk it out. Mike instead tells Lucy he isn’t her babysitter anymore. Lucy has had enough and answers, “.. Fine. I get it. You hate me.” She walks off alone, telling him not to follow.[2]
Walking home alone, Lucy spirals until she reaches Paulo’s front door.[3] She tearfully asks Paulo to help her, and he lets her in. She explains that this isn’t just another fight — Mike knows how she feels now, and she’s sure he hates her.[4]
Lucy collapses on his bed crying.[5] Over a long, wordless montage, Paulo cooks them ramen, and by ten o’clock the two of them are lying there laughing together.[6]
Paulo tells her she’s welcome to stay the night,[7] and assures her plenty of people love her, whether she knows it or not. When she asks whether that includes him, he answers without hesitation, “No matter what I’m doing or where I am, you got me.”[8]
After Paulo’s promise, Lucy pulls him into a kiss.[8] Things escalate, and Paulo lowers her onto the bed. Then he snaps out of it and throws up an X with his arms.[9] There is nothing wrong with her, he insists, but she isn’t herself right now and will regret this.[9] Lucy pleads that she can’t lose him too and pulls him back down. Paulo keeps refusing, and the night ends on a black panel.[10]
The next morning, Lucy wakes up against a sleeping, drooling Paulo and greets him with a shriek and a foot to the face.[11] He swears nothing happened, and when she asks how she can be sure, his deadpan “Check if you like.” earns him a kick. Downstairs, they run straight into Paulo’s father Rodrigo, who just tells them they’re going to be late, then hides a smirk behind the sports page.[12]
On the way to school, Lucy thanks Paulo for looking out for her.[13] At her locker she spots a dazed-looking Mike coming down the hall. She ducks behind the open door until he passes, then shuts it and walks the other way.[14]
Character dynamics
- Lucy and Paulo: Paulo was already the flirty classmate who talked Lucy down after Mike fights, as he did in Pick Me Up.[15] This time Lucy spends a whole night in his care and gives him their first kiss. When she pushes for much more in the middle of a breakdown, Paulo, of all people, is the one who says no.[9] By morning, they’re closer than ever. She has his standing promise that she’s got him, and they agree that things won’t get awkward.[8][13]
- Mike and Lucy: Mike and Lucy are already avoiding each other after the rejection in A Distance Apart.[1][16] When Daisy forces them together to reconcile, they become openly hostile, and Lucy declares herself done.[2] On the final page, she hides behind a locker door rather than let Mike see her face.[14]
- Daisy and Mike: Daisy has carried a soft spot for Mike for years, and she still expects her “Mikie” to be the nice guy who does the right thing by Lucy. For the first time, that faith cracks into open anger. When he refuses to go after Lucy and shakes Daisy off instead, she turns on him, calling him a “jerkity jerkjerk” as he walks away.[17]
Trivia & observations
- According to Veronica, the chapter was originally drafted around Paulo stopping Lucy from self-harming. Those early drafts were never posted publicly.[18]
- Rodrigo makes his first on-panel appearance in the series here. Veronica’s commentary greets him with “Hey, look! Parents DO exist.”[12]
- The commentary on the final page jokes that Mike “WAS right in saying the lockers can contain whole bodies all those years ago,” a nod to his locker line in Puppy Love.[14][19]
- The chapter is printed in Volume 2 alongside Another Path, a BCI-exclusive AU story that revisits Paulo’s big decision from this night.[20]
Related chapters
- Back and Forth: David corners Paulo about his night with Lucy, and Paulo admits the two of them only fooled around.
- Dinner Time: Lucy’s mom turns out to be the one Paulo phoned, and Jordan is not thrilled about the sleepover.
- December: Mike repeats the babysitter line to Lucy almost word for word during their most devastating falling-out.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 2
- ↑ Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 4
- ↑ Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 5
- ↑ Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 7
- ↑ Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 8
- ↑ Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 9
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 10
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 11
- ↑ Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 12
- ↑ Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 13
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 14
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 15
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 16
- ↑ Chapter 47: Pick Me Up, page 9
- ↑ Chapter 50: A Distance Apart, page 13
- ↑ Chapter 52: Another Shoulder, page 3
- ↑ “Ask response on Lucy self-harm rumors”. 2017-09-17.
- ↑ Chapter 13: Puppy Love, page 1
- ↑ “Is Another Shoulder included in Volume Two?”. 2019-11-01.