College Material

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College Material
Chapter106 of 127 (list of chapters)
PublishedOctober 28, 2019 (2019-10-28)
Page count18
Major charactersDaisy, Abbey, Paulo, Augustus, Lucy, Miranda
Minor charactersJordan
LocationsEast Rutledge High School, Burger-Tron, Roseville neighborhood
Collected inVolume Seven
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It’s SAT day, and the gang has been shipped off to unfamiliar East Rutledge High School. Daisy lands in the same testing room as Abbey, of all people, while Paulo stays behind at Burger-Tron, convinced his future is already settled.

Synopsis

The group stands outside the unfamiliar East Rutledge High School, where they have been assigned to take their SATs. Lucy and Augustus look ready for battle, while Jordan is already wailing in despair.[1] Inside, Daisy goes hunting for her room and runs into Abbey. After a round of nervous blushing, they discover they have been assigned to the same room, and he offers to show her the way.[2]

The test is far easier than the practice one, and Daisy and Abbey emerge giddy as they compare answers. Abbey even suggests that maybe they are just geniuses.[3] Their conversation drifts to the study sessions they shared while they were dating, and Abbey remembers that they had planned something special for afterwards.[4] When Daisy says she wishes they could have celebrated under better circumstances, he reminds her that the perfectly organized notes were hers and that she has always been brilliant.[5]

Then Abbey notices Lucy, Jordan, and Augustus waiting for Daisy down the hall. He trembles with anger, then pulls himself together before turning back to Daisy with a calm smile. He excuses himself, saying he is going home with Michael and Stacy.[6] Daisy calls after him to ask if he is okay, and he stops long enough to tell her, “It’s not my business anyway.”[7]

On the walk to Burger-Tron, Lucy pointedly asks whether Daisy is really comfortable sticking around Augustus. Daisy brushes the history off as ancient, declares she isn’t scared of him anymore, and points out that without his air of mystery he’s “just a guy in a smelly coat”. Augustus pouts that he washes his clothes now.[8]

Paulo serves the celebration in his work uniform, and the others learn that he has not taken the test and has no plans to try.[9] When Daisy offers to help him prepare for next year, he gently refuses: “You got cancers to cure. Not hopeless cases like me.”[10] Daisy looks crestfallen, and Augustus tells her there is nothing wrong with not being cut out for college. He suggests that she is upset because she wants Paulo to do well.[11]

Back at Burger-Tron that night, Miranda finds Paulo staring at his reflection in the dirty mop-bucket water. She tells him what a difference he has made since he started. Her dad’s company is taking resumes over the summer, and he is “looking for people just like you”. Miranda offers to put in a good word.[12][13] Paulo blushes furiously, hides behind his mop, and promises that he will think about it.[14]

Character dynamics

Daisy pumps her fists in the air shouting "Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOO" while Jordan throws his head back and wails "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO".
Daisy and Jordan greet the SATs rather differently.
  • Abbey and Daisy: Abbey publicly broke up with Daisy in Love Again.[15] After sharing a testing room here, they compare answers, and Abbey compliments Daisy’s notes and intelligence. Daisy tells him she wishes they could have celebrated under better circumstances.[3][5] When Abbey sees Augustus waiting with her friends, he trembles with anger, then pulls himself together and chooses to leave with a calm smile rather than confront him. Asked if he is okay, he says that the situation is none of his business.[7]
  • Paulo and Miranda: Miranda has been Paulo’s boss since his first shift.[16] During the closing shift, she finds him staring at his reflection in the mop-bucket water. She praises his work and tells him about an opening at her dad’s company, promising to put in a good word.[12][13] Paulo had called himself a hopeless case that afternoon. When Miranda makes her offer, he blushes and hides behind his mop before promising to think about it.[14]
  • Daisy and Augustus: Whatever Augustus once did to Daisy, it was bad enough that Lucy checks, right in front of him, whether Daisy really wants him around. Daisy settles it in public, declaring the history old news and herself done being scared of him.[8] An embarrassed pout is about as menacing as Augustus gets all chapter.
  • Daisy and Paulo: Daisy has been trying to nudge Paulo toward a future for a long while now, with study parties and career-show invitations among her earlier attempts.[17][18] Here he gently declines the whole project, reminding her she can’t tutor him forever.[10] She takes the refusal hard, hard enough that Augustus ends up being the one to comfort her.[11]

Trivia & observations

Paulo's unhappy face reflected in the dirty water of the mop bucket.
Paulo at a low ebb on the closing shift.
  • Taking the SATs at an unfamiliar school comes straight from Veronica’s own life. Her commentary notes she also had to sit hers at a different school, and found it just as disorienting.[19] East Rutledge High School debuts here, and so far this is the location’s only appearance.[1]
  • This chapter brings Abbey back on panel after an absence. Veronica’s commentary says she “missed drawing” him and “his big ol’ circley eyes”.[2]
  • Veronica jokes in the commentary that everyone expected “kill_bill_siren.wav” when Abbey walked away, and Oliver adds “Therapy works!” The counselor is real, too — Abbey resolved to see one much earlier in the comic, and Daisy has invoked the counselor’s advice since.[20][21]
  • This is the first time Miranda gets a name. She’s been on panel as Paulo’s unnamed manager since his first shift back in Small Fry.[12][16]
  • Oliver’s commentary under the betting scene notes that 1600 was famously the perfect SAT score “in comic time”, since real-world scoring has shifted over the years.[9]
  • Mid-test, a distracted Augustus fiddles with his eyebrow piercing, the one Melanie gave him.[22][23]
  • The final panel has no dialogue and shows the freshly mopped floor sparkling beside a “CAUTION WET FLOOR” sign.[14]

Related chapters

  • Love Again: Abbey breaks up with Daisy in the school cafeteria, and Augustus moves into Lucy’s family’s guest room under strict conditions that include staying away from Daisy. Those events explain Daisy and Abbey’s awkward reunion here, as well as Lucy’s question about Daisy remaining around Augustus.
  • Small Fry: Paulo turns sixteen and lands the Burger-Tron job, spending part of his first day mopping up a mess with genuine pride. During the later closing shift in this chapter, he stares unhappily at his reflection in the dirty mop-bucket water.
  • Table for One: During another lunchtime SAT conversation, Paulo shrugs that school just is not for him and that he “might as well get started on a career in burgers”. Miranda’s job lead gives him an alternative to staying at Burger-Tron.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 4
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 7
  4. ↑ Chapter 106: College Material, page 8
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 9
  6. ↑ Chapter 106: College Material, page 10
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 11
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 12
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 13
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 14
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 15
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Chapter 106: College Material, page 16
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 106: College Material, page 17
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Chapter 106: College Material, page 18
  15. ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 17
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Chapter 83: Small Fry, page 5
  17. ↑ Chapter 77: Study Buddy, page 5
  18. ↑ Chapter 84: Scenic Route, page 18
  19. ↑ Chapter 106: College Material, page 3
  20. ↑ Chapter 40: Moving On, page 6
  21. ↑ Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 14
  22. ↑ Chapter 106: College Material, page 6
  23. ↑ Chapter 86: Trapped, page 21
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