Fuel Economy
| Fuel Economy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chapter | 112 of 129 (list of chapters) |
| Published | September 27, 2021 |
| Page count | 12 |
| Major characters | Paulo, Abbey, Jasmine, Daisy, David |
| Minor characters | Rachel, Madison, Courtney, Stacy, Mina, Cassidy, Haley |
| Locations | Roseville High School, Roseville neighborhood |
| Chapter navigation | |
| ← Burnt Bridges | Featured Attraction → |
| Read chapter | |
After all that saving, Paulo finally has a car, and he’s offering rides to the entire school. Daisy is dazzled, David plans a trip to Mexico, and Abbey has to figure out what to do when his old enemy won’t stop being nice to him.
Synopsis
A beat-up yellow car pulls up to the curb beside Daisy and David, exhaust puffing, with Paulo hollering out the driver’s window.[1] Daisy circles it in sparkle-eyed wonder before draping herself over the hood and delivering her verdict: “It’s a car!”[2]
At school, David fires off ride requests, Mexico included, and Paulo says yes to everything without listening. The savings came up a bit short, he admits, so his dad covered the rest as an early Christmas present. Daisy praises him for sticking to his savings plan. “You amaze me every day..” she tells him, and soon the two of them are blushing deeply at each other.[3]
Soon Paulo is popping up behind any classmate with somewhere to be, including Abbey and Jasmine, who were planning a bus trip to their cleanup site. He gets as far as “I’ll drive EVERYONE!” before Rachel points out that gas isn’t free.[4]
Abbey, though, can’t make sense of why Paulo would do him a favor.[5] Paulo offers him the same ride as everyone else despite their difficult history. Over lunch, Abbey tells Jasmine that he feels ashamed when Paulo is nice to him. He asks whether Paulo should be angrier with him and worries that Paulo is trying to show him up again. Jasmine tells him he’s allowed to stay mad, and that nobody’s making him forgive the insults and the bullying.[6] But since Abbey admits he no longer hates Paulo, she suggests taking the offer at face value as a sign that Paulo’s willing to be a friend.[7]
After lunch, Abbey hovers by Paulo’s locker and can’t get a word out. Paulo catches him anyway and greets him with a sly “Here to finish the job?” Abbey panics, then realizes that he never actually apologized for the assault.[8] Paulo gleefully milks the mumbled attempt that follows until Abbey snaps that he still doesn’t like him, and Paulo cheerfully agrees.[9]
Paulo admits that Daisy pushed him into the earlier apology, though he meant it all the same. He insists that the ride offer is genuine. Abbey accepts, then stiffly offers his own apology “for threatening and assaulting you”.[10] He’ll take the Thursday ride after all, and he’ll even bring gas money. Paulo skips away arm-in-arm with him, thrilled to be driving all over town.[11]
Character dynamics
- Paulo and Abbey: Before this chapter, Paulo had insulted and bullied Abbey, and Abbey had threatened and assaulted Paulo in a convention bathroom. Paulo’s earlier apology came only after Daisy pushed him to make it.[6][12][13] Abbey apologizes here, and Paulo confirms that his earlier apology was sincere. They also agree that they still don’t like each other, but Abbey accepts Paulo’s ride and offers to bring gas money.[10][11]
- Paulo and Daisy: Daisy is dazzled by the car. They both blush when she praises Paulo for sticking to his savings plan, then David interrupts them with his plans for Mexico.[3]
- Abbey and Jasmine: Abbey confides in Jasmine about why Paulo’s offer bothers him. Jasmine tells him he is allowed to stay angry, but suggests taking the ride offer at face value once he says he no longer hates Paulo. She had given him similar advice in High Expectations.[6][14] The friendship itself doesn’t change, but it does become the subject of gossip when Mina and Cassidy turn up crowing that they knew “it was happening”, leaving both of them thoroughly flustered.[7]
Trivia & observations
- Veronica’s commentary reveals that David’s list of ride destinations originally included “to space”, with Paulo still answering yes, to make it extra obvious he’d stopped listening. The line was cut before the page went up.[3]
- The opening of the locker scene deliberately mirrors the convention bathroom in Guest of Honor. Paulo whistles through a routine task while Abbey approaches him unseen from behind, and the staging matched closely enough that Oliver briefly assumed Paulo was peeing into his locker. Veronica had to clarify “HE’S NOT PEEING INTO THE LOCKER, YOU GUYS”.[8][15]
- On the same page, Veronica notes that “Here to finish the job?” is Paulo coping the only way he knows how, by making jokes about a traumatic event.[8]
- The lunch-table page has no dialogue at all. Abbey’s warm smile fading into dejection is told entirely through the art.[16]
- Veronica’s commentary on that page notes that Mina “is obsessed with Abbey despite thinking Abbey and Jasmine are more likely to become a thing”, a dynamic she realized she enjoys because of Paulo and Rachel (“THIS WAS UNINTENTIONAL”).[16]
- Daisy’s amazement that Paulo saved “ALL that money” like he planned goes back to Table for One, where he was splitting each paycheck between the car fund and his dad.[3][17]
- It’s the first time Paulo has driven since prom night in Total Recall, when his run home in Matt’s car ended in the crash that put him in the hospital.[1][18]
Related chapters
- Guest of Honor: The convention chapter where Abbey slams Paulo against a bathroom stall and threatens him. That’s the assault behind Paulo’s “finish the job” tease, and the one Abbey finally apologizes for here.[12]
- Time Out: Daisy, arms crossed, tells Paulo that “He deserves to hear it, not me”, and the apology Paulo makes as a result is the one he admits here wasn’t really his own idea.[13]
- Featured Attraction: In the following chapter, Paulo drives David and Daisy to the movies, and Daisy arrives dressed up and blushing after their exchange here.[19]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 1
- ↑ Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 3
- ↑ Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 4
- ↑ Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 5
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 6
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 7
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 9
- ↑ Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 10
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 11
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 12
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 89: Guest of Honor, page 35
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 108: Time Out, page 7
- ↑ Chapter 100: High Expectations, page 9
- ↑ Chapter 89: Guest of Honor, page 34
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Chapter 112: Fuel Economy, page 8
- ↑ Chapter 92: Table for One, page 7
- ↑ Chapter 85: Total Recall, page 25
- ↑ Chapter 113: Featured Attraction, page 1