Under Pressure: Difference between revisions

From Candypedia
← Older editNewer edit →
VisualWikitext
m Adding stub notice, navbox and categories
Replace with Fable-generated candidate page
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Notice Stub for LLM content}}
{{Notice LLM raw}}
{{Infobox chapter
{{Infobox chapter
| image = c35p4f10.png
| image = c35p4f10.png
| major_characters =  
| major_characters = [[Daisy]], [[Mike]], [[Paulo]], [[Abbey]], [[Tess]]
| minor_characters =  
| minor_characters = [[Lucy]], [[Yashy]], [[David]], [[Sue]], [[Katie]], [[Amaya]], [[Three Weird Girls]], [[Augustus]], [[Jessica]], [[Gym Teacher (High School)]]
| locations =  
| locations = [[Roseville High School]], [[Neighborhood sidewalks and streets]]
| collected_in = [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Volume One|Volume One]], [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Omnibus 1|Omnibus 1]]
| collected_in = [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Volume One|Volume One]], [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Omnibus 1|Omnibus 1]]
}}
}}
Swim class ends with a nosebleed, a rescue, and some startlingly forward flirting from [[Daisy]]. Then things turn serious in the Junior hallway, where [[Tess]]'s past catches up with her and [[Abbey]] shows a side of himself nobody expected.
== Synopsis ==
The [[Roseville High School]] lunch table is sitting through [[David]]'s birthday story for the third time that day, and [[Yashy]] is the only one still enjoying it.<ref name=":c35p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p1}}</ref> She garbles one of [[Mike]]'s muttered complaints into a rude claim about [[Lucy]], who leaps up with a blushing "'''OBJECTION!!'''" and smacks him across the face. The two of them fumble their way out of Yashy's suspicion with a hasty cover story about airplane-powered racecars, and Veronica's commentary confirms the secret they're protecting is [[Sandy]]'s existence. The bell bails them out, and as everyone scatters, [[Augustus]] lingers in the distance, writing in his notebook.
Over at the pool, the swimming unit is in its final week.<ref name=":c35p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p2}}</ref> The [[Gym Teacher (High School)|gym teacher]] sets her three best swimmers (Mike, [[Paulo]] and David) a five-lap race for extra credit, while the rest of the class is told to splash around.<ref name=":c35p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p3}}</ref> Daisy trails behind, wishing she could do something to catch Mike's eye, and swims face-first into the pool deck. Mike dives in and pulls her up, nose bleeding. Daisy makes the most of the moment, nuzzling his hand, calling him her hero, and adding a sultry "Unless, of course, you're looking for more.."<ref name=":c35p4">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p4}}</ref> Paulo storms in before Mike can answer and accuses him of toying with her. The teacher breaks it up, admitting she has been happily watching their "love triangle" play out. Instead of detention, she hands out sit-ups: 100 for Mike's third-place finish, and an eventual 500 for Paulo's mouth.<ref name=":c35p5">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p5}}</ref>
Abbey is waiting in the hallway when Daisy leaves the nurse's office, and he's not there for small talk.<ref name=":c35p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p6}}</ref> He's noticed she keeps skipping lunch and drifting off in class, and he asks outright whether "that older kid" put her up to the stunt with Mike. Daisy insists nobody told her to do anything, screams that he knows nothing about who she is, and storms off. Left alone, Abbey grits his teeth. "He's setting her up for something.. I know it."
Paulo, for his part, walks away from the pool fiasco with a prom date. He's busy reenacting the sit-ups saga for Tess (600, by his latest count) when she admits nobody has asked her to the upcoming prom.<ref name=":c35p7">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p7}}</ref> Paulo drops to one knee, rose in his mouth, and offers to escort her to the ball — and to make out with her on the way there. Tess laughs herself breathless before saying yes. "Just as friends, though."
Tess's past catches up with her on the way out of school.<ref name=":c35p8">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p8}}</ref> She splits off down an out-of-the-way hallway, and Paulo notices she's been dodging her usual route for weeks now. The students around him whisper that she deserves whatever's coming. What's coming is Noah, an older student who corners her, grabs her hair, and brings up "you and Roger in gym class last year". [[Jessica]] smirks in the background and walks off without lifting a finger. School is out and the teachers are all in meetings, so all Tess can do is scream for help.
[[File:c35_p9_panel3.png|alt=Abbey lunges down the hallway and punches Noah hard in the face, knocking him off his feet.|thumb|Abbey makes his introduction to the junior class.]]
It's Abbey who comes running. He flattens Noah with a single punch, breaking his glasses, and coldly tells him never to put his hands on "Tessa" again.<ref name=":c35p9">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p9}}</ref> Noah threatens to have him expelled and tries to explain the history. Abbey couldn't care less about either, and when he asks, with a nasty smile, whether Noah needs him to "'''HELP'''" him understand, Noah runs for it. The fury drains away the moment Abbey turns to Tess, and he apologizes for scaring her.
Tess owns up to her past on the walk off campus.<ref name=":c35p10">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c35/p10}}</ref> She and [[Roger]] made Noah's life miserable, and with Roger now out of the picture, she figures the school's anger is no less than she deserves. Abbey wheels on her, furious. "Nobody deserves to have that horrified, helpless look in their eyes.. Ever." When she asks what he was doing in the Junior hallway at all, he'll only say he was looking for someone and didn't find him. He urges her to tell the others what she told him, and heads off. Tess, wondering aloud what Abbey himself is hiding, pulls out her phone and calls Paulo.
== Character dynamics ==
* '''Paulo and Tess:''' Flirty teasing is their default setting, and this chapter finally puts a date on the calendar. Tess accepts the rose-in-mouth proposal on strictly friendly terms, and when the worst afternoon of her school year is over, Paulo is still the one she calls.<ref name=":c35p7" /><ref name=":c35p10" /> Veronica's commentary sums up why this pairing works where Paulo's pursuit of Lucy stalls: "Tess flirts back!"<ref name=":c35p7" />
* '''Abbey and Tess:''' Before the Junior hallway they were barely more than acquaintances. Abbey rescues her without wanting to hear a word of the history behind it, then rejects her self-blame just as forcefully on the walk home.<ref name=":c35p9" /> By the end she trusts him with her worst secret, and she's paying close enough attention to spot that he has one of his own.<ref name=":c35p10" />
* '''Abbey and Daisy:''' Abbey was already the only one at the table who noticed Daisy's lunchtime absences.<ref name=":c34p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c34/p1}}</ref> Here his worry becomes a confrontation, and it goes about as badly as it could. Daisy screams at him to leave her alone and storms off shaking, while Abbey comes away convinced an older boy is setting her up for something.<ref name=":c35p6" />
* '''Daisy and Mike:''' Daisy's pining is old news, but acting on it is brand new. The rescue hands her an opening and she pushes it well past her usual shyness, while Mike stays flustered and non-committal.<ref name=":c35p4" /> Nothing between them actually changes, though the boldness itself is what alarms Abbey.
== Trivia & observations ==
* David's dazed "I'm not a rat, I'm a hedgehog!" mid-race is a nod to ''Sonic and the Secret Rings'', which Veronica's commentary confirms outright.<ref name=":c35p3" />
* The [[Three Weird Girls]]' poolside chatter follows speech rules dating back to Veronica's pre-BCB comics: one only asks questions, one only exclaims, and one trails off flirtatiously.<ref name=":c35p2" /> Her commentary admits the rules made the page a chore to write.
* Per Veronica's commentary, Mike is missing his swim trunks in one panel of the rescue — a slip that survived even the chapter's redraw.<ref name=":c35p4" /> Oliver adds that mistakes like it are inevitable across tens of thousands of drawings.
* Noah's ambush ends on a fully black panel carrying nothing but Tess's scream of "'''HELP!!'''"<ref name=":c35p8" />
* Years later, Veronica pointed to this chapter when ranking the cast's fighters, calling Abbey's style enraged, mindless brute force.<ref name="tumblr-fight">{{Cite web|url=https://bittersweetcandybowl.tumblr.com/post/142763176391/i-have-been-reading-bcb-for-a-while-and-i-just|date=2016-04-13}}</ref>
* David's birthday story is the plot of [[Onwards to Adventure]].<ref name=":c33p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c33/p1}}</ref> Two chapters on, he is still dining out on the day he skipped school.<ref name=":c35p1" />
== Related chapters ==
* '''[[Bonding]]''': The chapter immediately before this one shows the offer Abbey is so worried about. Augustus corners Daisy and promises to make her feel like the most desirable girl in the world, and Abbey all but quotes it back to her here.
* '''[[Follow Me]]''': Both of this chapter's secrets start here. Mike and Lucy make their pact to hide Sandy from Yashy under the lunch table, and Rachel's confrontation with Tess gives the first hint of the school's grudge against her.
* '''[[A Different Side]]''': Abbey's parting advice pays off when Tess faces the school's anger head-on, with Paulo standing up for her at the pep rally and asking whatever happened to second chances.
* '''[[Love My Way]]''': Paulo makes good on the rose and takes Tess to prom, corsage and all. The "just as friends" arrangement even gets borrowed, with Mike throwing the exact phrase at Daisy during the carnival.
* '''[[Pillow Talk]]''': A long flashback eventually shows the Tess-and-Roger era in full, including exactly why Jessica was happy to smirk and walk away.
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{BCB chapters}}
{{BCB chapters}}
[[Category:Chapters]]
[[Category:Chapters]]
[[Category:Volume One]]
[[Category:Volume One]]
[[Category:Omnibus 1]]
[[Category:Omnibus 1]]

Revision as of 09:51, 19 July 2026

Under Pressure
Chapter35 of 127 (list of chapters)
PublishedMarch 17, 2007 (2007-03-17)
Page count10
Major charactersDaisy, Mike, Paulo, Abbey, Tess
Minor charactersLucy, Yashy, David, Sue, Katie, Amaya, Three Weird Girls, Augustus, Jessica, Gym Teacher (High School)
LocationsRoseville High School, Neighborhood sidewalks and streets
Collected inVolume One, Omnibus 1
Chapter navigation
← BondingCrash and Burn →
Read chapter

Swim class ends with a nosebleed, a rescue, and some startlingly forward flirting from Daisy. Then things turn serious in the Junior hallway, where Tess's past catches up with her and Abbey shows a side of himself nobody expected.

Synopsis

The Roseville High School lunch table is sitting through David's birthday story for the third time that day, and Yashy is the only one still enjoying it.[1] She garbles one of Mike's muttered complaints into a rude claim about Lucy, who leaps up with a blushing "OBJECTION!!" and smacks him across the face. The two of them fumble their way out of Yashy's suspicion with a hasty cover story about airplane-powered racecars, and Veronica's commentary confirms the secret they're protecting is Sandy's existence. The bell bails them out, and as everyone scatters, Augustus lingers in the distance, writing in his notebook.

Over at the pool, the swimming unit is in its final week.[2] The gym teacher sets her three best swimmers (Mike, Paulo and David) a five-lap race for extra credit, while the rest of the class is told to splash around.[3] Daisy trails behind, wishing she could do something to catch Mike's eye, and swims face-first into the pool deck. Mike dives in and pulls her up, nose bleeding. Daisy makes the most of the moment, nuzzling his hand, calling him her hero, and adding a sultry "Unless, of course, you're looking for more.."[4] Paulo storms in before Mike can answer and accuses him of toying with her. The teacher breaks it up, admitting she has been happily watching their "love triangle" play out. Instead of detention, she hands out sit-ups: 100 for Mike's third-place finish, and an eventual 500 for Paulo's mouth.[5]

Abbey is waiting in the hallway when Daisy leaves the nurse's office, and he's not there for small talk.[6] He's noticed she keeps skipping lunch and drifting off in class, and he asks outright whether "that older kid" put her up to the stunt with Mike. Daisy insists nobody told her to do anything, screams that he knows nothing about who she is, and storms off. Left alone, Abbey grits his teeth. "He's setting her up for something.. I know it."

Paulo, for his part, walks away from the pool fiasco with a prom date. He's busy reenacting the sit-ups saga for Tess (600, by his latest count) when she admits nobody has asked her to the upcoming prom.[7] Paulo drops to one knee, rose in his mouth, and offers to escort her to the ball — and to make out with her on the way there. Tess laughs herself breathless before saying yes. "Just as friends, though."

Tess's past catches up with her on the way out of school.[8] She splits off down an out-of-the-way hallway, and Paulo notices she's been dodging her usual route for weeks now. The students around him whisper that she deserves whatever's coming. What's coming is Noah, an older student who corners her, grabs her hair, and brings up "you and Roger in gym class last year". Jessica smirks in the background and walks off without lifting a finger. School is out and the teachers are all in meetings, so all Tess can do is scream for help.

Abbey lunges down the hallway and punches Noah hard in the face, knocking him off his feet.
Abbey makes his introduction to the junior class.

It's Abbey who comes running. He flattens Noah with a single punch, breaking his glasses, and coldly tells him never to put his hands on "Tessa" again.[9] Noah threatens to have him expelled and tries to explain the history. Abbey couldn't care less about either, and when he asks, with a nasty smile, whether Noah needs him to "HELP" him understand, Noah runs for it. The fury drains away the moment Abbey turns to Tess, and he apologizes for scaring her.

Tess owns up to her past on the walk off campus.[10] She and Roger made Noah's life miserable, and with Roger now out of the picture, she figures the school's anger is no less than she deserves. Abbey wheels on her, furious. "Nobody deserves to have that horrified, helpless look in their eyes.. Ever." When she asks what he was doing in the Junior hallway at all, he'll only say he was looking for someone and didn't find him. He urges her to tell the others what she told him, and heads off. Tess, wondering aloud what Abbey himself is hiding, pulls out her phone and calls Paulo.

Character dynamics

  • Paulo and Tess: Flirty teasing is their default setting, and this chapter finally puts a date on the calendar. Tess accepts the rose-in-mouth proposal on strictly friendly terms, and when the worst afternoon of her school year is over, Paulo is still the one she calls.[7][10] Veronica's commentary sums up why this pairing works where Paulo's pursuit of Lucy stalls: "Tess flirts back!"[7]
  • Abbey and Tess: Before the Junior hallway they were barely more than acquaintances. Abbey rescues her without wanting to hear a word of the history behind it, then rejects her self-blame just as forcefully on the walk home.[9] By the end she trusts him with her worst secret, and she's paying close enough attention to spot that he has one of his own.[10]
  • Abbey and Daisy: Abbey was already the only one at the table who noticed Daisy's lunchtime absences.[11] Here his worry becomes a confrontation, and it goes about as badly as it could. Daisy screams at him to leave her alone and storms off shaking, while Abbey comes away convinced an older boy is setting her up for something.[6]
  • Daisy and Mike: Daisy's pining is old news, but acting on it is brand new. The rescue hands her an opening and she pushes it well past her usual shyness, while Mike stays flustered and non-committal.[4] Nothing between them actually changes, though the boldness itself is what alarms Abbey.

Trivia & observations

  • David's dazed "I'm not a rat, I'm a hedgehog!" mid-race is a nod to Sonic and the Secret Rings, which Veronica's commentary confirms outright.[3]
  • The Three Weird Girls' poolside chatter follows speech rules dating back to Veronica's pre-BCB comics: one only asks questions, one only exclaims, and one trails off flirtatiously.[2] Her commentary admits the rules made the page a chore to write.
  • Per Veronica's commentary, Mike is missing his swim trunks in one panel of the rescue — a slip that survived even the chapter's redraw.[4] Oliver adds that mistakes like it are inevitable across tens of thousands of drawings.
  • Noah's ambush ends on a fully black panel carrying nothing but Tess's scream of "HELP!!"[8]
  • Years later, Veronica pointed to this chapter when ranking the cast's fighters, calling Abbey's style enraged, mindless brute force.[12]
  • David's birthday story is the plot of Onwards to Adventure.[13] Two chapters on, he is still dining out on the day he skipped school.[1]

Related chapters

  • Bonding: The chapter immediately before this one shows the offer Abbey is so worried about. Augustus corners Daisy and promises to make her feel like the most desirable girl in the world, and Abbey all but quotes it back to her here.
  • Follow Me: Both of this chapter's secrets start here. Mike and Lucy make their pact to hide Sandy from Yashy under the lunch table, and Rachel's confrontation with Tess gives the first hint of the school's grudge against her.
  • A Different Side: Abbey's parting advice pays off when Tess faces the school's anger head-on, with Paulo standing up for her at the pep rally and asking whatever happened to second chances.
  • Love My Way: Paulo makes good on the rose and takes Tess to prom, corsage and all. The "just as friends" arrangement even gets borrowed, with Mike throwing the exact phrase at Daisy during the carnival.
  • Pillow Talk: A long flashback eventually shows the Tess-and-Roger era in full, including exactly why Jessica was happy to smirk and walk away.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 2
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 3
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 4
  5. ↑ Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 5
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 6
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 7
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 8
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 9
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 10
  11. ↑ Chapter 34: Bonding, page 1
  12. ↑ . 2016-04-13 https://bittersweetcandybowl.tumblr.com/post/142763176391/i-have-been-reading-bcb-for-a-while-and-i-just. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ Chapter 33: Onwards to Adventure, page 1
Retrieved from "https://candypedia.wiki/index.php?title=Under_Pressure&oldid=3762"