Under Pressure

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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
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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

At lunch, Yashy garbles one of Mike's muttered complaints into a rude claim about Lucy, who smacks him across the face with a blushing "OBJECTION!!"[1] The two scramble to throw Yashy off with a hasty cover story about airplane-powered racecars, and Veronica's commentary confirms the secret they're protecting is Sandy's existence.

Over at the pool, Daisy, wishing she could do something to catch Mike's eye, swims face-first into the pool deck.[2] Mike dives in and pulls her up, and Daisy makes the most of the rescue, nuzzling his hand, calling him her hero and hinting she wouldn't mind more.[3] Paulo storms in before Mike can answer and accuses him of toying with her.

Abbey is waiting when Daisy leaves the nurse's office, and he asks outright whether an older kid put her up to the stunt with Mike.[4] Daisy screams that he knows nothing about who she is and storms off, leaving Abbey convinced that someone is setting her up for something.

Paulo, meanwhile, walks away with a prom date. When Tess admits nobody has asked her to the upcoming prom, he drops to one knee, rose in his mouth, and offers to escort her to the ball.[5] Tess laughs herself breathless before saying yes — just as friends, though.

On her way out of school, Tess is cornered in an empty hallway by Noah, an older student who grabs her hair and brings up "you and Roger in gym class last year".[6] With the teachers all in meetings, all she can do is scream for help.

Abbey comes running and flattens Noah with a single punch.[7] Noah threatens to have him expelled, but Abbey couldn't care less, and a nasty smile sends him running. The fury drains away the moment Abbey turns to a shaken Tess.

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.

On the walk off campus, Tess admits that 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.[8] Abbey wheels on her, furious. "Nobody deserves to have that horrified, helpless look in their eyes.. Ever." He urges her to tell the others what she told him, and Tess, wondering aloud what Abbey himself is hiding, 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.[5][8] Veronica's commentary sums up why this pairing works where Paulo's pursuit of Lucy stalls: "Tess flirts back!"[5]
  • 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.[7] 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.[8]
  • Abbey and Daisy: Abbey was already the only one at the table who noticed Daisy's lunchtime absences.[9] 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.[4]
  • 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.[3] 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.[2]
  • 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.[10] 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.[3] 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!!"[6]
  • Years later, Veronica pointed to this chapter when ranking the cast's fighters, calling Abbey's style enraged, mindless brute force.[11]
  • David's birthday story is the plot of Onwards to Adventure.[12] 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: Tess does what Abbey urged her to and faces the school's anger in the open. At the pep rally, Paulo stands up for her and asks 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 3
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 4
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 6
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 7
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 8
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 9
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 10
  9. ↑ Chapter 34: Bonding, page 1
  10. ↑ Chapter 35: Under Pressure, page 2
  11. ↑ "Veronica ranks the cast's fighting abilities". 2016-04-13.
  12. ↑ Chapter 33: Onwards to Adventure, page 1
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