Fallen Book Club Chapters 6-11 by Britta
Summary
Luce is reeling from Cam’s party last night. She continues to imagine Gabbe and Daniel together, wondering why they are so close. She arrives to gym late, and is paired with Gabbe for the pool section. Penn explains that the gym used to be and old Civil War church. As Luce prepares for swimming laps, she spots Arianne, Molly and Roland sitting on the bleachers. Penn explains that they are always able to secure notes which enable them to sit out. Luce shows herself to be a great swimmer, and can easily win the competition with her classmates, but she is sidetracked because Gabbe calls out Daniel’s name. Afterward, Luce is greeted by Roland, who commends her on her swimming. She asks him if Daniel and Gabbe are together. Roland replies that she should ask Daniel. On her way out, she glimpses Daniel jumping rope in the weight room, and is struck by deja vu because of his strong stance. Another vision flashes before her eyes, he moves the rope so quickly and gracefully, it’s as if he’s flying. His feet don’t seem to touch the ground. Suddenly, Todd, who had been rope climbing, falls in a heap onto the floor. While he eyes his blistering fingers, Luce begins to shiver. A shadow sweeps about her slowly at first, and then roughly crashes into her body, forcing her backward and slamming the weight room doors in her face. Luce cries out, because this is the first time a shadow has ever touched her, gripping her arms with what felt like two tight fists. After pondering on this, she decides that what she felt was merely a draft. She goes back into the weight room after realizing she dropped her key. She tries to retrieve it without Daniel noticing, but he soon stops jumping rope and turns to face her. After they greet each other, Daniel asks her if she won, and Luce replies that she didn’t. Daniel says ‘But you were always…” before he stopped himself, and corrected that he thought she looked like she would be a good swimmer. Luce senses he means something else, and presses him to finish his thought, but he continues to deflect, claiming that he meant it in a general sense, and that it is an unspoken code of conduct to allow the new students to win their first race.
Questions
1. What part do you think Gabbe will have to play in the whole picture? Why does she seem to flip between being nice to Luce, and mean to her?
2. Where do you believe the shadows originated from, and what do you believe they are trying to communicate to her? Do you have a different picture of them, that maybe they aren’t evil?
3. If you were Luce, would you be able to stand Daniel’s behavior towards you?
4. What is the significance of the serpent pendant?
5. Do you believe that Cam is sincere, or does his overt attention creep you out?
6. Which character do you believe will play a large part in the big picture?
7. What do you believe is the significance of the Civil War symbolism?
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