Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Simon sends an email to Blue with the subject line as “Us.” Simon tells Blue that he does know who he is—not in a literal sense, but in terms of knowing Blue’s personality and character. He says he’s been thinking about Blue over all these months of writing, but he isn’t sure he has been as honest as he should have been about how he feels. He says “[w]hen I flirt with you, it’s not a joke, and when I say I want to know you, it’s not just because I’m curious” (258). Simon writes he will be at a carnival in a local mall parking lot until nine o’clock that night, and he hopes he will see Blue there.

That afternoon, at the last performance of the play, Simon is preoccupied thinking about possibly seeing Blue that evening. Most of the cast of the play goes straight to the carnival, but Simon, trying not to get his hopes up, goes home first to get his Elliott Smith shirt. When he puts the shirt on, he finds another note inside from Blue. In the note, Blue says that he is attracted to Simon. The note also has Blue’s phone number. Simon is almost overwhelmed by this, but he decides not to call Blue, instead to try to see him in person.

Simon gets to the carnival thirty minutes late, and he worries Blue has already come and gone. He goes on rides. Every time someone walks by, he gets nervous that it might be Blue. He sees Abby and Nick, and Abby encourages him to sit with them. Abby and Simon talk, and Abby says she understands he was being blackmailed. Simon apologizes again. Abby asks if the shirt he’s wearing has to do with a guy. Simon evades the question, but Abby says she hopes he finds him.

Thirty minutes before the carnival closes, Simon goes on the Tilt-A-Whirl, which he’s been avoiding because he knows Blue doesn’t like it. He sits in a seat by himself. Bram slides in next to him, and he seems nervous. He tells Simon he likes his shirt. Simon realizes that Bram is Blue, and Bram apologizes for being late, right before the Tilt-A-Whirl starts.

The Tilt-A-Whirl makes Bram sick, even though Simon tries not to spin it. They get off the ride, and Bram sits down and puts his head between his knees. He says he just got Simon’s email. Simon studies Bram as Bram explains that he thought it was obvious he was Blue. He says that if Simon had wanted Bram to be Blue, he would have guessed it, but Simon doesn’t know whether that’s true. Bram says he guessed it was Simon a long time ago, but he thought it might have been “seeing what he wanted to see” (269). As they turn off the lights to the carnival, Simon scoots closer to Bram. He asks about the president’s name, and Bram says his name is Abraham. Simon says he wants to hold Bram’s hand, so they do.

In English class on Monday, Simon sits next to Bram on the class couch, which is distracting during class. Abby notices and teases him about it afterwards. Bram suggests they leave campus for lunch. On the way, Simon sees that Bram’s iPod contains every bit of music he’s ever mentioned in his emails to Blue. Bram drives them to the grocery store, and he buys them mini-Oreos and milk for lunch. While they’re eating in the car, they kiss. Bram says he’d like to be Simon’s boyfriend, if that’s what Simon wants, too.

That night, Bram and Simon change their relationship statuses on Facebook, which gets a big online reaction. Simon calls Bram, and they have a flirtatious conversation.

Abby asks Simon questions about Bram in school, but Simon is self-conscious. He meets up with Bram in the boys’ dressing room of the auditorium. They kiss again, and Simon thinks that Bram “kisses like Elliott Smith sings” (279). The rest of the day, Simon is in an especially good mood, and his mother notices and asks why. Simon evades her question. Leah pulls up in front of their house to drop off Nora. Simon is desperate to talk to her, so his mother agrees to suspend being grounded for a night if he lets her see his Facebook and shows her his boyfriend.

Simon runs to Leah’s car and hops in the passenger seat, insisting she take him to Waffle House. Once there, he refuses to get out unless she does, too, so they sit in the car to talk. Leah says she doesn’t understand everyone’s obsession with Abby. She says Simon choosing to come out as gay to Abby first blindsided her. Simon explains that he came out to Abby first because he had less history with her, and Leah understands. They make up and they both cry.

Simon from Martin sends Simon an email with the subject line of “sorry doesn’t even begin to cover it.” Martin tells Simon that he’s spent time thinking about their conversation in the parking lot, and he knows he took away Simon’s experience of coming out. He feels guilty about it, and he doesn’t ask Simon to forgive him, but he wants him to know he’s sorry. Martin puts his actions in context for Simon, explaining that his brother had only recently come out and his family had been in the process of reacting to it when he discovered Simon’s email. Martin also writes that he was jealous of how easy it was for Simon to make friends with someone like Abby, especially since Simon has so many friends already. Martin says he’s heard Simon’s in a relationship with Bram, and he’s happy for him. He says he wishes he had only blackmailed Simon into being friends.

Simon and Nick meet Bram and Garrett at the talent show. As the show starts, Simon and Bram hold hands in the audience. Abby dances, and Simon is impressed. The final act is a band named Emoji, made up of five girls, including Leah on drums and Simon’s sister Nora on guitar. Simon is shocked, reflecting that people are like houses with “vast rooms and tiny windows” (293). Simon learns that Nora has been practicing for months, with Nick’s help. Nick also managed to get Simon’s parents to come see the show. Leah admits afterwards to Simon that she taught herself drums secretly for the past two years.

Alice and her boyfriend Theo also came to town to see Nora play. Simon’s parents suggest going to The Varsity to get food to celebrate, but Simon has been warned by Alice to say that he has homework. This allows him and Bram a chance to have some time at home by themselves. As they walk to the car, Simon glimpses Martin, and he reflects that he hasn’t written back to his email; he isn’t sure how he feels about that.

At Simon’s house, Simon feels nervous, but shows Bram his room, including where he emailed him. They kiss, and they talk about going on dates. Simon thinks about the possibility they might have sex eventually. Alice texts Simon that the family is coming home, and by the time his parents arrive back, they are sitting in the living room with textbooks pretending to study. Simon suspects his mom is suspicious and that she’ll probably later make a “big deal” of it, but he decides he wants it to be a “holy freaking huge awesome deal” (303).