Spring 2020

Spring 2020 marks a seasonal and academic turning point in the novel. On Thursday, April 9, at 4:46 p.m., winter has yielded to spring at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. The campus offers Shelby Anderson Barnum a moment of movement and fresh air, even as the approaching end of the academic year brings exams and graduation into view.

Seasonal and Academic Setting

The narration describes the months passing quickly as spring replaces winter and coursework grows more demanding. Final exams are a month away; for graduating students, the commencement that follows is both eagerly anticipated and, for some, daunting because it places them at the center of attention. The season is therefore not simply a change in weather: it brings the university year toward a threshold, with departure and public recognition approaching.

On campus, small groups gather beneath a large willow while other students take breaks after long stretches of class. Shelby moves through the grounds on a skateboard given to her by Dorcas Peters and Cassiopée Smith. After riding in the spring air, she carries it to the university student dormitory and arrives at room 66. Jungkook Jeon opens the door, and she ends the approach by embracing him. The scene sets ordinary campus life—friends, classes, a gifted skateboard—beside the closeness she and Jungkook have developed.

Care Amid the Wider Story

The novel’s surrounding narrative gives that closeness a more difficult context. In one episode, a panic attack leaves Shelby crying and unwilling to be touched; Cassiopée remains calm and tries to reach her. In another, Jungkook finds Shelby crying in the underground boxing locker room, turns off the running shower, and stays beside her while she calms down. These scenes are not assigned the April date, but they show the recurring crises and careful acts of support that shape the relationship unfolding around the university setting.

Shelby’s conversation with Sunmi Eun also reaches back beyond the season: she recounts that her mother died of widespread cancer when Shelby was eight, after Shelby had tried to stay beside her and be a source of light. When Shelby’s breathing becomes difficult during the session, Sunmi gently holds her hands and guides her breathing. The passage connects disclosure with immediate, practical reassurance, rather than presenting recovery as a single change of season.

A Threshold Rather Than a Resolution

Spring’s academic calendar supplies a clear approaching endpoint—exams, graduation, and the prospect of leaving university—but the April scene itself remains intimate and provisional. Shelby’s ride and reunion with Jungkook provide a pause within a story that continues to include panic, self-harm, and the need for friends and loved ones to respond with care. Spring 2020 thus holds renewal and apprehension together: the weather turns, the year advances, and the characters’ movement toward one another continues without making the difficulties disappear.