Literature / Flipped

You never forget your first love.

Flipped is a he-said-she-said chick lit/teen romance novel by Wendelin Van Draanen.

Taking place in circa 1994-2000, the novel centers around a boy named Bryce Loski and a girl named Julianna "Juli" Baker. When they meet in second grade, Juli becomes infatuated with Bryce, but Bryce doesn't feel like returning the favor, him being girl-phobic and easily embarrassed.

Bryce does everything he can to keep his wannabe girlfriend at bay for the next few years, which isn't easy since they go to the same school and live across the street from one another. The story follows them from grade school to junior high, through triumph and disaster, family drama and first love, as they make the discoveries that will define who they are - and who they are to each other.

The novel received a film adaptation in 2010 directed by Rob Reiner, notably shifting the story's setting and events to take place from 1957 to 1963.

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The film and book contains examples of:

• The '60s: The film moves the setting to 1963.
• Abhorrent Admirer: How Bryce views Juli. And then how Juli sees Bryce after he tries to kiss her at the end.
• Abusive Dad: Mr. Loski borders on this in the movie, going so far as to hit Bryce's sister. In fairness to him, it happens one time, and as such he's not a full-on example of the trope.
  • Also somewhat mollifying the situation, he was under stress from trying to shift his views on Juli's family, it was pointed out to him earlier that night that he'd lost a vital part of himself when he quit his band, he'd been drinking fairly steadily, and it was after she called him an asshole, which was much more of an issue at the time when the film was set.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Bryce is black haired and blue eyed in the book, but in the movie he's blond and brown eyed.
• Adaptation Name Change: Several characters went through this for the movie, mostly their first names.
  • Shelly Stalls - Sherry Stalls
  • David Baker - Daniel Baker
  • Mike Baker - Mark Baker
  • Rick Loski - Steven Loski
  • Jon Trulock - Eddie Trulock
  • Darla Tressler - Dana Tressler
• Alliterative Name: Lynetta Loski, Shelly/Sherry Stalls.
• Alpha Bitch: Not according to Bryce at first but in Juli's narrative chapters, fellow classmate Shelly Stalls is this.
• An Aesop: There’s a subtle message that teaches readers that falling in love with your fantasy of a person rather than the reality of who they are will only lead to disappointment and heartbreak, as Patsy Loski has learned the hard way.
• Armor-Piercing Response: At the neighbors' dinner, Juli snaps at Bryce by refusing to talk to him because she heard him and Garrett mocking her retarded uncle. Shocked that she had overheard, Bryce tries to make an excuse by saying that he wanted to punch Garrett for saying those awful things about genes. Juli doesn't buy it and rather responds coldly, "so instead, you laughed" and Bryce concedes. She walks away and calls him out as a coward.
• Bachelor Auction: Bryce is put through this and is sold to the most popular girl in school, Shelly. He is not happy about this however because he wanted to be bid on by Juli who bid on the boy before him, and questions why he even wanted that.
  • He also lampshades the Double Standard of the trope, noting that if they were auctioning off the girls, no one would think it was cute.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Bryce wanted Juli to stop having a crush on him, and Juli once wanted to kiss Bryce. They both get what they want by the end of the story, but end up miserable as a result. Until Bryce gets his head out of his ass, that is, and makes a peace gesture.
• Betty and Veronica: Juli and Shelly/Sherry (and later Miranda) for Bryce. Subverted in that Bryce has no interest in Shelly; he only uses her to annoy and avoid Juli.
• Big Brother Instinct: Robert Baker for his brother David/Daniel. Juli's narration mentions that both her grandparents are dead and he dropped out of college so it’s implied Robert had to quit school to care for David/Daniel.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mr. Loski in the book, who hides a lot of petty hatred under a smooth exterior; he's a bit more obvious about it in the movie, where he borders on Abusive Dad. Juli thinks Shelly is an example, but while she's a little shallow and catty, she's hardly evil; Juli for a while also thinks this of Bryce and hates herself for being infatuated even after she's decided to no longer pursue him.
• Bittersweet Ending: On the one hand, the Loskis are having more than a rough patch in their marriage, and it's implied Patty will divorce Steven, throwing Bryce and Lynetta's home life into disarray though Chet is proud of her for finally standing up for herself. Despite that, Bryce resolves to not be like his father or the person he was and shows with his actions that he is sincerely sorry for how he treated Juli; he plants a new sycamore tree in her backyard, that no one will cut down this time. Juli decides to at least give him a second chance at talking and resolves to find out who he actually is.
• Bowdlerized: Some editions of the book have Lynetta calling her father a "jackass" rather an an "asshole".
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Lynetta Loski, Bryce's older sister. She deliberately causes drama by wearing too much makeup and playing the Baker brothers' rock music at an already awkward family dinner.
• Broken Pedestal: Bryce for his father when he realizes that the latter is a Jerkass and a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. The tipping point finally comes when Mr. Loski slaps Lynetta after the awkward dinner with the Bakers.
• Bullying a Dragon: Mr. Loski should have realized this would happen when he started needling Chet about helping Juli with her yard. It ended up with a fight with his wife, and a night sleeping on the couch.
• Calling the Old Man Out:
  • Averted with Juli's parents when she asks then why their yard is dirty. She realizes the sacrifices they've made for Uncle David/Daniel, and decides to handle the problem on her own.
  • Mr. Loski tries to do this to Chet about helping to clean Juli's yard and ignoring Bryce, but he gets the tables turned on him, invoking the trope's inversion.
  • It culminates in Lynetta doing the same to her father, which earns her a slap for calling him an "asshole".
• Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: In the beginning, Bryce was so annoyed by Juli's pursuing him that he wishes her to stop loving and leaves him alone. However, when he finally got his wish; Juli ignoring him out of anger ever since she found out he's been throwing away her eggs all along and especially when he laughed along with Garrett over insulting her retarded uncle, David/Daniel, as well as her family, he instantly regrets and starts missing Juli's attention.
• Cat Fight: Between Shelly and Miranda at the Basket Boy auction. It's not played for fanservice; instead, Bryce is bewildered that these two girls are willing to waste his mother's food on smearing each other's faces.
• Character Development:
  • Bryce in particular gets quite a bit, moving from a deliberately shallow Stepford Smiler to a genuinely nice, if very confused, kid who becomes brave enough to do the right thing when the occasion calls for it. The exact moment starts when his mother wants the Bakers over for dinner, and he decides to confess to her about what he did with Juli's eggs rather than sabotage the dinner as he initially considered.
  • Juli, conversely, starts learning to see past people's surfaces and look at what's underneath. This proves problematic when it comes to Bryce, who is between the stages of Jerkass and Jerkass Realization.
• Chick Magnet: Bryce is quite popular among the female students —including the most popular one like Shelly/Sherry Stalls— but he doesn't seem to be flattered. Especially ever since he realized to have developed a crush on Juli literally.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Both of them almost end up as Unlucky Childhood Friends to one another, but after much growing up on both their parts they go the victorious route instead.
• The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: Mr. Loski accuses Chet of this when Chet spends his time helping Juli with yard work rather than spending quality time with Lynetta or Bryce. Chet then defies the trope by explaining why he helps, and Bryce feels that he doesn't deserve that bonding anyway.
• Cool Old Guy: Bryce's grandfather, Chet Duncan.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Bryce starts bitterly ruminating on this towards the end of the story. Juli wouldn't have started to hate him if had he been honest that his family didn't want the eggs and thanked her for the gesture. She would have probably still been friendly if he had the courage to stand up to Garrett for mocking her retarded uncle rather than laughing along with his best friend, where she overheard. As for the Basket Boy auction, she might have bid on him if he hadn't been such a jerk to her in the preceding months. Bryce is forced to admit that the first step to undo the damage is to start acting and stop reacting.
• Courtly Love: Bryce and Juli never even kiss although they are only in eighth grade when the story ends.
• Daddy's Girl: Though she's close with both parents, Juli's interactions with her dad peg her as this.
• Deadpan Snarker: Bryce, in both the film and the book.
• Dirty Coward: Juli thinks Bryce is this after he laughs along with Garrett about how Juli's family may have bad genes. Chet also thinks Bryce acts this way, though he's a bit gentler about expressing it.
• Disposable Fiancée: Chet had one, but he broke off the engagement because he realized there was nothing beneath her beautiful exterior.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Juli says this to Chet when he starts to help her with yard cleanup; she initially thought the Loskis sent Chet over to help because of Bryce throwing away her eggs. He's taken aback, since he didn't know, and then explains that he came to help her because Juli reminded him of his late wife.
• Double-Meaning Title: The title refers to the Unrequited Love Switcheroo between Juli and Bryce, but also to how the feelings of each other make them feel, and to Bryce's Perspective Flip.
  Juli: The first time I saw Bryce Loski, I flipped.
  Bryce: (acknowledging his crush on Juli) Garrett was right. I had flipped.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Invoked when Mr. Loski makes a nasty joke about disabilities running in the Bakers' family, especially more when his son could have suffered the same fate at birth due to the umbilical cord strangling him. Bryce becomes regretful when he doesn't do the same with Garrett making an identical joke and Juli calls him out for it.
• Easily Forgiven: Mrs. Loski forgives Bryce for throwing away Juli's eggs for years and insulting her yard when he confesses and promises that he has "learned his lesson". This doesn't get him out of the family dinner with the Bakers, however, and convinces her further that it must happen.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Bryce isn't bad per se, but confessing to his mother about what he did with Juli's eggs and bad-mouthing Juli's yard starts his Character Development. He confesses because his mother decides to invite the Bakers over for dinner to get to know them better, and he knows the eggs could come back to haunt him; on thinking of sabotaging the dinner, he asks himself, "What kind of a wimp am I?"
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Shelly/Sherry Stalls is blond and the most popular girl in the school. However, Bryce has never really attracted to her as he only uses her to keep Juli at bay. Certainly not, after he comes to fall for Juli.
• Exiled to the Couch: What happens to Mr. Loski after he makes cutting remarks about the Bakers being "trash" and about caring for a disabled family member, after his own son nearly suffered the same fate due to the umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck twice at birth.
• False Friend: Despite best friends, Garrett's loyalty toward Bryce is obviously questionable, but Bryce seems to be oblivious or because he's desperate to stay in Garrett's good graces. Notable example: he reveals to Shelly/Sherry about Bryce's true intention of courting her ^note to keep Juli at bay that Bryce earns a slap from her.
• First Kiss: Juli is convinced that Bryce is carrying her first kiss. Bryce would beg to differ...then attempts to give her exactly what she wants near the end.
• First-Person Smartass: Bryce in the book.
• Foil: The Dysfunctional Family of the Loskis and the Quirky Household of the Bakers. Especially the fathers.
• Friendless Background: In the beginning, Juli doesn’t seem to have any close friends as she's seen to always eat alone. But, later she is shown to be on good terms with fellow classmate Darla/Dana Tressler, implying a new friendship.
• Friend to All Children: Chet comes off this way.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Juli acts this way towards Bryce after he apologizes for throwing away her eggs as well as laughing along with Garrett about her retarded uncle. This makes him feel worse with her eventually ignoring him out of fury than the times when she annoyed him in the beginning.
• Freudian Excuse: During the awkward family dinner, it's implied that Bryce's father is so mean-spirited in part because he feels trapped in his role as a suburban bread-winner and that he regrets of having given up his initial dreams to be a saxophone player in a band.
• From Bad to Worse: Juli describes things going this way after the sycamore tree is chopped down. Her dog died, she found out about Bryce throwing away her eggs, and then she finds out about her uncle David/Daniel's condition.
• Genki Girl: Arguably, Juli during a couple of scenes in their second grade. By the time the main story starts she's grown up and has become less of this trope.
• Girl Next Door: Juli is such a friendly neighbor that she regularly gives Bryce her chicken's eggs for his family.
• Good Parents: Mr. and Mrs. Baker, Juli's parents. They have only one fight during the book, during which they make up at night and reassure Juli that they are okay. Said fight in question started after Juli asked why their yard was a mess, and it motivates Juli to start cleaning up the yard.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Juli is like this toward Shelly/Sherry and Bryce, but it's mainly Played for Laughs. Then Played for Drama, with Age-Appropriate Angst, when Bryce sees Juli bidding on Jon/Eddie at the Bachelor Auction and tries to kiss her. Juli is naturally furious, because Bryce spoiled her good time with Jon/Eddie as she is genuinely just being nice to the latter. She also puts out that he only shows interest when she's moved on.
• Grew a Spine: Fed up with his best friend, Garrett's, toxicity for constantly insulting his eventual crush, Juli, Bryce could finally dare to stand up for her and ends their friendship for good.
• Growing Up Sucks: Because the older you get, the more exposed to get to cruelty either from your neighbors — like Juli— or your family— like Bryce, and your words and actions carry far more consequences.
• Hard Truth Aesop:
  • It doesn't matter if someone was Innocently Insensitive with No Social Skills; you are still responsible for any cruelty you inflict on them in turn. While Bryce is correct to call out Juli for her Stalker with a Crush attitude, he also knows that's no excuse for throwing away her eggs for two years and insulting Juli's lawn when she catches him. Chet says as much to Bryce, that he has to stop reacting like a coward and start acting.
  • There's some truth to the old adage of "there's more to others than what meets the eye." Sometimes this leads to Hidden Depths, but sometimes it means that there's nothing good underneath a person's surface. Sometimes there's nothing under a person's surface at all.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Juli and her brothers are the proud owners of a mutt named Champ.
• Hourglass Plot: In the beginning, Juli immediately falls in love with Bryce, actively pursues him and Bryce is annoyed by her act. In the middle, ever since Juli found out about Bryce's cowardice and lies, she starts angrily giving up on him. On the contrary, Bryce ends up falling in love with Juli and spends the rest of the film desperately tries to win (back) her heart.
• I Have to Go Iron My Dog: Bryce uses a few excuses like this with Juli.
• Inconvenient Attraction: By the time Bryce realized to have developed a genuine crush on Juli, he tries his best to fight his feelings for her. So does Juli upon learning about Bryce's cowardice, particularly when he didn't stop Garrett's joke about her mentally-retarded uncle, David/Daniel.
• Irrational Hatred: Rick/Steven Loski seems to unreasonably hate the Bakers family for just being themselves as he spends the entire film ridiculing them by constantly calling them "trash" behind their backs. Though, it can be implied that it's all driven by jealousy, because the Bakers could still have a happy home life, despite their yard is dirtier than his. And the most obvious is, when he learns the two Baker sons could gain their dreams to become musicians; something that he used to dream about but had to be buried, out of familial duty. He even slaps his own daughter for (rightfully) calling him out for it.
• Jerkass:
  • Bryce's father, Rick/Steven is a petty jerk completely caught up with surface appearances.
  • Bryce's "supposed" best friend Garrett, who has no problems betraying Bryce, or ditching him when he becomes a social pariah. Not surprisingly, Garrett and Bryce's father are responsible for shaping up Bryce's views on Juli, which is why he's initially so cold towards her.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Bryce's sister Lynetta notes that their so-called happy family "is a joke" and calls out their father for being unnecessarily nasty to Juli's family.
• Jerkass Realization: Bryce gets this about himself about the eggs, as well as when he laughs along with Garrett when ridiculing Juli's retarded uncle. He also realizes that his father is not the nicest person, which is a shocking thing to see.
  • His mother and sister also follow suit, with his mother at the end of the story contemplating a divorce.
• Kick the Dog: It seems to run in the family with the Loskis.
  • Rick/Steven Loski makes many cutting remarks about Juli's family, calling them "trash" and saying that Juli's older brothers are obviously drug dealers. When Lynetta calls him out for this and calls him an asshole, he slaps her across the face.
  • Garrett laughs about Juli's uncle being disabled and thinking it has to do with genes.
  • Bryce's exact moment of this comes when he justifies throwing away Juli's eggs because her unkempt yard may contain salmonella. By the time he realizes what he has said, Juli's no longer speaking to him and his grandfather is helping clean up her yard.
• KidAnova: Played with. Bryce has lots of girl's pining after him and he's very aware of it. He's also more or less completely uninterested, and only uses Shelly/Sherry to keep Juli at bay.
  • Also justified, at least within the film, where we see that Bryce is in very good shape for a teenager, and is a known sports player in school, along with being cleancut and good-looking.
• Kiss Diss: When Bryce attempts to kiss Juli in front of every students in the cafeteria, Juli immediately turns away and runs^note despite her heart admits to have been waiting for that kiss. Invoking "oohs" from the students. Even funnier, there's a girl saying "Hey Brice, I'll kiss you".
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Subverted; Mr. Loski's inability to keep his cruel remarks to himself or to poke Chet ends up causing Broken Pedestal for Bryce and a looming divorce in the future.
• Like Father, Like Son: After hearing that Mrs. Loski is contemplating divorcing her husband, Juli becomes more determined to never talk to Bryce ever again following his attempt to kiss her, because she doesn't want to end up like Mrs. Loski. Bryce has this obstacle to overcome.
• List of Transgressions: Juli lists them to her mother after Bryce tried to kiss her: not only did he throw away her eggs and make fun of their yard, but he also laughed at her uncle for being disabled (though unintentionally) and as far as she knows, he has never stood up for her.
• Literally Loving Thy Neighbor: Bryce moves in right across the street from Juli. She sees him and decides that he's walking around with her first kiss.
• Longing Look: After the bachelor auction, despite having lunch with the most popular girl in school Shelly/Sherry, Bryce can't help but staring at Juli instead, who is eating with Jon/Eddie Trulock.
• Love at First Sight: For Juli anyway. Then gradually deconstructed over time. Chet even discusses the problems with this trope.
• Lying to Protect Your Feelings: Bryce's excuse when Juli confronts him upon catching him up intending to throw away her eggs, besides his accusation of salmonella. Outraged, Juli decides to never ever talk to him again, much to Bryce's dismay.
• Maybe Ever After: At the very end of the book/film, Juli following a whirlwind emotional rollercoaster due to trying to get over Bryce since she thinks he's a Dirty Coward, only for him to try kissing her and then plant a new sycamore tree, decides to go thank him and talk to him.
• Monochrome Casting: All the casts are Caucasian, including the figures in the background.
• Must Make Amends: Bryce by the end of the book/movie following his attempt to kiss Julie. He finally knows that he needs to show Juli that there is more to him. He decides to plant a sycamore sapling in her yard, to replace the one that was cut down.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Bryce gets this after the eggs incident, and an Oh, Crap! moment when his grandfather finds out. Fortunately Chet doesn't out him.
• Never My Fault:
  • Mr. Loski doesn't see what's wrong with his rather narrow-minded view of Juli's family, and feels put upon when his wife calls him out on it.
  • Bryce had a moment of this when Juli caught him throwing away the eggs that she was giving to him for free, which were most of the eggs that her chickens were producing. He tells her that her yard is unsanitary as an excuse. He gets a My God, What Have I Done? moment afterward, when Juli stops speaking to him and starts cleaning up her yard with fervent energy, which becomes an Oh, Crap! moment when his grandfather starts helping her.
• Nice Girl: Juli is a very nice girl. Not only is she a friendly neighbor, but she also helps her dad taking care of his younger brother/her retarded uncle, David/Daniel. As can be seen when David/Daniel throws a tantrum upon losing his ice cream. Despite she was shocked, she remains calm and patiently complies to her dad when asked to buy another ice cream to calm his brother down. Although it's the very first time she meets her uncle, she doesn't regret of visiting him.
• No Social Skills: Juli early on, what with barging into the Loskis' moving van, following Bryce everywhere, ambushing him at school, and sniffing his hair in class, the girl does not have the best grasp on social niceties.
• Not Helping Your Case:
  • Mr. Loski when his wife insists on having a neighborly dinner with the Bakers claiming that it's not going to change the family, that they're just "trash".
  • So Bryce following the eggs fiasco starts to realize there is more to Juli than meets the eye, especially after rereading the news article about her attempt to save the sycamore tree. He then reveals to Garrett that he knows Juli's uncle is retarded, and Garrett insults Juli, and then tries to kiss Juli at the Basket Boy luncheon when sounding like a Green-Eyed Monster.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
  • Juli's parents have managed to keep Uncle David in a private facility for years. They also are still Good Parents and manage the stress without too much trouble.
  • Following the argument where Chet angrily explains that the Baker's have to support Uncle David's upkeep, and that he became disabled due to a random accident at birth, Chet then takes Bryce out for a walk to keep him away from the Loski parents' meltdown. By the time the meltdown is over, Mr. Loski is sleeping on the couch.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Mr. Loski doesn't know when to keep his catty remarks to himself, even when his wife has a mean Death Glare.
• Outdoorsy Gal: Juli loves climbing her favorite tree, raises chickens and tames her yard.
• Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: Initially, Bryce seemed to be actually aware of Garrett's duplicity, but he could never say "no", because he's desperate to keep being in Garrett's good graces. But, Bryce is eventually fed up and cuts Garrett off as he chooses to rather pursue and win Juli's heart.
• Poor Communication Kills: A case of You Didn't Ask. What starts breaking Juli's rose-colored view of Bryce is when she catches him throwing away her eggs, and realizing he's been doing it for two years. If only he had just told her to stop delivering them, instead of tossing them in secret, she would have because she could've used the money.
• Puppy Love: The basic premise.
• "Rashomon"-Style: Played with. The events in the movie and book are shown from the perspectives of both Bryce and Juli. Their perspectives are different, especially at the start, but otherwise accurate.
• Replacement Goldfish: As part of his Must Make Amends, Bryce plants a sycamore sapling in Juli's yard, to replace the old one that got chopped down.
• Satellite Love Interest: Subverted. Bryce comes off this way from the perspective of Juli's parents and friends. In reality, he's got lots of depth; he just also happens to be a raging Stepford Smiler and is deliberately repressing it. Just as she's finally giving up on him, he starts to show it...
  • Also played straight. After getting over her pining for Bryce, Juli actually comes to learn that she really knows little to nothing about Bryce as the two never had a real conversation. It wasn't until Bryce attempted to make amends for his previous callousness that the two actually started to bond.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Bryce and Julie, with the addendum that Bryce is pretty messed up.
• Shipper on Deck: It's implied that Mrs. Baker is this for Bryce and Juli. In Juli's last POV chapter, Mrs. Baker encourages Juli to listen to what Bryce has to say, even after she explained his attempt to kiss her at the Basket Boy auction. She also privately tells Bryce to give Juli more time before reaching out to her instead of telling him to leave Juli alone.
• Smells Sexy: In the classroom, Juli often sniffs Bryce's watermelon hair scent from behind, much to Bryce's annoyance.
• Stepford Smiler: Bryce. He's obsessed with blending in school, making sure that no one realizes how bad the situation at home is, and remaining completely under the radar, all while covering how badly repressed he is. An interesting variation as he looks like a Type B to the outside world, but is actually far more of a Type A. There's a lot going on there; he just doesn't like to show it.
• Stepford Snarker: Towards other people, Bryce is a Type A Stepford Smiler. Towards the audience he's this, covering up his insecurities with sarcasm.
• Stalking is Love: Juli's following of Bryce is never portrayed as anything other than cute; then again, she was in the second grade.
• Stalker with a Crush: Juli acts a lot like one early on. She later starts to grow out of it; unfortunately, Bryce still remembers her this way.
• Those Two Girls: Despite initially friendless, but Juli eventually befriends and spends most times with Darla/Dana Tressler.
• Those Two Guys: Bryce and Garrett are best friends and always spend times together. Until Bryce eventually ends their friendship for good after Bryce realizes Garrett's toxicity.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Garrett is obviously toxic toward Bryce, but Bryce seems to be oblivious at first or because he's always craved for Garrett's approval. He's constantly egging Bryce to keep hating Juli. Thankfully, Bryce eventually realizes that Garrett is the one responsible for shaping up his views about Juli (other than his own father, that is) that he finally cuts Garrett off for good.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Juli loves Bryce first, but then starts to fall out of love and intends to give up on him just as Bryce realizes to have fallen in love with her literally.
• Upper-Class Twit: Bryce's father, Rick/Steven Loski. It's so bad that the Bakers can see what a phony he is but have the tact to not comment on it during the awkward family dinner.
• Verbed Title
• Visual Pun: The film version uses vertical flips between Bryce and Juli's scenes at least once.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: What Juli was first attracted to in Bryce.
• What Does She See in Him?: Juli asks herself this about Bryce following her conversation about Chet breaking off an engagement with a Disposable Fiancée, and she realizes that she's only been infatuated with Bryce's looks. She doesn't know a thing about him, and thus decides to no longer nurture her crush following his List of Transgressions. At the end of the story, when Bryce shows he's changed by planting a sycamore tree in her yard, she decides to start talking to him to see what kind of person he is.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Juli and Bryce call out each other for their actions, Juli for being a Stalker with a Crush, and Bryce for not telling her about the eggs, for laughing with Garrett about her uncle, and then for trying to kiss her because she had chosen another boy at the auction mentioned above.
  • Chet gives a rather gentle bit of advice to Bryce about what happened with the eggs, after not revealing at the dinner table that Bryce had been throwing them away. He tells Bryce that the choices that you make early in life will affect your character, and Bryce needs to think about what person he wants to be.

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