Turtles All the Way Down

Aza is in a good place. She sees Davis in person occasionally and texts and uses FaceTime with him nightly. Her thought spirals are less overwhelming. Aza goes about her everyday life and reads the college guide, imagining the possible futures it shows. One night, Aza is bored and decides to look at Daisy’s Star Wars fan fiction stories. Her latest story has already been read thousands of times, demonstrating her online fame. The story is narrated by Rey and features a character called Ayala, who worries about everything and is spoiled and self-absorbed. Aza’s stomach turns as she reads. Ayala constantly gets in the way, complains, and is generally useless. Aza looks back through Daisy’s past stories, which are filled with examples of how Ayala constantly ruins things for Rey and Chewbacca.

In the morning, Aza wakes up terrified, seeing herself through Daisy’s eyes. Daisy and Aza agree to spend time together and watch a movie at Aza’s house. Aza looks on her phone for clues about “the jogger’s mouth.” Daisy tells Aza that the investigation is over because they got their reward. Daisy continues that this is not going to be some kind of movie-story in which the penniless girl becomes rich and then morally redeems herself by going back to being poor.