When we left off a few hours ago, Trabby confessed their love, Blando got his ass dumped, and Trabby made love. This time, though, Abby didn’t leave in the middle of the night. AWWWW. I bet nothing can go wrong!
Chapter Eleven: Jealousy
No, no, ignore the chapter’s title. Nothing can possibly go wrong between Abby and Travis! Not those two level-headed kids who handle every situation in a straightforward, sensible fashion.
His cell phone vibrated somewhere on the floor, and after clumsily searching the crumpled clothes next to the bed, I found it in his jeans pocket. The display was lit with only a number, no name.
“Hello?”
“Is uh . . . is Travis there?” a woman asked.
“He’s in the shower, can I take a message?”
“Of course he is. Tell him that Megan called, would ya?”
Don’t worry, nothing going wrong here! Travis makes a big show of telling Megan to leave him alone.
He kissed me before looking at the display , and then shook his head. “Yeah? It was my girlfriend. What do you need, Megan?” He listened for a moment and then smiled, “Well, Pigeon’s special, what can I say?” After a long pause, he rolled his eyes . I could only imagine what she was saying. “Don’t be a bitch, Megan . Listen, you can’t call my phone anymore . . . Well, love’ll do that to ya,” he said, looking at me with a soft expression. “Yes, with Abby. I mean it, Meg, no more phone calls . . . Later.”
I feel like I’m supposed to easily decipher what Megan’s saying on the other end…but I’m struggling to imagine how this conversation could possibly be as desperate as it seems. It’s especially the bit between “you can’t call my phone anymore” and “love’ll do that to you.” I mean, come on. His girlfriend picked up the phone and is obviously right there, so why do you think you can’t keep calling? Guuuurl, please. I’ve seen mysteries on Blue’s Clues that were harder to solve.
I bet you’re all wondering how the other students are going to react to Trabby’s relationship because if there’s one thing we know about this book, it’s that we can’t go a chapter without hearing about their stares. If this ever becomes a movie, I would do anything to be an extra in the background and do fucking ridiculous, over-exaggerated stares at Trabby.
On our way to the cafeteria, he took my hand in his, intertwining our fingers as we walked. He seemed so proud to be holding my hand, announcing to the world that we were finally together. Finch noticed, looking at our hands and then to me with a ridiculous grin. He wasn’t the only one; our simple display of affection generated stares and murmuring from everyone we passed.
I wonder what their mummers are. “What do you think happened to Blando?” “Is anyone taking care of their dog?” “Do you think Travis is going to sing a love song on the lunch table today?”
At The Lunch Table of New Romance and Football Players Who are Supposedly Friends With Travis and Shep, Abby wonders why she fought her feelings for so long REO Speedwagon style.
I thought of all the times I had insisted being with Travis was the wrong decision and how much time I had wasted fighting my feelings for him. Looking across the table at his soft brown eyes and the dimple dancing in his cheek as he chewed, I couldn’t remember what I was so worried about.
You wasted a lot of people’s time, Abby. Least of all your own. You owe us and The Students Without Netflix a huge apology. Probably Blando too.
The scene that follows next should answer Abby’s question about why she kept telling herself she shouldn’t be with Travis. Chris Jenks of course makes snide comments about Abby giving it up to Travis (who cares), Travis being whipped (also, who cares?) and that ““Every straight guy at Eastern wants to try her out because she landed the unattainable Travis Maddox.” That last one is ruder than the others, but I also think it’s one you could easily brush off. Seriously, these comments are so meaningless, that what comes next is both laughably absurd and deeply disturbing.
Travis lifted Finch’s tray off the table and swung it into Chris’s face, knocking him off his chair. Chris tried to scramble under the table, but Travis pulled him out by his legs and then began to whale on him.
Chris curled into a ball, and then Travis kicked him in the back. Chris arched and turned, holding his hands out, allowing Travis to land several punches to his face. The blood began to flow, and Travis stood up, winded.
“If you even look at her, you piece of shit, I’ll break your fuckin’ jaw !” Travis yelled. I winced when he kicked Chris in the leg one last time.
The women working in the cafeteria scampered out, shocked at the bloody mess on the floor.
So Travis has gone absolutely ba-fucking-listic, and there are no consequences whatsoever. Abby doesn’t go, “Oh, yeah, maybe that’s why I didn’t want to date this nut job.” What’s even worse, though, is that no one else at the school even seems to care! The other students are “watching with amusement” while the rest of the lunch table “simply stared at Chris’s limp body on the floor, shaking their heads.”
So everybody is just totally cool with this? No one is going to call the cops, campus security, or, you know, stop Travis from beating the shit out of this guy? I get that Jenks is annoying as fuck, but what he said just deserved an eye-roll not a beating.
Later, Abby points out that the comment that really set him off is actually kind of a compliment to her in a roundabout way. Travis is like, “Oh, yeah, I guess you are special for taming me, but like I don’t want anyone else to even think about bagging you.” Yes, he does use the word “bag” during the actual dialogue, I didn’t make that up.
Blando shows up and gives this really preachy speech about how for some reason he thought Abby was smart enough not to date Travis and that Travis only viewed her as a challenge and will soon toss her aside. God, go away, Blando, you’re not even supposed to be in this book anymore. You served your lame purpose, now fuck off to get some Chinese takeout, which is what you do best.
The scene jumps ahead to a Halloween party out at the gang’s favorite bar. They’re all having a good night until a guy buys Abby a drink even though she tells him not to. She doesn’t do anything wrong, but Travis comes over and has a meltdown. I guess this is supposed to be sexy and not make him repulsive to the reader, but when I first read this, this was where I realllly started to see Travis as this pathetic, whiny psycho. He is so many unappealing things in one person that it’s kind of amazing in a sad way.
Things somehow get even worse when later a guy (dressed as a pirate) tries to talk to Abby for a second.
Travis barreled his way onto the dance floor, and plunged his fist straight into the pirate’s face, the force sending both of us to the ground. With my palms flat on the wooden floor, I blinked my eyes in stunned disbelief. Feeling something warm and wet on my hand, I turned it over and recoiled. It was covered in blood from the man’s nose. His hand was cupped over his face, but the bright red liquid poured down his forearm as he writhed on the floor.
I wish to diffuse the tension of this situation, the pirate had just been like, “Aaaaarghhh! I wasn’t trying to steal ye lass, matey. I’ll need an eye-patch to cover me black eye now!”
When they get home, Travis tries to insist that he’s going to mess up a lot, but that Abby needs to forgive him. In a rare moment of clarity, Abby points out the really fucking obvious, “You hit that guy because you were pissed at me! What should that tell me? Because red flags are going up all over the place right now!”
The red flags are endless, Abby. RUN! Transfer motherflippin’ schools if you have to. This is only the beginning. Despite all these red flags, America shows up at Abby’s the next morning to tell her to work things out with Travis and to rudely wake up poor Kara. Things only get worse for our hero when Travis shows up to grovel. This girl never gets to sleep when these assholes are around, but she does get this great line:
Kara rubbed her eyes and sighed and then grabbed her shower bag . “I’m always very clean when you’re around, Abby,” she grumbled, slamming the door behind her.
Oh, Kara, you’re a delight!
Abby tells Travis he needs to calm down and that she’s going to stay with him even if other guys hit on her. He begs her again to say she loves him because he just keeps getting grosser and more pathetic as this book progresses.
Kara comes back from the shower after giving them ages of privacy, angel that she is. Only to have to ask Travis to leave while she gets dressed. My first roommate ever in university was a completely insane asshole, and the icing on the awful cake was that her boyfriend wouldn’t just fucking leave the room when I came back from a shower. They were the worst until I met Trabby.
“Do you know what codependency is, Abby? Your boyfriend is a prime example, which is creepy considering he went from having no respect for women at all to thinking he needs you to breathe.”
Just when I thought I couldn’t love you more, Kara. How can Jamie McGuire have invented you and also Trabby? It makes no sense! It’s like if Justin Bieber and Jennifer Lawrence were siblings.
But then it becomes clear that Kara is just here to give us the titular line of the book. Well, to get Abby to give us the titular line.
“It’s dangerous to need someone that much. You’re trying to save him, and he’s hoping you can. You two are a disaster.”
I smiled at the ceiling. “It doesn’t matter what or why it is. When it’s good, Kara . . . it’s beautiful.”
As much as I love Kara, this actually makes no sense. She doesn’t really know Travis at all. I mean, Abby’s only slept in the dorm like three times this whole book. This comment, insightful as it may be, just comes out of nowhere and is so heavy-handed. Not as bad as all the anti-pot and blow job PSAs we get over in the Marked universe, but getting close.
The chapter ends with Travis joking that he needs to come up with another bet to get Abby to stay at his apartment constantly. Please for the love of God, no.
Yay, twice the awfulness/BBGT genius today! I really don’t get why Travis gets NO ramifications from his completely disgustingly over the top violent. This is proper GHB bad.
I know!! It’s insane that he gets away with all of his violence! I could maybe understand Jenks not getting him in trouble cause they’re “friends,” but what about the guy at the club who he punches in the face? If Travis is so infamous, it doesn’t seem like it would be too hard for this guy to press charges.
I think a book has to be written from Kara’s perspective on all of this insane anti-Disney stockholm syndrom love story. The best part would be the two months Trabby are living in its-not-weird-we’re-friends-and-share-a-bed land and Kara is all alone. It would probably go something like this:
I could watch this clip all day. The more I watch Arrested the more Lucille steals my heart. Oh, and I would totally read that book. Kara 4eva <3
I can totally see the story retold once again from Kara’s perspective. It’s a book called No Disaster about a girl in college with this idiot roommate who provides great comedy with her infrequent appearances.
After months of “Oh, but I’m watching something else all ready” and “I don’t have a lot of time,” I have finally decided to start watching this show on Netflix.
All because of this one clip.
My job here is done.
*bows out and disappears into the mist*
Dana, tell us what you think of the series as you progress! One of my absolute favorite shows, and it’s always so fun to relive the hilarity with people starting out with it.
Didn’t Travis beat up Chris before? Why is he still sitting at their table?
AND WHY DOES EVERYONE CARE ABOUT TRABBY?! I just can’t handle the stares anymore. Either everyone is pathetic and can think of nothing better to do, or Abby is overly paranoid/narcissistic and imagining all eyes on her when really no one even knows her name.
I am not sure that McGuire has ever been to college. Because I don’t know about y’all but NO ONE stared and/or gossiped that much about two people. Sure there was gossip…but normal “Ew look at her clothes” kind of stuff. This targeted crap is HIGH SCHOOL. The “jocks” sitting there with the “cool loner”
I actually read her bio when I first read this, because I thought she was really really young. But turns out 1) no, this broad is my age, so I give up and 2) I don’t know about the finer institutions of Oklahoma education, but I don’t think she went away to college….
I think this is the perfect moment to mention that Beautiful Disaster is based – albeit “loosely” – on Jamie McGuire’s very own college experiences.
Just take a minute to let that sink in, and suddenly, it all makes so much more sense.
WHAT, ANNIE??? How did you find this out? If you have something you can link us to please do because I must know. Is McGuire Abby? Is there is a guy out there who is her Travis? I need answers.
E.H. I too have serious questions as to why Chris seems to be so resilient to these beatings and why these people sit together day in and day out.
Um, I’m not sure, I think there’s something on the BD-FAQ-section of her website where she says that its kinda-sorta-based on her own college experiences and that Travis and some other character were inspired by actual people she knew back then (although for the Travis part, I sincerely hope all that means is that her source of inspiration had tats and a penis, because anything else would just be sad).
There was also this interview I read some time ago – sadly, I haven’t been able to find it again – in which she explained how she bumped into Real-Travis after years of not hearing from each other, and he had changed and was engaged or married or whatever, and for some reason she got sad and this prompted her to write Beautiful Disaster. Or something like that anyway.
I also find it funny that JMG herself didn’t think BD was good enough to be published, although she was comparing it to the other book series she’d written, so, you know… kinda self-explanatory.
If y’all don’t do the CARDIGANS 4EVER mug (which u totally should) you should do a charity mug for the Students Without Netflix since it’s such a tragedy. Or a Kara 4Ever mug for the real hero of these books.
I feel like we should just do a 4Ever line because I want them all! And Obviously a mug for the Students Without Netflix, because we cannot forget their tragedy for as long as we live and drink coffee.
I wonder what mcGuire wants the readers to think of Kara. Like, are we supposed to hate her because she isn’t a supporter of trabby and is sassy to Abby? Our we supposed to support Abby and America being bitches to her because Kara doesn’t see Abby’s beauty?
I think it’s pretty telling that Kara, the voice of reason, is portrayed in an inexplicably negative light despite the fact that she never actually does anything wrong at all aside from refuse to get swept up in all the Trabby drama. I feel like a tiny part of McGuire realized what shit Trabby is and it manifested itself in Kara, but that pissed McGuire off so she couldn’t help but hate on her. That’s my take on it anyway.
“I smiled at the ceiling. ‘It doesn’t matter what or why it is. When it’s good, Kara . . . it’s beautiful.'”
Actually imagine this in your head. Like, is it possible to do it without Abby looking like a complete ditz and speaking in the voice of a high, sickly sweet Disney Princess?
I just really imagined this in a full-on image kind of way, not a cursory reading, and the only way that scene would end in real life is with Kara throwing a shoe at her or something. Because no, there’s no other way Abby could have said that.
OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE…Even fucking ABBY sees the goddamn red flags and she chooses to IGNORE THEM. God this book needs to come with trigger warnings. Attacking a guy for LOOKING at you is such insanely possessive behavior. Attacking, what was it…three…four…different guys in ONE DAY for talking to/hitting on/looking at you is just beyond comprehension.
On a happier note…I am so glad I could contribute to the demand for mugs! You should have a list now of about three you need to do.
a) the Blowjob Mug
b) Cardigans 4ever (or one chapter…whichever comes first)
c) Travis being a douche and dancing on a table
Thanks for compiling my to-do list for me!
The cardigans 4ever(one chapter) needs to be a t-shirt with a cardigan on it. Like those tuxedo t-shirts.
So..does Abby marry him so he won’t be insecure and jealous anymore?
I don’t know why, but the phrase “…and then began to whale on him” bothers me. It’s one thing to say it, but to write it? When it’s written the only thing I can think of is the character beating somebody with an actual whale. This did make that part mildly amusing with this picture. Still, I would have rather not been distracted by the word.
So I’m with a lot of the other people who commented about why Chris Jenks would still be sitting at the same lunch table as the rest of our … “heroes”? But I would take it a step further and ask, why would Chris even want to talk to Travis again? Like if I were Chris I would be terrified of saying anything that could even remotely construed as offensive around Travis. Or at least I would end all my comments with “Just kidding! Don’t punch me, bro!”
So this has led me to the very real possibility that Chris actually wants Travis to punch him. And in fact, likes it.
That’s the real tragic love story of this Beautiful Disaster. Chris x Travis forever.