Some people, a lot of people, have bad pasts. Every person has their story, and some are harder to tell than others. For Annabel, her story is the hardest thing for her to admit, so she doesn’t. In the book, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, Annabel has just had an ugly blowout with her only best friend, and has been abandoned by everyone else. She is also being bombarded with problems at her home when her sister gets an eating disorder. She finally connects with fellow outcast and anger management sufferer, Owen. Owen has no problem telling you what he thinks and is an honesty guru, which contrasts to Annabel who can’t show her feelings and hates confrontation. Can these two friends come to peace and can Annabel tell her story?
Well her story isn’t fully revealed. We know her best friend has suddenly turned on her and is torturing her; making sure no one else hangs out with her. It happened at a party near the end of the summer. I know that she left the party after something happened, and her BFF was very mad about it,. I’m guessing, because it always is, about her BFF’s boyfriend, Will. It doesn’t seem like Annabel had a crush on him, but I haven’t heard the whole story. Although, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Annabel’s fault, I’m guessing she was ‘seen’ with her BFF’s Bf and her friend flipped. I also know that because of this event, she has built up quite a bad rap about herself.
Owen is the only one to get her to tell her feelings. After slugging a jerk in the school parking lot last year, and serving anger management classes, he returns as the music-loving loner he’s known as. But his angry reputation is broken when he helps Annabel through a small emotional breakdown, and gives her a ride home from school. He shows her where he works, where he lives, and accidently introduces her to his sister. She is a huge fan of Annabel, who is a local model; not that Owen cares about that. He’s obsessed with music and is always 100% honest. Annabel and he frequently have large debates on music, after she listens to his radio show on Sunday mornings. He becomes the only person she can really trust.
At home though, things are boiling. Her sister Whitney, upon arriving home, is diagnosed with an eating disorder. She barely eats anything and is in the hospital for quite some time. It secretly takes quite a toll on Annabel, but hating confrontation, she never shows any signs of it. Her other sister is going to college, and that leaves Annabel with Whitney when she comes home from the hospital. Whitney is ordered to take classes and therapy, but she thinks it’s stupid. She also thinks she doesn’t have a problem, but doesn’t everyone with a problem think that?
I’m about halfway through the book. There’s a lot of back story to this book that is revealed along the way. It flashes back to when they first meet; when she was friends with Clarke, a girl she knows, and when she was younger and did stupid things. She let her ‘BFF’ rule her life and did everything she was told because she isn’t a leader, but a follower. This is because, and I’ll say it again, she hates confrontation, probably because she’s always been in the shadow of her sisters. Even when bad things happen, she sucks it up and holds it inside. I know it’s going to blow up in her face; it’s just a matter of time before it does. But can she recover from it when it does?
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