This Is Where It Ends

Chapter 1 follows the four different perspectives of high schoolers Claire, Tomas, Autumn, and Sylv, who each narrate parts of This Is Where It Ends. The chapter traces each character from 10:00-10:01 a.m., as Principal Trenton concludes her “long and arduous start-of-semester speech” (1) to students at Opportunity High.

Claire, a senior, is at track practice. Autumn, who deeply misses her deceased mother, is with her girlfriend, Sylv, and they lament the corny assembly. Sylv’s twin brother, Tomas, the self-recognized school bad-boy, is breaking into Trenton’s office, with his friend Fareed, to steal student records, in the name of protecting Sylv. Footsteps approach the principal’s office, scaring the boys, but move on. “It is another Monday” Sylv thinks to herself, “life goes on” (7). The chapter concludes with a series of tweets between Claire and a student who cut school.

Chapter 2 follows the four narrators from 10:02-10:04 a.m. in the minutes following Trenton’s speech. As students make their way towards the doors, Autumn and Sylv get into a discussion with another girl, Asha, who Autumn thinks “isn’t one of us” (16).