Nineteen Minutes: Part 1, Chapter 6: Six Years Before Summary & Analysis

The anonymous writer of the handwritten notes argues that misfits develop supernatural abilities to perceive other people staring at and talking about them. They can barely remember what it was like to be “normal.”  

On the first day of middle school, Lacy gave Peter a Superman binder, something that would have been cool three years earlier but now “doomed” him to being a social outcast. Josie, whom Peter never sees outside of school but is still his best friend in school, saves Peter by making a cover of duct tape for the binder, which he can take off when he is at home. At lunch, Drew pushes Peter, calling him a retard and making him drop his tray. A teacher weakly intervenes, but all the other kids are already laughing. 

In court, Alex finds herself face-to-face with a defendant barely older than Josie. The girl has been charged with receiving stolen property, a $500 necklace from her boyfriend. Alex reads her her rights, but the girl remains confused. Observing the evidence, Alex says that it’s obvious the girl knew the necklace was stolen, and that she will accept a guilty plea. Still confused and visibly upset, the girl says, “I did it.” Meanwhile, in class, Josie receives a note from Peter joking about hating math. Josie smiles, even though she actually enjoys math. Josie’s perfect grades mean that she can’t be accepted among the popular crowd, although she knows that she is not exactly unpopular, either.

Suddenly, Josie’s teacher starts crying and tells the class, “Something terrible has happened.” All the students are brought into the media center, where the principal informs them about a terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. They all watch the news coverage on television. Horrified, Josie nudges Peter and points out that there are people jumping from the tower. When the building collapses, Peter feels a strange sort of relief.

Lacy and Alex find each other outside the middle school, where they have both come to pick up their kids. When Alex finds Josie, she realizes that she has to pretend to have knowledge and control over the situation, even though in reality she is terrified. When she sees Peter, she is shocked by how tall he has become. Peter plays soccer on the middle school team—which allows anyone to participate—even though he hates it. He particularly dreads getting changed into his soccer clothes, and the other kids routinely use this as an opportunity to taunt him and give him wedgies.

On one particular day after soccer practice, Matt is in the shower and angrily tells Peter to stop looking at his penis, while Drew calls him a “fag.” Peter replies that he can’t see anything, which Drew uses as an opportunity to tease Matt for having a small penis, although Peter quickly explains it’s because he’s not wearing his glasses. However, Matt still strangles Peter and throws his towel under the running water. Peter starts crying and thinks about the possibility that he is really gay. He doesn’t have any particular feelings about men or women, but he knows that “you couldn’t be neither” gay nor straight. 

Lacy hears the screams of her patient, a 21-year-old mentally disabled orphan named Kelly who became pregnant after being gang raped. Rushing into Kelly’s room, Lacy is horrified to discover that the doctor has chosen to induce her labor. She fights with the doctor, arguing that this was the wrong decision, then tells him to get Kelly an epidural. Although the doctor says this is not safe, he eventually agrees to do so. Lacy tries to calm Kelly down.

It is Josie’s 12th birthday and, against her wishes, Alex is taking her out for dinner. Josie doesn’t want to spend the evening around people fawning over Alex, who is “a celebrity in the town of Sterling,” but she doesn’t have a choice. At the restaurant, the chef sends them complimentary caviar, and after Josie complains that this is disgusting, Alex scolds her, noting that Josie must help her preserve her reputation. As Josie has grown up to look more and more dissimilar from Alex, she has found herself wondering about what her father is like. Josie doesn’t have many friends, and she knows that she is shunned by the other girls in her grade because she is always defending Peter from bullies.

Derek Markowitz tells Peter that his mother forces him to play soccer because she is a nutritionist who’s “nuts about fitness.” At home, Peter lies and tells his parents that soccer practice is going well so they will believe that he is a successful athlete like Joey. Yet as Peter and Derek become friends, Peter finds himself almost looking forward to practice just so they can hang out. One day, Lacy comes to practice—which in itself is humiliating enough—and asks the coach why he never plays Peter. Peter begs her to stop, but Lacy continues. Afterward, the other players laugh and call Peter “Mama’s boy” and “homo.” In the locker room, Derek tells a joke to make Peter feel better.

Courtney Ignatio is what Josie calls a “spaghetti-strap girl”; she is the first kid in seventh grade to have a cell phone. To Josie’s irritation, the two of them are paired up in social studies, and Courtney invites Josie to her house to work on their project together. Josie is stunned by Courtney’s elaborately-decorated room. Courtney explains that her mom is an interior decorator and thinks that this room is a teenage girl’s fantasy, although Courtney herself doesn’t really like it. Fascinated by Courtney’s makeup, Josie tries on some lipstick. Catching this, Courtney first seems annoyed, but then smiles and says it suits Josie.

Joey is more popular, charismatic, talented, and academically successful than Peter. In Peter’s eyes, Joey’s only weakness is that he faints at the sight of blood. For this reason, Lewis and Peter go hunting alone. It snowed the night before, which is perfect for deer hunting. When Peter attempts to shoot the deer, he misses, but Lewis gets it instead. As soon as he sees the animal go down, Peter vomits. He feels crushed by his own disappointment, even as Lewis says they will have better luck next time.

Dolores Keating is a decidedly ordinary girl who transferred into Peter’s middle school that year and sits in front of him in French. One day, Peter notices a pool of blood on her seat, and in shock he exclaims, “Dolores has her period!” Everyone turns to look. Peter remarks, “Keating’s bleeding,” and the rest of the class repeats it, turning it into a chant. Peter is thrilled by the novel feeling of acceptance and belonging. At lunch, Drew even asks Peter what happened. Dolores stays out of school for a while, but when she comes back the other student take turns handing her tampons. When Dolores starts crying, Peter tells them to stop; the other students simply push him away. Josie also hands Dolores a tampon and goes to stand next to Matt after doing so.

One day, after waiting for Josie to walk away from “Courtney & Co.,” Peter approaches her, giving her a fright. He accuses her of being fake in front of her new friends, to which Josie replies, “There’s different kinds of real.” She then tells Peter that she can’t hang out with him and walks away from him forever.