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Odd One Out: Chapters 16–20

Coop and his neighbor Jupiter are best friends — despite Coop's unrequited crush. But when Rae moves to town, she threatens to disrupt their friendship.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–15, Chapters 16–20, Chapters 21–25, Chapters 26–30

Here is a link to our lists for Dear Martin by Nic Stone.
40 words 22 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. inviolable
    treated as if holy and kept free from violation or criticism
    Just like with Thanksgiving, Daddy and I get invited to participate in the inviolable Charity-Sanchez-Cooper Christmas countdown: “C minus five days” is the twenty-four-hour cookie bake—we all get together and bake literally hundreds of cookies that on “C minus four” will be delivered to three different children’s shelters across the city...
  2. blanch
    turn pale, as if in fear
    Once the door is closed and she turns to face me, my guess is she can see my shock, because she blanches.
  3. crepuscular
    like or relating to twilight; dim
    And Daddy is smiling like he’s feeling the sun on his skin after a lifetime in a crepuscular cave.
  4. potency
    capacity to produce strong physiological or chemical effects
    “Why are you here?’’ shoots out of my mouth with enough potency to punch the joy right out of her smile, but there’s no use doubling back to stuff the anger like I normally would.
  5. sororal
    like or characteristic of or befitting a sister
    “Oh, so you pop up after half a decade to ‘surprise’ me like we’ve been sororal sweethearts from a distance this whole time?”
  6. smithereens
    a collection of small fragments considered as a whole
    My guess is that he responds nonverbally, but I don’t know for sure because I can’t look at him, either. What remains of my composure will blow to smithereens if I do.
  7. maudlin
    very sentimental or emotional
    “I still hate you a little,” I say, squeezing her tighter. “Even though I missed you. Can’t tell you the number of times I’ve almost unfollowed or blocked you because I see you online living your best life without me or Daddy, and I get all maudlin.”
  8. covert
    secret or hidden
    I’ve been covertly crying every night that Bess has been here, though the why behind the weepiness remains an enigma.
  9. enigma
    something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained
    I’ve been covertly crying every night that Bess has been here, though the why behind the weepiness remains an enigma.
  10. speculation
    a hypothesis that has been formed by conjecturing
    Pure speculation, but it seems the idea of me knowing something about Courtney that she doesn’t is...well, in my head, I see an image of the planet Jupiter’s red spot—which apparently is a massive, angry squall—churning a bit more intensely.
  11. squall
    sudden violent winds, often accompanied by precipitation
    Pure speculation, but it seems the idea of me knowing something about Courtney that she doesn’t is...well, in my head, I see an image of the planet Jupiter’s red spot—which apparently is a massive, angry squall—churning a bit more intensely.
  12. absquatulate
    run away, taking something or somebody along
    The way Jupiter Charity-Sanchez is now staring at the poster on her closet door—flushed cheeks, moist eyes, closed mouth—makes me want to absquatulate into a crevasse somewhere and perish.
  13. crevasse
    a deep fissure
    The way Jupiter Charity-Sanchez is now staring at the poster on her closet door—flushed cheeks, moist eyes, closed mouth—makes me want to absquatulate into a crevasse somewhere and perish.
  14. petulant
    easily irritated or annoyed
    “So why are you looking at me like that?” And why do I sound like a petulant papoose?
  15. rift
    a personal or social separation
    The instant rift is so acute, it wouldn’t surprise me to discover a chasm in the floor between us.
  16. permutation
    a complete change in character or condition
    And when the flame catches, I really do feel an atmospheric permutation.
  17. mired
    entangled or hindered
    Courtney watches her go, his expression mired in confusion.
  18. inimitable
    matchless
    “She likes me better, right, Rae-Rae? You and I have inimitable rapport."
  19. rapport
    a relationship of mutual understanding between people
    “She likes me better, right, Rae-Rae? You and I have inimitable rapport."
  20. vestige
    an indication that something has been present
    I just laugh, all vestiges of relational conflict shoved aside for the moment.
  21. repugnant
    offensive to the mind
    I get it: she doesn’t want to be anyone’s test subject, and I shouldn’t have done what I did. But she leapt to a repugnant conclusion about me without considering that my feelings could be genuine.
  22. moot
    of no legal significance, as having been previously decided
    I guess at the end of the day, it’s all moot: she made it clear she’s not interested in being more than friends.
  23. discomfit
    cause to lose one's composure
    Her apology is...discomfiting.
  24. incensed
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Yes, I was fairly incensed last night, but looking back, shouldn’t I be the one apologizing for what I did to her?
  25. hobnob
    associate familiarly, especially with someone of high status
    No matter how much we hobnob, there’s an air of artificiality in this reimagined best-friendship.
  26. unfathomable
    resembling an abyss in depth; so deep as to be immeasurable
    I have this unfathomable depth of access to her insides, but her outsides are off-limits.
  27. disingenuous
    not straightforward or candid
    But it makes our interactions feel disingenuous.
  28. tactile
    of or relating to or proceeding from the sense of touch
    I'm sure the physical distance is her way of making it undeniably clear that she and I are just friends, but I can’t figure out if the tactile embargo is for my sake or for her own.
  29. clandestine
    conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
    I spend the rest of the walk taking clandestine pranayama breaths, and soon Courtney’s opening the door of a place called the Shepherd’s House.
  30. sinewy
    possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
    The spot where Courtney’s hand cups my waist feels like it’s on fire, and his sinewy forearm against my lower back makes me want to melt into him, as ridiculous as that sounds.
  31. cataclysm
    an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    It’s safe to say this is going to be a cataclysm.
  32. innocuous
    not causing disapproval
    Some of the questions are gross, but all are fairly innocuous: Would you rather spend the rest of your life a little too hot or a little too cold?
  33. ratchet
    move by degrees in one direction only
    I wish he wouldn’t say or do these types of things. It ratchets up the difficulty level of keeping all these feelings in check.
  34. presumptuous
    going beyond what is appropriate, permitted, or courteous
    This is exactly the type of asinine assumption Jupiter hates. “First of all, no she’s not,” I say. “And second, that’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?”
  35. feign
    give a false appearance of
    I roll my eyes to feign annoyance, but inside, my bodily fluids are bubbling to a boil.
  36. admonition
    cautionary advice about something imminent
    “I know you didn’t ask for my advice, but I’m giving it to you anyway. For Jupiter’s sake. You need to be up-front with her, Rae-Bee.” And Bess walks out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her.
    Of course I don’t heed her admonition.
  37. unscrupulous
    without principles
    But the thought of Courtney figuring out how I really feel before I’m ready for him to know is scary enough to make me do all manner of unscrupulous, people-not-pleasing things to maintain my cover.
  38. tepid
    moderately warm
    I also run downstairs and make a bowl of popcorn, and grab and chug half a twenty-ounce bottle of tepid ginger ale.
  39. omission
    leaving out or passing over something
    “What are you sorry for, Rae?”
    “For”—using you, lying to you by omission, flirting with him behind your back, thinking about him pretty much every second that I spend with you—“not being up-front about it.”
  40. derring-do
    brave and heroic action
    "I was thinking maybe the week after, I’d just come right out with it, you know? Pull a little derring-do and ask if he wants to go on a date.”
Created on Thu Oct 25 16:23:28 EDT 2018 (updated Mon Oct 29 09:02:24 EDT 2018)

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