Popcorn: Chapters 1–2

by Rob Harrell
Anxious, lanky, middle schooler Andrew Yeager experiences his worst nightmare, a full-blown panic attack in front of his classmates, after encountering many misfortunes on the same school day. Friendship, humility, and humor help Andrew cope with his very difficult day, which ultimately results in freedom from a longtime bully, and receives the compassion of his peers.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–6, Chapters 7–8, Chapters 9–10, Chapters 11–12, Chapters 13–14, Chapters 15–16,
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gangly
    tall, thin, and awkward
    Okay. Let’s start this awful, one-for-the-books day at the beginning. That’s where most stories start, I guess.
    I’m looking in the bathroom mirror, and what I see is decent. A bit gangly and skinny, but not terrible.
  2. bristle
    a stiff fiber
    Inside, I have the regular stew of butterflies and worries and some irritation that a certain someone’s nasty, yellowed nighttime mouthguard was leaning on the bristles of my toothbrush this morning—but I take a couple of deep breaths.
  3. residual
    relating to or indicating a remainder
    As I wipe any residual spit away, she sits back, grabs my shoulders, and holds me at arm’s length.
    “Look at this. Yes sir. That’s my handsome man.” Her eyes dart around from my new shirt to my fresh—one day old!—haircut. She smiles.
  4. anxiety
    a state of worry and nervousness in mental disorders
    And yep, as she aims the phone she’s chewing at that lip again—right on schedule. I feel something in my stomach twist. It’s nerves. Anxiety. But it feels like there’s a fussy iguana in there.
  5. origami
    the art of folding paper
    I slide the shirt into the back pocket by my ancient school-provided laptop. It irritates me, as I had everything just how I like it, but I don’t say anything.
    Adding the shirt bunches up my sack lunch, and I just know my PB&J is going to come out looking like smushed-up bread origami.
  6. dramatic
    sensational in appearance or thrilling in effect
    “Whoa. Who’s this fancy person, and what have you done with my friend Andrew?” Jonesy gives me a dramatic look up and down. “Combed hair? Ironed shorts? Nice!”
  7. inherit
    receive by genetic transmission
    G—I’ve always called her G ’cause she liked that “better than Grandma or Grammy or Gee Goo”—has been a gigantic part of my life for as long as I can remember, and lately she’s just sort of…fading away.
    I mean, she’s still there, right in front of us, but a lot of the things that made her who she was are drifting away. Like, her love of whacked-out, experimental baking. Or the way she used to gesture with her hands when she talked—something I inherited from her.
  8. authentic
    not counterfeit or copied
    Or how she’d make her famous Movie Theater Popcorn. She knew how to make it taste just like the stuff you’d get in a theater—better, even—and she’d get those red-and-white-striped tubs they have there to make it feel even more authentic. Comfy clothes, a blanket, her popcorn, and a movie or a game of Scrabble were the recipe for a great night at her condo.
  9. abrupt
    exceedingly sudden and unexpected
    Maybe the thing that I miss the most is her laugh. She had one of the best laughs in the world. It was loud, abrupt, and it would burst out of her like nothing on earth was gonna stop it. My mom called it a blurt laugh, and it was, but then it would go on for a while. She’d laugh until tears came out of her eyes and we all worried she couldn’t breathe.
  10. catastrophic
    extremely harmful; bringing physical or financial ruin
    I remember one particular day we were playing Scrabble at her condo’s kitchen table while she was baking some new weird cookies. (She experimented with cookie recipes like a mad scientist, and they didn’t always work out. Some were great, but some…Wow. Remind me to tell you about the Catastrophic Honey Mustard Cookie Mess of Death sometime.)
  11. waft
    blow gently
    She pulled the cookies out and took them over to the sink for an Official G Inspection. She sniffed them, wafting the smell toward her nose with a mitt.
  12. raspy
    unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
    As she got worse, that image of her brain turning to pudding quickly went from amusing to disturbing. It pops up in my head more often than I’d like. But she said it, and I can still hear the slight laugh in her raspy G voice when she did.
  13. splurge
    indulge oneself
    She’s feeling the sleeve of my shirt. “This is nice. Soft. Did you get it just for your picture?”
    “Yep. Mom splurged. Got me a haircut at an actual salon too.” Jones knows that my mom usually cuts my hair over a towel in our kitchen.
  14. glare
    look at with a fixed or angry gaze
    Just then I get slammed—hard—in the side of the face and shoulder by a giant, overstuffed backpack. It feels like it’s packed full of rocks. Rubbing my cheek, I turn around to see Gene Phillips glaring at me.
    Gene Phillips is one to avoid. He’s not a big guy, but he’s four feet eight inches of Mean.
  15. generic
    having no special or distinctive characteristics; unoriginal
    After a few more uncomfortable moments, Gene keeps going down the aisle. I watch his brand-new name-brand backpack move away before looking down at my own. Faded, generic, fraying in a bunch of spots.
    When I look up, Jonesy is staring at me.
    “You just apologized to him for HIM smashing into YOUR head.”
    “I know. I know.”
  16. fray
    wear away by rubbing
    After a few more uncomfortable moments, Gene keeps going down the aisle. I watch his brand-new name-brand backpack move away before looking down at my own. Faded, generic, fraying in a bunch of spots.
    When I look up, Jonesy is staring at me.
    “You just apologized to him for HIM smashing into YOUR head.”
    “I know. I know.”
  17. interaction
    mutual or reciprocal dealings or influence
    The only good interaction with Gene Phillips is a short one, I figure. He’s seriously awful.
  18. impending
    close in time; about to occur
    Jonesy shakes her head. “Your hair is fine. It’s the rest of you I’m worried about.”
    I’m not entirely sure how to take that, so we ride in silence for a couple blocks as I fiddle with my backpack’s zipper pulls. I may tap the seat five times to ward off impending doom.
  19. doom
    an unpleasant or disastrous destiny
    Jonesy shakes her head. “Your hair is fine. It’s the rest of you I’m worried about.”
    I’m not entirely sure how to take that, so we ride in silence for a couple blocks as I fiddle with my backpack’s zipper pulls. I may tap the seat five times to ward off impending doom.
  20. obsess
    be preoccupied with something
    I kind of have an issue with worrying. Stressing. Obsessing. Whatever you want to call it. Like sometimes I can lock up or spin out over a simple English assignment, or something stupid.
  21. tic
    a usually unconscious habit or quirk of speech or behavior
    I also have the tapping thing. I have a few tics—I guess that’s what you’d call them. Like, tapping things five times. And I absolutely have to hit the pad of the finger only. If any fingernail touches the surface I’m tapping—or I think it might have—I start the five taps over or…I don’t know what. I just do it.
  22. antsy
    nervous and unable to relax
    I know I’m the one who brought it up, but the basketball talk makes me antsy. Jonesy’s been hanging out more and more with her teammates. I mean, I get it. I do. They all seem fine, and Jonesy always says I can hang with them too, but…Ugh. I know this’ll sound like a little kid comment, but I liked it when it was just the two of us.
  23. presentable
    fit to be seen
    “You’ve got something on your shirt, Mr. Clean.”
    I pull at my sleeve and see a mark—maybe from Gene’s backpack? Had he set it in something?
    “Oh, you gotta be…” I reach into my lunch sack and pull out one of the little stain-wipe packets my mom dropped in there. Jonesy grabs it and tears it open.
    “No Gene-stains today.” She dabs and wipes at the spot. “Seems like this school photo means a lot to Susan, for some reason—so let’s try to stay presentable, shall we?
  24. disarray
    untidiness, especially of clothing and appearance
    I pull my (carefully) folded hoodie from my backpack, which throws everything into disarray, but I figure I can repack it before first period, and it’s worth it if it keeps my shirt clean.
  25. don
    put on clothes
    I pull the hoodie on and feel just a tiny bit better, like I’ve donned a coat of armor to face the day.
Created on Sun Apr 06 12:28:31 EDT 2025 (updated Mon Apr 14 12:28:25 EDT 2025)

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