The Things You Kiss Goodbye By Leslie Connor Summary

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In “The Things You Kiss Goodbye” written by Leslie Connor, main character Bettina Vasilis experiences an erratic relationship with alluring high school basketball star Brady Cullen, and soon falls for older car mechanic Silas Shepherd, whom she nicknames Cowboy. Throughout the story, friends, family, and tragedy change Bettina. First, when Brady Cullen asked Bettina out, she couldn’t have been more charmed, “But man, his eyes were bright and his lips were full and perfect. I could so try kissing those…” (pg.14) Bettina was thrilled to be dating one of the most popular guys in school. She adored the attention, even though most of his “friends” didn’t really support his girlfriend choice. Once she collected herself after being asked out, she …show more content…

She had never had that much freedom before. Everything in Bettina’s life was just perfect. Secondly, Bettina started noticing Brady’s behavior changing, “I spent the next hours at school asking myself what happened to the sweet, shy boy who’d nearly passed out the first time he’d touched me. I was desperate to have that boy back.” (pg.35-36) He chastened her for talking to one of her friends from way back. He would get a little too rough, which sometimes ended up in her crying. He made fun of her in front of his friends and laughed at her, but Bettina just went with it and laughed along with them. She was too afraid to say anything that might anger him and ruin this perfect thing they had together. They would always end up hugging and forgetting about it anyway. Their relationship wasn’t the same as it was last spring when Brady was a shy, sweet boy that smiled at her in the hallways. Bettina knew it was the popularity that transformed him. Ever since he became one of the best basketball players at high school, he seemed to care more about the amount of friends he had and how to impress them, even if that meant humiliating his

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