A Scatter Of Light

“I remember thinking I wish you were a boy, because then my summer would be a lot more interesting.”

Upon meeting Steph for the first time, Aria finds her interesting but discredits the attraction because she has only ever been attracted to boys. The irony of Aria’s wish is that Steph becomes the first woman Aria falls in love with and the reason her summer becomes so emotionally intense and tumultuous. This wish is later revisited when Steph confides in Aria about her nonbinary identity.

“Haley was saying something and leaning toward Tasha, one hand outstretched. Tasha was looking at her through her oversized sunglasses, so I couldn’t see her eyes, but there was a weird stiffness to her face. I wondered if they’d had a fight.”

Aria notices the dynamic shift between Haley and Tasha but doesn’t think much of it at the time. This moment foreshadows Tasha’s coming out; Aria sees fragments of their secret relationship but pieces it all together only in hindsight after she begins questioning her own sexuality.

“Somehow the fact that he had managed to get my shirt off made him someone the other guys looked up to, but the fact that I had taken my shirt off made me a slut.”

Aria experiences firsthand the double standard of sexual activity for boys versus girls. Jacob not only receives no consequences for his wrongful actions but is even celebrated among other boys. Aria, on the other hand, is shamed both publicly and privately, and this unfair blow to her reputation costs her the summer plans she’d made with friends. The expository details of the photo incident provide insight into why Aria so resents coming to California for the summer.