First Lie Wins

“In the kitchen area, I unzip the black bag and remove four menus from nearby restaurants and three pictures I printed from the kiosk at CVS of Ryan and me, plus seven magnets to hold each item in place on the refrigerator.”

Here, Evie prepares for Ryan to come to her apartment. The level of detail and specificity in Evie’s listing of the ways in which she makes the apartment appear lived-in speaks to thoroughness and thoughtfulness with which she approaches her jobs. The falseness of her home maintains suspense, withholding contextual clues about Evie’s identity.

“You live in a home where every single piece of furniture holds meaning for you. A memory. You grew up around these things so they’re a part of you. It wasn’t the same with my stuff.”

Evie opens up to Ryan about her lack of material possessions; she uses something close to the truth in order to hide the lie about why she isn’t bringing her own possessions into his place. This quote also starts to touch on one of the novel’s underlying themes—the inability of wealth to understand the mindsets and motivations of those who aren’t wealthy.

“Their eyes glance between the deep slit up the side of my bright-blue maxi skirt, to the paper-thin white tee that does little to hide my baby-blue bra, to the stack and stack of bracelets that jingle when I walk. It took me a while to decide what to give them.”

This quote points to the ways in which Evie understands identity to be constructed. Evie knows how to play with stereotype and expectation in order to craft and identity that will be received how she wants to be received. This includes using her sexuality as means of control.