Honestly Elliott

Elliott makes one of his “Legendary Snack Bowls^TM” (123), mixing together hummus, carrots, hard-boiled eggs, tuna salad, and sunflower butter. Nina tries it and likes it, and they talk about the business project. Nina agrees that Elliott and Maribel can use the kitchen as long as Nina gets to try the pies. When Nina kisses Elliott on top of the head, he pretends not to like it. Elliott is looking forward to the project and to his new friend Maribel coming over.

Mark and Elliott watch the movie Clone of the Stars on Saturday, then meet Kate for dinner. While waiting for Kate, Elliott asks if Mark liked the movie, but Mark is distracted and mumbles a response. Kate arrives, and they order. She asks about their day, and they talk about the movie. Mark didn’t like the movie much, and Elliott feels betrayed that Mark seemed to like it earlier but is telling Kate that he didn’t. Frustrated, Mark tells Elliott to stop fidgeting and to stop chewing ice.

Kate starts a new conversation, and she tells Elliott that they want to give the new baby a family name for his middle name. Assuming that they mean “Quigley,” Elliott gets upset and flustered; he chokes on a chip, sticks his hand in the guacamole, and knocks over his soda, staining Kate’s clothes and making a mess on the table. Elliott cries and imagines a sports announcer describing his overflowing. Kate says that it is okay, but Elliott feels like he is constantly making mistakes like this.

After dinner, Kate leaves for the market while Mark and Elliott walk to City River, which is a system of fountains and waterways downtown. Marks wants to talk about dinner, but Elliott gets upset and accuses Mark of only talking about his mistakes. Mark asks about dinner again, and Elliott says that he gets embarrassed when he cries. He explains that he gets too many emotions, which makes his “Tear Tank overflow” (134). Insecure about mentioning his Tear Tank, Elliott braces himself for Mark to mock him. Instead, Mark suggests that the problem is that Elliott is feeling so many emotions at once and that Elliott could try talking about one of the feelings. Elliott agrees to try but only after Mark promises not to ask questions or give advice. Elliott thinks about his feelings for a bit then says that he is scared about the baby.

Maribel is coming over to Elliott’s house. He cleans the kitchen very well, and Nina buys a new colander to avoid exposing Maribel to gluten. Right before Maribel arrives, Elliott admits that he is nervous because Maribel is the first friend to come over since Malcolm left.

Maribel brings the flour, and she fawns over Denver and Omelet. Nina introduces herself then leaves for her in-home office, and Maribel and Elliott go to the kitchen. They decide that Maribel will make the strawberry filling while Elliott makes the crust. Citing Griffin Connor, Elliott says that he refuses to use a recipe. He struggles with getting the dough the right consistency, and he snaps at Maribel for suggesting that he use a recipe. She points out the irony in following Griffin Connor but not following a recipe.

Using a recipe, Maribel has a smooth time making the strawberry filling. Meanwhile, Elliott continues to struggle with the crust. Maribel asks for vanilla, and Elliott finds some in the cupboard, but Maribel needs to read the ingredients first to make sure that it doesn’t have gluten. Elliott pretends that the crust is going well, and he continues to speak rudely as they talk about recipes and Griffin Connor.

They put the pie together and bake it. While the pie is in the oven, Elliott explains that he likes Griffin Connor because he is a confident and successful chef. Maribel thinks that Griffin Connor is a bad person because he is mean and aggressive. She thinks that the chef is just trying to get more views by encouraging people to watch him instead of using recipes. While they speak, Maribel is texting someone.

The pie looks perfect when it comes out of the oven, but they can’t cut through the crust. The filling is delicious, but the crust, which they tear off to try, is disgusting. Maribel suggests that they try using a recipe, and Elliott gets mad and blames the gluten-free flour, arguing that the filling is easy, which is the only reason it turned out good. He says that he took the crust because it is more difficult and Maribel is inexperienced, adding “[n]o offense” to the end of his remarks. Maribel gets her things and leaves, and Elliott asks her to wait, knowing that he messed up.

Maribel won’t speak to Elliott on Monday, and on Tuesday, Elliott talks about the project with Dr. Gilmore. The therapist suggests that recipes are okay to use, but Elliott disagrees, saying that he is supposed to be naturally talented in the kitchen. Dr. Gilmore notes that is a lot of pressure for Elliott to put on himself, and he suggests that Griffin Connor is more rude than funny. Elliott concludes that he needs to apologize to Maribel.

As Elliott is leaving the office, he runs into his dad. Confused, he says that Nina is picking him up, but Mark is there for a different reason—a billing issue, Elliott assumes (it later turns out that Mark is having therapy). Leaving, Elliott walks for a bit while waiting to meet his mom at the library at 4:30 pm. He walks past Sugar Rush, sees Kunal, and sits with him, and Kunal offers Elliott bites of three different donuts. They talk about their projects; both groups are struggling to get along. Kunal says that it’s a good thing that Elliott wasn’t in their group, but Elliott internally disagrees, feeling that rejection was much worse than fighting. Externally, he shrugs off the idea, hoping to be friends with Kunal. They talk for a while, then Elliott leaves, making plans to learn how to make pie crust and to apologize to Maribel.

During the next Advisory class, Maribel agrees to talk to Elliott, and he apologizes for being rude. He doesn’t make excuses but explains that he lashed out because he was embarrassed. Accepting his apology, Maribel is ready to get to work. They realize that the strawberries that they used are too expensive; they’ll only be able to make maybe 10 pies with their allotted $100. Since gluten-free flour is expensive, they could save money by switching to regular flour, but Elliott refuses. He suggests that they go to the Avery Market, where he knows several of the employees, to see if they can work something out.

Elliott and Maribel settle on a day to go to the Avery Market. On their walk to the store, Elliott says that he talked to Janiyah, the manager, the day before, and she said that she could help. They arrive, and Bailey, another employee, says that she will get Janiyah and offers the students some chips, but Maribel must read the label before trying them. Janiyah leads them to the gluten-free section, which impresses Maribel, who has never been to that store. However, Janiyah can’t help with the berries, as the local berry crops are suffering from a late frost.

They go to the community room in the market to talk, and they find old cookbooks. Looking through the books, they find a recipe for desperation pie, which uses vinegar, eggs, butter, and sugar. An excerpt explains that desperation pies were popular during the Great Depression when people didn’t have access to fresh fruit. Desperation pies are cheap, so they decide that that’s what they will make for their project.

Nina picks up Elliott and Maribel and drives Maribel to her house, which is an expensive-looking, large brick house. On the way, Elliott and Maribel talk about their desperation pies, and after Maribel gets out, Nina says that she is happy to see Elliott making new friends. Elliott is nervous about letting Maribel down.

At home, Nina asks how Elliott wants his grilled cheese, and he says that he doesn’t care, which sparks her concern. He is preoccupied with thinking about pie crust, and Nina asks him to caramelize onions while he thinks. As he cooks, he thinks about one of the donuts he tried with Kunal, which inspires him to make a pie crust out of modified crumble topping.