The Wave Chapter 3 Summary

  • David Collins has already scarfed down his lunch when Laurie Saunders gets to the cafeteria. When Laurie sits down, they watch Robert Billings: he sits at a table, and the two girls who were already sitting there get up and leave. Not cool, girls.
  • David thinks Robert acts the way he does because of the way people treat him. Laurie adds her two cents: she says that her mom knows Robert' mom. Apparently, Robert has been tested and there's no real reason why he does bad in school: there isn't anything wrong with his brain.
  • Having done their share of people watching, Laurie brings up the film from class. David says it bothers him, sure, but that it's not something they can do anything about. It's just part of history.
  • Laurie agrees, but doesn't think they can just forget about it either. David tells her that even if they don't forget about it, they can't go around feeling bad about it all the time either. Who do you agree with?
  • Soon, Amy Smith and Brian Ammon show up. The topic of the film comes up again, and Amy says she's shaken up by it, too. Seems like this film really got people talking.
  • Laurie says she's leaving to go work on The Gordon Grapevine. Amy isn't part of the newspaper staff, but she decides to hang out in the publication office with Laurie.
  • They talk about their boyfriends and about what they will do next year, once they've graduated.
  • Though she doesn't say it out loud, Laurie feels like Amy is always competing with her. Ever since Laurie started dating David, Amy decided she had to date a football player, too. And it doesn't end there: she's competitive about grades and popularity, too. Doesn't sound like the best friendship in the world, that's for sure.
  • In fact, this competition keeps them from being the kind of close friends Laurie wishes they were.
  • Soon enough, two other members of The Grapevine staff show up: Carl Block, the investigative reporter, and Alex Cooper, the music reviewer.
  • When Laurie asks them where their articles are for the new edition of the paper, they both say they have a plane to catch and then, in a truly mature fashion, they run away.