How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe: Chapters 17–28

by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
After her twin sister becomes a social media star, eighteen-year-old Moon goes on a journey of self discovery during a summer road trip across the U.S.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–16, Chapters 17–28, Chapters 29–41, Chapters 42–56
30 words 7 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abrasive
    sharply disagreeable, unpleasant, or harsh
    There are words I hate, for no reason other than they feel abrasive in my body when I say them, read them, even think them.
  2. flank
    be located at the sides of something or somebody
    He pulls on the box harder and I just give up and let it go, then grab three smaller ones to head up the million stairs flanked by ivy-wrapped columns.
  3. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    Andro is still looking intently at me.
  4. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    He points at me with both index fingers, and I nod, my cheeks flushed.
  5. tome
    a large and scholarly book
    Santiago hasn’t moved a millimeter, and he’s still reading that ancient-looking tome. It looks like a regular-size book in his hands, but that only means it’s seven feet wide and nine feet long.
  6. innocuous
    not causing disapproval
    Angling my body toward his, I say, “What are you reading?”
    It’s a fairly innocuous question, but Santiago sighs like I’ve asked him to tell me the name of his first crush, his social security number, and the passwords to his bank accounts.
  7. banter
    light teasing repartee
    Our banter continues like this for nearly an hour. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun with someone.
  8. comradery
    the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
    Is it weird that I feel hurt? I thought we’d struck up a sort of comradery earlier.
  9. divination
    the art or gift of prophecy by supernatural means
    Tía considers tarot to be one of the lesser forms of divination.
  10. flounce
    walk in an emphatic or exaggerated way
    “I hope you’re praying,” Star says in a singsong voice as she flounces away.
  11. anoint
    administer an oil or ointment to, often ceremonially
    She puts her hand on their heads like she’s anointing them with the blood of Christ.
  12. truffle
    a highly prized edible subterranean fungus
    Santiago’s watching me like a creep, eating a sandwich made of truffles and lobster, probably.
  13. stifle
    smother or suppress
    I stifle a scream with a pillow and look out the window.
  14. cantankerous
    stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate
    Occasionally, I let myself stare at him for a beat or two, wondering how on earth this cantankerous bastard is a nebula. Nebulas aren’t rude.
  15. disposition
    your usual mood
    Nebulas aren’t rude. They don’t resemble the Hulk as far as disposition.
  16. suggestive
    tending to hint at something improper or indecent
    “My beautiful full Moon.” He says this very suggestively, gazing up and down at me so fast, probably anyone else would miss it.
  17. scathing
    marked by harshly abusive criticism
    Before I can give Santiago a scathing look or a violent smack on the head, Samuel is here, throwing his arms around me, picking me up even.
  18. saccharine
    overly sweet
    I make my smile saccharine.
  19. bearing
    relevant relation or interconnection
    “First of all, Santiago has no bearing on my love life. Second, you and I”—now I make the gesture—“were never gonna anyway.”
  20. sinewy
    possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
    I shimmy up the trunk and onto some wide branches, going up and up until I can touch the thick, sinewy vines, rough against my fingers. The way they reach and lift, I imagine them directing the creation of universes.
  21. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    “What are you doing now?” He sounds incredulous.
  22. lithe
    moving and bending with ease
    Click, Star’s eyes wide as Chamomila reveals that she is, indeed, a snakeskin ogre underneath all her lithe musculature.
  23. demise
    the event of departure from life
    He smiles at me and I don’t know how to act or what to say, so I open and close my mouth like an animal on the verge of death, and he smiles some more, tolerating my demise, apparently.
  24. lichen
    a plant occurring in crusty patches on tree trunks or rocks
    It’s lovely, so lovely, that now I think of warm summer rain, making everything smell alive and green, like a whole wet forest of ancient, slow-growing lichen.
  25. palette
    a board on which an artist mixes paints
    I was working on a painting, of a woman made out of papayas, and I’d started mixing sand into my palette, which gave it this amazing texture.
  26. dainty
    delicately beautiful
    And now I’m legit cursed for it. Like it wasn’t enough that I had to be perfect, beautiful, dainty Star Fuentez’s twin sister. I have to attract bugs, too.
  27. commission
    place an order for
    Was wondering if I could commission that font?
  28. holistic
    emphasizing the organic relation between parts and the whole
    He talks for a while, using a lot of meaningless buzzwords, like “informational superhighway,” “passion,” “holistic,” and “rock and roll.”
  29. contempt
    open disrespect for a person or thing
    He couldn’t hide his contempt any longer, not after I did that weeping-snotty laugh.
  30. atone
    turn away from sin or do penitence
    When I didn’t respond, he added, “The confessional will be open until noon. You can do it, Moon. You can atone for your sins. That’s the gift Jesus gave us all.”
Created on Mon Mar 14 10:05:15 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Mar 25 11:49:32 EDT 2022)

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