I Kissed Shara Wheeler: Chapters 20–25

by Casey McQuiston
High school senior Chloe Green has been working hard to become the valedictorian of Willowgrove Christian Academy, so when her main competition, Shara Wheeler, suddenly disappears, she is determined to find her and prove that the honor has been fairly earned.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–9, Chapters 10–14, Chapters 15–19, Chapters 20–25
35 words 11 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. contrite
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    Wheeler studies her face, which she schools into something she hopes is contrite.
  2. ratchet
    move by degrees in one direction only
    Dread expands in a horrible bubble inside Chloe’s gut, like she’s ratcheting up to the big drop of a roller coaster.
  3. precedent
    an example that is used to justify similar occurrences
    “But when a wolf is after your flock, the shepherd has to make it clear that it’s not welcome,” Wheeler says. “Set a precedent. How about...a ban from the graduation ceremony?”
  4. intoxicating
    extremely exciting
    “Why is the freedom to wander around Walmart unsupervised so intoxicating?”
  5. inevitably
    in such a manner as could not be otherwise
    “I feel like I did mention that she was pretty before, but that always inevitably became a conversation about how she was friends with Shara, and how Shara was the worst.”
  6. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
    Willowgrove is the first time she’s been around Christianity, and so to her, that’s what faith is: judgmental, sanctimonious hypocrites hiding hate behind Bible verses, twenty-four-karat crucifix necklaces, and charismatic white pastors with all the horrible secrets that money can protect.
  7. incandescent
    characterized by ardent emotion, intensity, or brilliance
    It’s the first time she’s ever seen Smith lose his temper. This must be how he lights up the field in overtime. He’s incandescent.
  8. intact
    undamaged in any way
    It can be hard, when all the rules claim to be good and moral and godly, to feel like you can challenge them without admitting something bad and wrong about yourself. And if you can get past that, it’s a free-fall into small-town gossip, and you never come out the other side with all your best intentions intact.
  9. nonplussed
    filled with bewilderment
    Brooklyn Bennett, the world’s leading fan of rules, charges in like an angry Chihuahua.
    “I am the student body president,” she says to the first person she sees, who is a nonplussed April with a sucker stick in the corner of her mouth.
  10. contingent
    a gathering of persons representative of some larger group
    The story: a contingent of Willowgrove Christian Academy students are boycotting their own graduation ceremony in protest of the school’s code of conduct, and also, yes, they are speaking to the student body president, thank you very much.
  11. procession
    the action of a group moving ahead in regular formation
    In one corner, Benjy rounds up April and Rory to discuss a plan for procession music.
  12. haphazard
    dependent upon or characterized by chance
    Jake pulls out a Bluetooth speaker and puts on a shockingly good playlist, and the whole thing becomes a sort of haphazard rally-meets-party.
  13. tangent
    a message that departs from the main subject
    A classic Ash tangent. Chloe can’t wait to see where this one goes. “Say more.”
  14. novelty
    a small inexpensive mass-produced article
    She glances over to the picture book corner, where Ace has knocked over a display of novelty socks with one of his beefy shoulders.
  15. marquee
    a structure, often with a signboard, over an entrance
    Ash spreads their hands in front of them like a marquee and says, “Taint Week.”
  16. discretion
    refined taste; tact
    We need to discuss discretion. There’s no need to keep your child looped in if his participation isn’t required.
  17. proctor
    someone who supervises (an examination)
    Dixon, whose dad paid at least $30,000 total to have a proctor look the other way while an Auburn senior with a fake ID took the test under Dixon’s name, has ghosted completely.
  18. bigot
    a prejudiced person who is intolerant of differing opinions
    She plastered the school with them to make sure he couldn’t hide it. The church board may not care if the principal is a bigot, but it’ll be harder to make this go away.
  19. indifference
    the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care
    The other part, still hiding behind all the smoke and mirrors and studied indifference, is somebody who cares.
  20. punctual
    acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed
    She is well-liked and punctual, follows directions, and often volunteers to lead the class in prayer.
  21. jettison
    throw away, of something encumbering
    Smith blessedly doesn’t say anything else as Rory leads them past the living room, which is messy with snacks and hastily jettisoned throw pillows, or as he heaves the ladder over the fence.
  22. meticulously
    in a manner marked by extreme care of details
    When she climbs up to Shara’s open window, she can tell Shara’s really back, because the room looks less like a meticulously arranged movie set and more like an actual human teenager lives in it.
  23. airily
    in a manner that is overly casual or lacking seriousness
    “Probably smart,” Shara concedes airily.
  24. aloofness
    a disposition to be distant and unsympathetic in manner
    Something like disappointment flickers across Shara’s face before it settles into unimpressed aloofness, as if someone in class raised their hand too fast with a painfully obvious answer.
  25. ruminate
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “So if you came here to reject me, do it already. It’ll give me something to ruminate on during Bible study.”
  26. tentatively
    in a hesitant manner
    She (slowly, tentatively) touches the side of Chloe’s face, and Chloe feels the cool press of a sailboat railing.
  27. reverent
    feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
    Shara searches her face with the wary, reverent interest of stumbling upon a poem in an English textbook that breaks your heart open in the middle of class.
  28. preemptive
    designed to prevent an anticipated situation or occurrence
    Shara jumps out of bed, and Chloe shouts out a preemptive, “Hey! You got back fast!”
  29. ingenue
    an artless innocent young girl
    I was a bright-eyed, nineteen-year-old ingenue fresh out of Alabama, bartending to pay my way through trade school, and there was this waitress, Jess, and she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my entire life.
  30. trundle
    move along on or as if on wheels or a wheeled vehicle
    Before she can finish the sentence, her mom’s work truck comes trundling up to the lot.
  31. emboss
    raise in a relief
    The box contains two dozen thick, burgundy leather envelopes, each one embossed with the Willowgrove crest in white.
  32. renegade
    having deserted a cause or principle
    Chloe spent seven hundred of the last forty-eight hours on FaceTime with Georgia, trying to find the right outfit for Unlikely Girlfriend of Renegade Prom Queen.
  33. venue
    the scene of any event or action
    There’s something horribly romantic about it, she thinks: Smith Parker broadcast across television screens in burgundy and white, taping up his hands, touching his fingers to his lips and raising them to the sky, and Rory in the bathroom of some grungy concert venue, watching the game on his phone and writing lyrics about someone who runs and runs and runs.
  34. chemise
    a loose-fitting dress hanging straight from the shoulders
    Chloe feels that familiar tug into another world, one where Shara’s a siren disrupting a long voyage or a princess with secret letters tucked into her chemise.
  35. smolder
    burn slowly and without a flame
    Shara’s preoccupied with a smoldering marshmallow.
Created on Mon Apr 10 11:31:32 EDT 2023 (updated Thu Jun 01 13:53:21 EDT 2023)

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