Popcorn: Chapters 11–12

by Rob Harrell
Anxious, lanky, middle schooler Andrew Yeager experiences his worst nightmare, a full-blown panic attack in front of his classmates, after encountering many misfortunes on the same school day. Friendship, humility, and humor help Andrew cope with his very difficult day, which ultimately results in freedom from a longtime bully, and receives the compassion of his peers.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–6, Chapters 7–8, Chapters 9–10, Chapters 11–12, Chapters 13–14, Chapters 15–16,
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. eavesdrop
    listen without the speaker's knowledge
    Jonesy glances over at the two gamers, who I’m sure are eavesdropping on us by now. “Well, we’re outside, so…more air is tough.” She gives me a hug. “This is all gonna be okay. I bet G’s back on the couch watching The Price Is Right ten minutes from now. She may be kind of a ninja when it comes to sneaking off, but she’s not great at hiding, you know?”
  2. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    It’s one of the things I’ve shared with her about my meetings with Dr. Cain. She gave me a few breathing exercises, but one worked the best. She called it box breathing. I was skeptical until she told me that Navy SEALs do it to stay calm. I decided if Navy SEALs do it, I could give it a shot too.
  3. irritable
    easily annoyed
    My mind is almost all on G, but now I’m kind of annoyed too. I’m an irritable live wire right now, and…if I’m completely honest, I’m probably just embarrassed to have anyone else see me this way.
  4. distract
    draw someone's attention away from something
    Back to another bathroom mirror, and I don’t like what I see. Smelly nasty ketchup, drying in my hair. So gross. And my black eye is pretty much swollen shut at this point. Maybe the cracked lens will distract people’s eyes before they get to the shiner. At least there’s nothing on my clothes. It’s miraculous, really.
  5. vivid
    evoking lifelike images within the mind
    It’s what I’m picturing now. It’s a vivid image: G lying next to an abandoned tire and some fast-food trash in a flooded roadside ditch. Although given how unconcerned she seemed when we’ve found her before, she’d probably be happy as a clam down there.
  6. hygienic
    tending to promote or preserve health
    I feel my shoulders tightening and—I don’t really have a choice—I tap the little metal cart next to me five times. I do it quietly and down behind my leg, so she doesn’t notice. She’s focused on the poster too. We’re both staring at the hygienic cowboy hedgehog.
    “Andrew.” She sighs. “I’m sorry you’re having a wreck of a day. I truly am.”
  7. vice
    moral weakness
    “Do you like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos?”
    This catches me off guard. I sniff and look over at her. “Yeah, why?”
    She smiles. “They’re kind of my secret vice. I claim to be a healthy eater— I’m a nurse after all—but I can’t help it. I love ’em.”
  8. motto
    a favorite saying of a sect or political group
    I do and she goes to her desk and hands me a small black comb.
    I take it, but I’m wondering if it’s…used. Yuck.
    “Always be prepared. That’s the School Nurse Motto. I’ve got an entire CVS in that desk.”
    I turn the comb over, unsure. I must make a face.
    “It’s clean. Brand-new. Zero cooties.” She smiles.
  9. fastidious
    giving careful attention to detail
    She let me sit there for a few minutes. “Do you want to tell me a bit more about your dad? Sorry. I mean about Dan?”
    “Fastidious Dan? That’s what G started calling him. He’s a jerk.”
    She wasn’t letting me off that easy. “Anything more…specific?”
    “He’s gone. Way gone. West Coast gone.”
  10. hence
    from that fact or reason or as a result
    I felt squirmy when I said the next part. “And, like, fussy. G said he was a clean freak. Hence the Fastidious Dan nickname. My mom said he was born with a bottle of Fantastik in his hand, and my mom and G are—well, they’re messy....So he was all freaked out about things being perfect and clean and in order. And he’d lose it when they weren’t....He’d take it out on my mom and me and G. Even Jonesy remembers him screaming at us about some pizza sauce on the counter.”
  11. visualization
    a mental image that is similar to optical perception
    She sat up straight in her chair and put both socked feet flat on the carpet. “Okay. This one is called visualization. But let’s start with some simple breathing again. It all comes back to breathing. You can choose to close your eyes—or look out at the sky, or up at the ceiling. However you’re comfortable.”
  12. self-conscious
    excessively aware of your appearance or behavior
    “Okay, try that a few more times, until it starts to feel more natural.”
    I sat there breathing, trying not to be self-conscious. It got easier and less shaky after a few goes.
    It helped. It gave me something else to focus on than the garbage running around in my upset head.
  13. groove
    a settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape
    Finally, she must have thought I was in the groove.
    “Okay, Andrew. Keep breathing like that, but now I want you to think of your happiest place on earth. Like, a specific place and time. Somewhere where you’re completely content. Totally happy....Take a second and think of that place. Let your mind drift there, but keep breathing.”
  14. overwhelm
    overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
    “Do you feel calmer?”
    I took another deep breath. “I do, kind of.”
    “Right? That’s visualization. You can do it anytime. If you start to feel stressed or overwhelmed, you can always just…‘Go to the Pool.’ And the more you do it, the easier it gets.
  15. unravel
    disentangle
    “Listen, Andrew. You’re gonna be okay. This is all really important stuff. This is good. We’re just starting to unravel it, but you’re gonna be okay. You’re a good kid. We’re just gonna keep working on this, and figuring out some ways to help you cope a little better, and you, young man…” She pointed at me. “You are gonna be fine.”
Created on Sun Apr 06 12:57:00 EDT 2025 (updated Mon Apr 14 14:11:42 EDT 2025)

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