How to Be Both

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and gender discrimination. 

H gifts George a print of a vintage photo of two French film stars. At H’s suggestion, the girls sneak into the local multi-story carpark, where H pushes George around in an abandoned trolley. They get caught and scolded by a security guard, but H manages to talk him down, and they ride back home together on H’s bike. H bonds with Henry over silly word games, and that night George has the first restful sleep she’s had in a long time.

H visits again a short while later so that she and George can revise their schoolwork together. She joins George in Carol’s study. George introduces H to the magazine article that prompted her mother’s interest in Francesco del Cossa. Also in the study is a framed Subvert listing names of female art students, which George’s feminist mother put together after learning of the many systemic obstacles women face as aspiring artists. George tells H of her mother’s suspicions that she was being monitored by the government, and contrary to George’s expectations, H agrees that this is a real possibility. H then confesses that she has romantic feelings for George, and George freezes up, uncertain as to whether she returns the sentiment.

While discussing the possibility of government surveillance with H, George recalls a conversation on the subject with her mother while they were in Italy. Carol made friends with a woman named Lisa Goliard after a chance meeting, developed strong quasi-romantic feelings for her, and then pulled away when she became suspicious that Lisa might be a government plant monitoring her. Lisa claimed to be a maker of custom books, but although Carol visited her workshop, she never saw her work, and she later learned from the workshop’s owner that Lisa never actually rented the space. The two women shared many interests, Lisa was always happy to listen to Carol talk about her life, and they once shared a passionate kiss. Carol confessed her minor infidelity to her husband, who was characteristically unperturbed. She had already begun to suspect Lisa of duplicitous motives when George learned of the potential threat to her family and interceded. She stole her mother’s phone and sent a text to Lisa pretending to be Carol, telling her to back off and not contact her again. George was eaten up by guilt for her transgression and eventually confessed to her mother, who found the situation hilarious and filled George in on the suspicions that already led her to begin severing ties with Lisa.

Since her mother’s death, George has been having sessions with the school counselor, Mrs. Rock. They spend almost the entirety of one meeting in silence when George refuses to be the first one to speak. George eventually asks permission to send a text, which Mrs. Rock allows only after escorting George off school grounds so as to technically avoid breaking any rules. To Mrs. Rock’s surprise, the text (concerning Latin temporal adverbs) goes undelivered, as the number no longer exists. Soon after, H barely talks to George all day in school even though they’re supposed to be working together on a joint project. That evening, however, H confesses that her family will soon be moving to Denmark, a revelation that upsets both girls, though H promises to keep in touch. They consider making Francesco del Cossa the subject of their project on empathy, but after some research decide that the paucity of information available about him makes it an untenable idea.