Chapter 10 of 30 · 2'53"
CC comes home soaked and admits she slept with the man Hillary likes. Hillary calls him "a snake," and when CC swears she will never see him again, the answer is "Oh, who are you kidding?" The fight ends not in a breakup but in a shared apartment and a habit: "I'm used to you."
CC Confesses and Hillary Doubts Her
CC Won't Let Hillary Move Out
Letters: Hillary Settles, CC Gets a Show
CC arrives home drenched from a swim in the Central Park boating pond and admits she slept with John, the man Hillary has feelings for. She calls the night romantic but is disgusted with herself. Hillary calls John "a snake," and CC promises never to see him again — a promise Hillary doubts. The two stay roommates, then Hillary leaves for San Francisco because her father is sick.
The confession is a betrayal, but the scene refuses to become a break-up. CC has slept with the man Hillary is crazy about, and she knows it: "I feel sick about what I've done. I showed a complete lack of character." What she does not know is how to stop. She swears she will never see him again, and Hillary's "Oh, who are you kidding?" is both an accusation and an admission that the promise is worthless. The cruelest line is CC's excuse — "if it hadn't been you, it would have been some other girl" — which quietly says Hillary was interchangeable. Yet the two stay together because the friendship is a habit neither wants to break: "What do I want you to move out for? I'm used to you." Their letters afterward keep the bond alive even as their lives split.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“Sexual attraction has nothing to do with character unless you're Eleanor Roosevelt.”
She separates desire from character, then lands the joke on a famous name.
Informal
“Besides, if it hadn't been you, it would have been some other girl.”
A third conditional turns jealousy into comfort: anyone else would have done the same.
Neutral
“I think he's the most attractive man I've ever met in my life.”
A superlative confession: she ranks him above everyone she has ever met.
Neutral
“It's in the worst possible taste. It's vulgar, it's gross, it's dirty, and you know what? It's gonna make me a huge star.”
She trashes the work and admits it will make her famous in one breath — ambition without apology.
Informal
Up next · 11the show must go onThe scene: CC and Hillary Drift ApartIt means the person is sneaky and disloyal, not literally a snake. The line "What a snake" is the verdict on the betrayer after CC admits sleeping with the man Hillary likes.
She knows she slept with the man her friend cares about and calls it a complete lack of character. She says she feels sick about what she has done, even while describing the night as romantic.
CC swears she will never see John again, but Hillary answers, "Oh, who are you kidding?" She has heard the same promise before and does not believe CC can stay away.
CC says she does not want Hillary to move out because she is used to her. The friendship survives the betrayal as a comfortable habit rather than a clean break.
Her father is sick, so she moves back to care for him and gives up her job at the ACLU. She and CC keep in touch by letters.
