Over the next year, Dante sends Ari several letters detailing his life in Chicago and struggling with his sexuality. The two boys promise each other that they will still be friends when Dante returns in the summer. However, Ari says that he should not tell him those things, even if they are true. Both boys' mothers talk more frequently and share ideas about their sons.īefore Dante leaves for Chicago, he tells Ari that the two things he loves most in the world are swimming and Ari. Following the accident, the Quintanas and the Mendozas grow closer. While Dante leaves almost unscathed, Ari is hurt very badly. Ari dives into the street and pushes Dante out of the way. While Dante goes into the road to check on the bird, a car speeds around a corner. That same day, the two boys see a bird lying injured in the road.
Dante teaches Ari about literature and poetry, while Ari is fascinated by Dante's swimming ability and sincerity.ĭante tells Ari that he and his family are moving to Chicago for the next school term because his father was offered a temporary professorship at the University of Chicago.
The boys bond over their classical names and eventually become inseparable. In the summer of 1987, 15-year-old Aristotle Mendoza meets a boy named Dante Quintana at the local pool.
