How to End a Love Story

Content Warning: The source text and this guide include descriptions of a character’s death by suicide and the death of a minor in a car accident. They also include descriptions of anxiety and panic attacks.

Helen Zhang is an 18-year-old high schooler, and she is at the funeral of her 16-year-old little sister, Michelle, who died by suicide. Sitting between her mourning parents, Helen feels angry and misses Michelle.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of Grant Shephard, the 18-year-old whose car struck and killed Michelle when she intentionally ran in front of it. The mourners are shocked by his arrival. Helen’s mother gets upset, and Helen tells him his presence is unwelcome. Grant apologizes and leaves. Helen thinks she will likely never see Grant again, given their vastly different cultural backgrounds and temperaments. Grant is white and Helen is Chinese American, so he seemed particularly out of place surrounded by members of her community. Helen mentally addresses her sister, sardonically reflecting that Michelle probably enjoyed Grant’s unexpected arrival and the disruption it caused in the otherwise boring funeral.