I Kissed Shara Wheeler

In one of her notes to Chloe, Shara includes a quotation from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which includes the image of a double cherry. Shara notes that she appreciates the metaphor and that it reminds her of her and Chloe. The double cherry represents the contradictory state of having commonalities and being close while also being divided. Because cherries resemble hearts, the metaphor connotes a deep connection between two people, one that resembles love.

The symbol also represents the relationships of other pairs in the story. Rory and Smith share a similar closeness in Rory’s status as Shara’s next-door neighbor and Smith’s status as her boyfriend. The two share a bond from when they were in middle school but are divided by circumstances that have kept them apart. Nevertheless, their feelings for each other have persisted. Likewise, Georgia and Summer also shared feelings despite their being in different crowds. Georgia and Summer worked on a project together their sophomore year, and Georgia confesses to Chloe that Summer was the person who had made her realize she “liked girls.”