The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Sylvia Kargman, an alum and parent, is scheduled to speak to students. Her company donated the money for cafeteria renovations, and that’s why all the vending machines have food from Kargman’s company. Matthew explains that Kargman is the reason all the food is processed and why there are no fresh vegetables or fruit. So, Frankie invents the Society for Vegetable Awareness, Promotion, and Information Delegation (VAPID), and she emails Bassets their instructions for the Canned Beet Rebellion. Next, she communicates the VAPID’s demands for a fresh salad bar, entreating students to wear “VAPID” buttons and stickers in solidarity. 

After Kargman’s speech, she receives a button, too, and a caterer delivers a gigantic basset hound made of vegetables. The next day, Kargman donates the money for the salad bar. Frankie is thrilled, completely absorbed by her position as “the commander in chief of a squad of older boys, sending them on adventures that [shake] Alabaster to its foundations” (275). That night, she doesn’t follow Matthew to his Basset meeting because she already knows what he’s doing.

Frankie and Matthew make tentative plans for him to visit her on the Friday after Thanksgiving. However, as the holiday grows closer, he tells her he’s busy with Alpha. Matthew seems reluctant to let her join them. She realizes that no matter what she does, Matthew will never prioritize her. Then, she finds a printout of the emails between her and Porter in Matthew’s backpack. 

At Thanksgiving, Frankie’s uncle ruffles her hair and calls her “Bunny Rabbit.” Her mother calls her “adorable,” and another uncle remembers the “dolly” she dragged everywhere. Ruth is glad Frankie has a “nice guy to take care of [her]” at school (281). Though Ruth insists she’s a feminist “like anyone,” she worries less about Frankie now that she has a boyfriend to “watch out” for her (282). Frankie accuses Ruth of underestimating her.

Frankie realizes that Porter must have printed those emails for Matthew. The Basset hierarchy means Matthew should “control” Porter, but Porter seems unwilling to submit. 

In the next few weeks, the Order steals the Guppy and replaces it with a large plastic basset hound. The ransom note Frankie writes demands the cessation of mandatory meetings in the chapel, arguing that students ought to be able to learn about sports, fundraisers, and dances in the auditorium. Rather than anger Old Boy donors, who love the Guppy, administration concedes, and the Order puts the Guppy in the empty swimming pool inside the old gym. Frankie longs to discuss her “projects” with Matthew because she values his opinion most. She claims it’s “perfect” how the Guppy, a symbol of Alabaster, is found in an old swimming pool because it suggests that the school and its values are obsolete. Matthew hadn’t considered this, but he proceeds to correct her grammar and tells her she’s “thinking too much” (291). Later, he teases her about her error, calls her “adorable,” and wants to make out; she tells him she just remembered something she has to do.

Frankie recalls that she left the twine in the tunnels, and she needs to retrieve it because none of the Bassets will think about it. They need her, she thinks. However, as she follows the twine, she feels lonely rather than superior. Matthew and his friends don’t care about the pranks’ symbolism; they only care about their secrecy and “clubbiness.” They enjoy the thrill of rebellion without risking their privilege, unwilling to upset the status quo. 

When Frankie feels the twine slacken, she realizes someone is at the other end; someone else cared enough to come for it. Frankie moves toward the wall and burns her arm on a steam pipe. Emerging from the tunnel, she grabs her stuff and runs into the library. When she sees guards preparing to enter the basement, she asks what’s going on. They reference the recent campus “vandalism,” calling Frankie “little lady” and telling her not to worry her “pretty head” about it (299).

Frankie’s burn is bad; it is the second burn she sustained on the Order’s behalf. She runs it under a cold shower, overhearing Trish tell Star that Alabaster is bringing in security experts to figure out who is perpetrating the pranks. When Frankie goes to her room, she tells Trish she fell into the pond, but Trish knows she’s lying.

The guards find Alpha in the tunnel. The Order’s history book fell out of Frankie’s coat pocket when she fled, and its presence incriminates Alpha further. The next day, Frankie goes to the infirmary, and Matthew visits her. She tells him he underestimates her, which he denies. She tries to get him to tell her about the Order and its role in the pranks. Instead, he says Alpha is responsible; he was found in the tunnel, and he’s being expelled. Frankie is shocked, but Matthew claims the board sees Alpha as “expendable” because he’s on scholarship. Matthew says the headmaster questioned Matthew and the other members, but they don’t know anything: Frankie knows this is a lie. He says Porter turned over their emails as evidence. 

Frankie realizes Matthew will never tell her the truth; worse, he would never suspect her of orchestrating everything. So, she confesses, explaining that she wanted to prove that she’s as smart as they are. However, Matthew tells her she’s “sick” and can’t believe she lied. When she counters that he lied, too, he excuses it as “being loyal” to his friends. He blames her for Alpha’s expulsion, and she argues that Alpha could have told the Order that he didn’t write the emails. She says that Matthew could tell administration about his role in the pranks. He calls her “crazy,” and she points out that he thought it was “brilliant” when he thought Alpha was responsible. Matthew leaves to turn her in.

Matthew reports Frankie, and she’s called to Headmaster Richmond’s office. He requests Frankie’s letter of confession. Zada knows Senior will be irate, and Frankie wonders if he’ll remove her from Alabaster. Although she hates its panoptical nature and patriarchal values, she also wants the power she’ll have as an Alabaster alum. Zada suggests that “Bunny” needs to be on medication and to talk to a counselor. 

On her way to class, Frankie sees Porter, who says he didn’t know she was responsible when he turned in the emails. He still wants to protect her. He admits he was a spy; he was supposed to keep an eye on Alpha, as Richmond knew he could cause trouble. Alpha has a long rap sheet of rule infractions. Richmond knew Porter was failing biology, and he said he could make the problem go away if Porter agreed to help him. Richmond didn’t know about the Bassets until Porter joined, which wasn’t hard because his father and older brother were members. Porter says the boys are “clubby” and “old school,” and they always bothered him. He tells Frankie she was “brilliant.”

The narrator claims Frankie is like a neglected positive—an unappreciated mind inside a body that gets all the attention. She doesn’t get expelled, but she and Alpha are put on probation. Frankie knows an Alabaster education and connections are too valuable to give up, though Matthew and his friends are lost to her. Her family doesn’t know how to treat her now. 

Over winter break, Alpha emails Frankie. He’s angry, but he also recognizes her “genius.” He says he took credit for the pranks because they were “brilliant.” He realizes he significantly underestimated her, but he doesn’t think she’s a “nice person.” Frankie wonders if impressing him was her actual goal all along. She decides she retains more power by not responding to his email.

Frankie realizes she doesn’t need to be liked. Ruth and Zada insist she attend counseling to deal with her “aggression.” The narrator calls Frankie an “off-roader” who longs to disrupt the social order. People who do this often “go crazy” because the world tells them they are wrong; if they give up, then that can drive them “insane.” The narrator recognizes Frankie’s privilege, which will open doors for her, and the narrator hopes Frankie will successfully open the closed doors she tries. For now, she behaves as people hope she will. 

One day, Frankie overhears the Bassets planning another party, and part of her wishes she could go. She calls to Matthew, who clearly wishes to avoid her. She offers to return his T-shirt, but he feigns forgetfulness and tells her to keep it; she realizes he’d rather lose the shirt than interact with her. Ultimately, she feels it’s better to be alone than be with someone who can’t understand her.