58 pages 1 hour read

Salma El‑Wardany

These Impossible Things

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Chapters 5-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5 Summary: “Jenna”

Two months later, Jenna is at a meeting of the university’s drama club, rehearsing her lines as Catherine for an upcoming production of Wuthering Heights. The director is so impressed with Jenna’s acting that she jokes that Jenna should abandon her dreams of being a doctor and switch to acting instead. Jenna is flattered but insists acting is only a hobby. She and Ola, her Black costar who is playing Heathcliff in the play, walk to the parking lot together after rehearsals; they flirtatiously banter about their ongoing sexual relationship. Jenna invites Ola inside her car; they kiss, and Ola uses his fingers to make her orgasm.

Afterward, Jenna is pleased about her sexual encounter with Ola, and she wants to tell Malak and Kees about it. However, after Malak and Kees’s argument at the engagement party, the two of them no longer speak to one another, and their group chat has gone unused. Jenna idly swipes to a message from Mo, who continues messaging her even though she shows vague, intermittent interest. She sees her parents kiss as they watch a movie, and she thinks that their relationship is admirable. Inspired by this, Jenna agrees to another date with Mo, even though she concedes to herself that she isn’t attracted to him.