Along For The Ride-the end

After reading Along For The Ride I would like to describe how the main character, Auden, changed throughout the book. A little bit of info about Auden is that she just graduated high school and her parents got divorced when she was 16.  Before her parents got divorced they would fight after Auden went to bed and fell asleep so she got used to staying up very late and almost never sleeping. So two years later Auden still never sleeps at night and only focuses on schoolwork.  Auden was so focused on studies that she never hung out with her friends (they weren't really friends just people from her school) and never went to prom or homecoming. When Auden goes to her dad's for the summer many things change about her, mainly because of Eli.

"Maybe in the world of girls, this was supposed to be a turning point. When we saw beyond our initial differences, realized we had something in common after all, and became true friends. But that was a place I didn't know well, had never lived in, and had no interest in discovering, even as a tourist. So I took the checkbook, nodded, and walked out the door, leaving them-as I had so many other groups-to say whatever they would about me once I was gone."(Dessen, 56).  This is a great quote of how Auden had nothing to do with friendships and how she didn't want anything to do with them.  She was just someone who didn't put herself out there and really didn't want to. In the beginning of the quote Auden thinks that she really doesn't know much about the "girl world" for she didn't do that kind of stuff, later in the book this changes very much.

"Then I stood on my tip-toes, bring my lips to his....I smiled at him as I stepped back,then up on my pedals again....'So you don't want me to take you,' he said. 'No,' I replied. 'But I'll meet you there.'" (Dessen, 377).  This is a few pages before the end of the book, and when Eli asks her if she wants a ride he is talking about the fake prom night that is happening for the Summer Bash.  The pedals are pedals of a bike which is a big symbol in the book, and is in the title too.  You can see how Auden changed from being a very independent person to a more extroverted person, and it was mainly because of Eli.  To see what happens between Eli and Auden and how Auden changed so much read the book, its a great read.