The Perks of Being a Wallflower

the whole experience in a good way? Because he really liked Sam and didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
    Peter went along with this logic even though he thought it was wrong. At least that’s what he said. But then after the show yesterday, Craig told him that he fooled around with yet another girl the afternoon of the prom. That’s when Peter told Craig that if Craig didn’t say something to Sam, he would. Well, Craig didn’t say anything, and Peter still didn’t think it was his business, but then he overheard Sam at the party. She was talking to Mary Elizabeth about how Craig might be “the one” and how she was trying to think of ways to keep it going long-distance while she was at school. Letters. Phone calls. Vacations. And breaks. That was it for Peter.
    He went up to Craig and said, “You tell her something now, or I tell her everything.”
    So, Craig pulled Sam into his bedroom. They were in there for a while. Then, Sam walked from the bedroom straight out the front door, silently sobbing. Craig didn’t run after her. That was probably the worst part. Not that he should have tried to get back together with her, but I think he should have run after her anyway.
    All I know is that Sam was devastated. Mary Elizabeth and Alice went after her to make sure she was okay. I would have gone, too, but Patrick grabbed my arm to stay. He wanted to know what was going on, I guess, or maybe he figured Sam would be better off with female company.
    I’m glad that we stayed, though, because I think our presence prevented a pretty violent fight between Craig and Peter. Because we were there, all they really did was scream at each other. That’s where I heard most of the details I’m writing to you about.
    Craig would say, “Fuck you, Peter! Fuck you!”
    And Peter would say, “Don’t blame me that you fucked around on her since the beginning! The afternoon of her prom!? You’re just a bastard! You hear me?! A fucking bastard!”
    Things like that.
    When it looked like things were going to get violent, Patrick stepped between the two and, with my help, got Peter out of the apartment. When we got outside, the girls were gone. So, Patrick and I got into Patrick’s car and drove Peter home. He was still seething, so he “vented” about Craig. That’s where I heard the rest of the details I’m writing to you about. Finally, we dropped Peter off, and he made us promise to make sure Mary Elizabeth didn’t think he was cheating on her because he wasn’t. He just didn’t want to be found “guilty by association” with that “prick.”
    We promised, and he went into his apartment building.
    Patrick and I weren’t sure how much Craig actually told Sam. We both hoped he gave her a “soft” version of the truth. Enough to make her stay away. But not enough to make her doubt everything about everything. Maybe it’s better to know the whole truth. I honestly don’t know.
    So, we just made a pact that we wouldn’t tell her unless we found out that Craig made it sound like “nothing big,” and Sam was ready to forgive him. I hope it doesn’t come to that. I hope Craig told her enough to make her stay away.
    We drove around to all the places where we thought we might find the girls, but we couldn’t find them. Patrick figured they were probably just driving around, trying to let Sam “cool off a bit.”
    So, Patrick dropped me at home. He said he’d call me tomorrow when he heard anything.
    I remember going to sleep last night, and I realized something. Something that I think is important. I realized that throughout the course of the evening, I wasn’t happy about Craig and Sam breaking up. Not at all.
    I never once thought that it would mean Sam might start liking me. All I cared about was the fact that Sam got really hurt. And I guess I realized at that moment that I really did love her. Because there was nothing to gain, and that didn’t matter.
    It was hard walking up the steps to Bill’s town house that afternoon because I didn’t receive a phone call all morning from Patrick. And I was so worried about Sam. I called on the phone, but nobody was there.
    Bill looks different without a suit. He was wearing his old graduate school T-shirt. Which was Brown. The school. Not the color. His girlfriend was wearing sandals and a nice flowered dress. She even had hair under her arms. No kidding! They looked very happy together. And I was glad for Bill.
    Their house didn’t have a lot of furniture in it,