Charlie’s social conflict has not found a resolution, and he feels like an outcast. Without his friends, Charlie is now back to existing on the periphery of life:

I wish I could report that it’s getting better, but unfortunately it isn’t. It’s hard, too, because we’ve started school again, and I can’t go to the places where I used to go. And it can’t be like it was. And I wasn’t ready to say good-bye just yet. To tell you the truth, I’ve just been avoiding everything (142).

While at the shopping mall, he sees a little boy who is lost and crying for his mom. An “older kid, who was really tough-looking with a leather jacket and long hair and everything, went up to the little boy and asked him what his name was. The little boy answered and stopped crying” (143). The older kid takes the little boy to the information desk, and the intercom alerts the mother. She shows up and thanks the older kid, but he says, “Next time just watch him a little fucking better” (143). The mom and cashier looked shocked by the older kid’s words, and the little boy asks his mom for French fries.