But I managed to get out of Unit 113 before I let go any more unrestrained, pleasant chitchat with Sam Abernathy. I jogged off, away from the boys’ dorm on the trail along the lake. The rain felt like a stranger sneezed cold spit-mist on me, and I was feeling a little guilty (and spit on), thinking about how guilty Annie would make me feel for being so mean to Sam Abernathy, which would probably make him feel sad if he had any clue about how I felt about everything. That’s a lot of feeling going on there. Look: It’s not like the Abernathy was a bad guy. That’s what I said to myself, at least. What everyone—Sam Abernathy included—just couldn’t understand was the simple fact that Ryan Dean West was not going to make friends with anyone else this year. What’s the point in friendship? When bad things happen to your friends, it hurts worse than if it was your own heart breaking. So it was a matter of practicality. Dominic Cosentino obviously understood that. That’s why he treated me like a piece of shit, which was an entirely appropriate reaction to my own over-the-top-Sam-Abernathy-give-myself-an-excited-little-TSE-tug-and-let-me-be-your-best-pal idiocy.
