The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Crying Fight

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age epistolary novel by American writer Stephen Chbosky. It was first published by Pocket Books on February 1, 1999.

(pdf here)

Set in the early 1990s, the novel follows Charlie, an introverted teenager, through his freshman year of high school in a Pittsburgh suburb.

Charlie, the 15-year-old protagonist, begins writing letters about his own life to an unknown recipient. In these letters he discusses his first year at high school and his struggles with two traumatic experiences: the suicide of his only middle-school friend, Michael Dobson, and the death of his favorite aunt, Helen.  

His English teacher, who encourages Charlie to call him Bill, notices Charlie's passion for reading and writing, and acts as a mentor by assigning him extracurricular books and reports. Wikipedia

The first letter in The Perks of Being a Wallflower:

September 7, 1991 

Dear friend, 

I do not like high school. The cafeteria is called the “Nutrition Center,” which is strange. 

There is this one girl in my advanced English class named Susan. In middle school, Susan was very fun to be around. She liked movies, and her brother Frank made her tapes of this great music that she shared with us. 

But over the summer she had her braces taken off, and she got a little taller and prettier and grew breasts. Now, she acts a lot dumber in the hallways, especially when boys are around. And I think it’s sad because Susan doesn’t look as happy. 

To tell you the truth, she doesn’t like to admit she’s in the advanced English class, and she doesn’t like to say “hi” to me in the hall anymore. When Susan was at the guidance counselor meeting about Michael, she said that Michael once told her that she was the prettiest girl in the whole world, braces and all. Then, he asked her to “go with him,” which was a big deal at any school. 

They call it “going out” in high school. And they kissed and talked about movies, and she missed him terribly because he was her best friend. It’s funny, too, because boys and girls normally weren’t best friends around my school. But Michael and Susan were. Kind of like my Aunt Helen and me. 

I’m sorry. “My Aunt Helen and I.” That’s one thing I learned this week. That and more consistent punctuation. 

I keep quiet most of the time, and only one kid named Sean really seemed to notice me. He waited for me after gym class and said really immature things like how he was going to give me a “swirlie,” which is where someone sticks your head in the toilet and flushes to make your hair swirl around. He seemed pretty unhappy as well, and I told him so. 

Then, he got mad and started hitting me, and I just did the things my brother taught me to do. My brother is a very good fighter. “Go for the knees, throat, and eyes.” And I did. And I really hurt Sean. And then I started crying. And my sister had to leave her senior honors class and drive me home. 

I got called to Mr. Small’s office, but I didn’t get suspended or anything because a kid told Mr. Small the truth about the fight. “Sean started it. It was self-defense.” And it was. I just don’t understand why Sean wanted to hurt me. I didn’t do anything to him. I am very small. That’s true. But I guess Sean didn’t know I could fight. 

The truth is I could have hurt him a lot worse. And maybe I should have. I thought I might have to if he came after the kid who told Mr. Small the truth, but Sean never did go after him. So, everything was forgotten. 

Some kids look at me strange in the hallways because I don’t decorate my locker, and I’m the one who beat up Sean and couldn’t stop crying after he did it. 

Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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