Winger

In the first named chapter of the section, Ryan Dean tells the reader that from here on out, there won’t be any of the comics, illustrations, poems, or notes that have been incorporated into the narration thus far. In this last section of the book, it will be only text without visual artifacts.

Ryan Dean wakes up the next morning, a Friday, with everything seeming normal, although he’s still a little rattled by the atmosphere in the dorm the night before. He’s also depressed about the thought of staying on campus all weekend while his friends will be gone at their parents’ houses.

Joey isn’t in Calculus class, the first chance Ryan Dean would normally have had to see him. Ryan Dean wants to try and catch up with Joey before the other leaves to go home for the weekend. Meanwhile, Megan keeps flirting with Ryan Dean, telling them how much she enjoyed their sensual dancing the night before, which agonizes Ryan Dean. 

Ryan Dean tells Annie how sad he is that she’ll be gone that weekend, adding that he wants to talk with Joey before he leaves. He tells Annie he’ll walk her out to the meetup area for the students leaving, since Joey should be there.

Ryan Dean walks Annie to the meetup for the students leaving campus, where Kevin says that Joey never came back to their room the night before. Ryan Dean is worried, because he last saw Joey apparently heading back to the dorm. Kevin, however, brushes off Joey’s disappearance because Joey once ran away from school for three days. To add to Ryan Dean’s uneasiness, Kevin tells him that Casey and Nick got into an altercation with Joey at the dance. He also says that Casey and Nick got drunk the night before, trashed O-Hall, and spent all night cleaning up the mess so the chaperones wouldn’t find out. Ryan Dean is still worried as he watches his friends drive away.

As school officials realize that Joey is missing, they call the police, who question Ryan Dean about when he saw Joey the night before. Then the officers question Ryan Dean about his own sexuality and relationship with Joey, which angers him. He’s upset because some people assume that because Joey is gay, the only way for another boy to relate to him is romantically—as he asks Chas in the next chapter, “‘Can’t Joey have any friends without it being about [sex/romance]?’” (424).

The only O-Hall residents still on campus, Ryan Dean and Chas awkwardly watch TV with Mr. Farrow for the evening. After they go back to their room, Ryan Dean, tired of the uneasy silence between him and Chas, asks Chas about his breakup with Megan. Chas gets slightly more vulnerable during their conversation, saying that Megan broke up with him. The ice between them begins to break because of this talk, although Ryan Dean is still annoyed by Chas. 

Ryan Dean awakens early the next morning to get some breakfast from the cafeteria. While he’s out, Ryan Dean sees a huge search party of police, civilians, and school officials looking for Joey, and he convinces Chas to come out and help him search too. The two boys look through the woods at several places where Pine Mountain boys frequent but don’t find anything. During the search, Ryan Dean asks Chas if he really considers him a wimp, and Chas replies that he actually thinks Ryan Dean is tough and scrappy. 

Later that day, the search party finds Joey’s body in the woods close to campus. He’s naked, tied to a tree, and beaten to death.

Shocked by Joey’s death, Ryan Dean struggles to express himself adequately.

In the aftermath of Joey’s death, Ryan Dean becomes withdrawn and stops speaking to anyone. He and Annie silently spend time together, and her presence is such a comfort to him that he tells his parents he wants to stay at Pine Mountain, even though they want to pull him out after the events surrounding Joey’s death. Annie’s parents come down to campus to visit Ryan Dean and Annie, and since her mom is a psychologist, she helps him work through his grief.

O-Hall is shut down after school officials determine that Mr. Farrow and Mrs. Singer were negligent in their supervision of the boys. Ryan Dean is moved into the standard boys’ dorm with Kevin and Chas. The three form a new dynamic with each other, reconfiguring their friend group to include Seanie and JP, who play poker with them every Sunday. The “consequence” element of the game has been taken away, however, to Ryan Dean’s relief. Despite JP’s prediction that his friendship with Ryan Dean is damaged beyond repair, Ryan Dean feels optimistic that the two might be friends again before they leave Pine Mountain.

Ryan Dean and Annie fly to her parents’ house for Thanksgiving. Ryan Dean continues to be entranced by her and is openly her boyfriend to her parents. Ryan Dean concludes that relationships are more about love than sex. 

Ryan Dean reflects on his ability to write when he wasn’t able to talk about the events that led up to Joey’s death. He also reflects on stereotypes and simplistic labels people face, including his own young age and Joey’s identity as a gay person.