Samantha is in a session with Sue. It is a month since Samantha tried to give AJ her apology poem, and Sue asks how things are going with her friends. Samantha reports that things are better in some ways, but different. Ever since Poet’s Corner, Samantha has been distancing herself from the Crazy Eights in subtle ways: “I’m quieter during lunch. Last Saturday night, I skipped a party and went to the movies with my family instead. I’ve been hanging out with Paige after school, taking her to gymnastics practice, helping her with her homework” (97). Samantha also reports to Sue that she and Caroline are still friends, and how that bond is strengthening as the days wear on: “I like writing with her. When I can’t figure out how to articulate what I want to say, she seems to have the perfect words. And we talk, you know? Really talk about things” (99). Although she does not immediately tell Sue, Samantha recalls during her session how she is consumed by thoughts of AJ. She thinks about him frequently and has even changed the route she takes to her third period class so that she is more likely to run into him.