Houston, Junior Year (pp.175-180) Summary

One day Steve and Alan pick up Sarah from the airport for a brief visit. When they return home Steve watches incredulously as he sees Alan smile at Sarah. When he later comments about his father smiling, Sarah tells Steve that he also makes their father happy, though Steve disagrees.

Later, Steve attends the story-writing awards ceremony with Waters. At the ceremony, a newspaper publisher reads Steve's essay out loud in its entirety. On the way home from the ceremony Steve asks Waters about becoming a better writer, and Waters suggests writing from experience, noting that, for example, Steve would probably not be able to write convincingly about love until after he had his heart broken. The next day Steve sees a newspaper clipping hanging from the refrigerator - it is a photograph of him...