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Hey! I read ahead a little, but I want the stuff we’re talking about here to be fresh in my mind, so I didn’t go too far lol.

Matt, Jesse, and Dickie do have an interesting relationship. Matt genuinely became friends with them and is attracted to Jesse from the start, but because everyone around him looks down on them that mindset rubs off on him. Like he knows Earl’s a bad choice for Jesse, and we see why in the flashback chapters, but why does he assume that no one else can change for the better, and that Jesse can’t possibly be making the right choice because it’s not him? He doesn’t seem to respect her very much.

And I’m sure the book will get to this, but where has he been this whole time? It’s lame that he only shows up now. If he’s so sure, why didn’t he try to fix things a long time ago?

Matt likes them, but he does start to feel a little important and good, just because he stands up for them when other people don’t. So he’s unconsciously ruining his chances with Jesse since she’s never going to appreciate being pitied and belittled.

And Dickie seems more easy-going, so he doesn’t mind as much and just brushes it off, but the two of them haven’t talked in a long time either, and in these chapters we can start to see why. Matt introduces them to the library, but he does it with some snooty, cheesy lines about “going anywhere”. He feels better than them. He denies it, but he acts it out a lot.

I’m really curious about what will happen in these next chapters. I wonder if Matt learns to get over himself, and if the story comes to a happy conclusion or not.

Thanks @daeus-lamb for the discussion!