Unfriended

Home doesn’t provide Truly with relief, as she can’t pull herself away from her screens. She tells herself not to check her computer or phone, but she inevitably does. She consumes the comments on the photos Natasha posted. Kids from the all-county orchestra think Truly is “stuck up,” ninth-grade girls comment “SMH” and “LOL,” and an older boy thinks Truly is “hot.”

Fed up, Truly throws her phone at her door, catching Henry’s attention. Henry doesn’t feel bad for not having a group of friends. When Truly tells him her friends hate her, Henry replies that they’re not her friends then.

Henry tells Truly about G. Gordon Liddy, the person who primarily planned the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex. The break-ins led to the Watergate scandal and the resignation of President Richard Nixon (1969-1974). Liddy refused to cooperate with investigators and went to jail. Henry claims Liddy would hold a lighter to his palm during parties. People asked how he withstood the pain, and he said the trick was not minding. Henry thinks Truly should try not to mind.