Opening
Sam’s world tilts in two directions at once: his friendship with Mickie Kennedy deepens through honesty and hurt, while a secret, intoxicating affair with Donna pulls Samuel 'Sam' Hill into secrecy and shame. These chapters entwine sexual awakening with vulnerability, testing loyalty, identity, and the difference between love and use.
What Happens
Chapter 66: Betty Boobs
On the way to the movies, Sam and Mickie stop at his father’s pharmacy. Inside, Sam freezes when he spots Donna watching them from behind the counter. Mickie, teasing, says she might “jump into his lap,” and a panicked Sam blurts, “We’re just friends,” baffling both his father and Mickie. As they leave, Donna calls him “Sport,” their private nickname that signals a clandestine connection. In the car, Sam asks Mickie to scoot over, and she immediately deduces he’s crushing on Donna—who she dubs “Betty Boobs.” Sam snaps back with a mean jab about Mickie’s reputation.
Mickie demands he pull over. Their argument explodes onto the sidewalk until Sam, contrite, apologizes again and again. Tears spill as Mickie finally reveals why she’s been clinging to the Hills’ household: her parents are divorcing, the fighting is constant, and Sam’s home is the one quiet place she can breathe. The confession softens everything. Sam comforts her; they reconcile. Before they head into the movie, Mickie warns him to be careful with Donna. Afterward, Mickie surprises him with a kiss on the cheek and an “I love you,” affirming the depth of their bond.
Chapter 67: A Ride Home
Back at the pharmacy, Sam starts his delivery route with Mickie’s family crisis weighing on him. He contrasts her turmoil with his own parents’ imperfect but steadfast home, a quiet testament to Parental Love and Sacrifice. The thought that he missed his best friend’s pain makes him ache with guilt.
Donna interrupts his spiral by asking for a ride home after work—she says she’s still “grounded.” The request lingers in Sam’s mind all afternoon.
Chapter 68: Behind the Backstop
Sam delivers prescriptions while fantasizing about the drive with Donna. When the time comes, she slips into the passenger seat, asks him to put the top up, and directs him not to her house but to a secluded spot behind the high school’s baseball backstop. Privacy established, Donna takes over—kissing him hard, guiding his hands, unbuttoning her sweater and bra. She makes him say aloud what he wants to see and touch, reversing the power so he has to ask for permission.
Overwhelmed by the intensity and his inexperience, Sam climaxes when she touches him. Shame and electricity flood him at once.
Chapter 69: The Best Is Yet to Come
Sam stammers apologies, mortified, but Donna soothes him: she likes knowing she turns him on. “We can try again Monday,” she says, framing their time together as repeatable sessions rather than dates. Before he drops her off, she imposes rules—total secrecy, especially from Mickie and Ernie Cantwell. If he brags, she says, it’s over.
Her goodbye—“the best is yet to come”—hooks Sam completely. He leaves dazed, already counting the hours until Monday.
Chapter 70: Personal Vibrator
On Monday, Sam loses his virginity to Donna in the front seat of the Falcon. The moment feels “slightly anticlimactic,” and Donna slips into teacher mode, promising to help him “learn to last longer.” Weeks turn into months of secret meetups, always hidden, always in the car. When Sam reaches for a real relationship—public dates, simple acknowledgments—Donna deflects with excuses about her strict father, studying, or prom plans with girlfriends.
Confused and lonely, Sam breaks his promise and tells Mickie. She is blunt: Donna is “using you as her personal vibrator.” She points out the power imbalance, the manipulative secrecy, the age gap, and urges Sam to issue an ultimatum—go public or end it. She even worries he could get a disease. Deep down, Sam admits to himself the real reason for secrecy is his red eyes and lifelong fear of being seen, the burden of Overcoming Otherness and Prejudice. Still, the physical closeness keeps him captive. Mickie’s final line lands with dread: “This is not going to end well, Sam.”
Key Events
- Sam and Mickie argue publicly; she reveals her parents’ impending divorce.
- Their friendship strengthens through apology, comfort, and an “I love you.”
- Donna initiates a secret sexual relationship in the Falcon; Sam loses his virginity.
- Donna enforces secrecy and control; Sam becomes emotionally dependent.
- Mickie confronts Sam about the manipulation and predicts heartbreak.
Character Development
The section pushes each character to a threshold: Sam steps into sexuality without emotional safety, Mickie exposes her pain and protects him anyway, and Donna’s control crystallizes into a pattern.
- Sam Hill: Stumbles through the vulnerable edges of a first sexual relationship, craving validation over clarity. He longs for love but settles for secrecy, evidence of a fragile Coming of Age shaped by shame.
- Mickie Kennedy: Drops her fearless facade to reveal a turbulent home; her honesty anchors her bond with Sam. As his truth-teller, she names the danger and draws boundaries he can’t.
- Donna: Exercises calculated control—dictating when, where, what’s said, and who knows. Her intimacy is transactional, built on power rather than care.
Themes & Symbols
These chapters braid the tension between The Power of Friendship and the allure of physical intimacy without trust. Mickie and Sam’s relationship runs on candor, mutual care, and risked vulnerability; their street-corner fight and reconciliation demonstrate how love steadies in full daylight. Donna and Sam operate in the dark, where desire thrives but security does not—a secrecy that erodes self-worth.
As Sam navigates Coming of Age, he learns that sex and love are not synonyms. His willingness to be hidden reveals the lingering force of prejudice in his life, not just from others but internalized. Familial steadiness—rooted in Parental Love and Sacrifice—stands as the counterpoint, the quiet model of what real care looks like.
Symbols:
- The Falcon: A moving confessional and a cage—freedom on wheels that becomes a hidden room where their relationship is reduced to the physical.
- The Backstop: A literal screen blocking the public gaze, mirroring the emotional barriers that keep Sam and Donna’s connection from entering the world.
Key Quotes
“We’re just friends.” Sam blurts this in panic, distancing himself from Mickie to hide his crush on Donna. The line exposes his fear of being seen and foreshadows how he’ll keep other relationships compartmentalized to protect his secret.
“Sport.” Donna’s private nickname signals intimacy and control at once. By using it in public, she teases the boundary between secrecy and exposure—on her terms.
“We can try again Monday.” Donna frames intimacy as scheduled practice, not shared romance. The phrasing reduces Sam to a pupil and their connection to repeatable sessions.
“The best is yet to come.” This promise cements Sam’s dependency, turning shame into anticipation. It’s also a lure that keeps him silent and compliant.
“She’s using you as her personal vibrator.” Mickie’s brutal clarity cuts through Sam’s denial. The image is crude but precise, naming the exploitation and urging him toward self-respect.
“This is not going to end well, Sam.” A quiet prophecy and a moral compass in one. It underscores Mickie’s protective love and the inevitable consequence of secrecy and self-erasure.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
This stretch marks a turning point in Sam’s adolescence: he gains sexual experience but forfeits emotional safety. The narrative places Donna’s hidden, rule-bound affair against Mickie’s open, hard-won loyalty to show what love looks like in practice. By exposing her family’s fracture, Mickie becomes the heart of the section, while Sam’s choice to accept secrecy illuminates how otherness shapes desire. These chapters lay the groundwork for his central struggle—learning the difference between being wanted and being loved, and finding the courage to be seen.