Carrie (2)

by Stephen King

Carrie is home after the 'incident' in the shower and her mother is blaming her daughter, because there are so many ways in which she may have deserved the curse of the blood...

She may have committed the Sin of Lustful Thoughts. She may have been listening to rock 'n roll music on the radio. She may have been tempted by the Antichrist.

We realize that Margaret White is actually scared of her daughter while still trying to keep the upper hand on her. But over the years she must have come to understand what Carrie capable of. She may, however, not get the enormity of the 'talent' Carrie has, she is too delusional and utterly enthralled in her beliefs.

Meanwhile, the girls that had been throwing sanitary pads at Carrie in the shower get punished, but not the punishment Ms. Desjardin had intended - that they all be forbidden to attend the prom. They have to put in extra gym classes...with Ms. Desjardin. Most girls accept it grudgingly. Not so Chris Hargesen, arrogant snob that she is she skips the classes and consequently is expelled from the prom. She sends in daddy for the rescue, who is a lawyer and faces off with principal Henry Grayl in a pretty good scene with threats of lawsuits and counter-lawsuits - with the principal coming out the victor.

Sue Snell, goody two-shoes and half of the high school's golden couple (they all have one of those, don't they?), feels so bad about everything that has transpired that she talks her boyfriend Tommy Ross, pretty grade-A students and jock all at the same time, into taking Carrie White to the prom as a date. And Tommy, nice guy down to the bone, agrees. When he asks Carrie, he is initially surprised that she doesn't look as awful up close as he would have expected.

Chris Hargesen, of course, is not taking any of this sitting down. She is 'going' with Billy Nolan, who had to repeat a class and would 'murder for her'. In many ways he is the anti-Tommy. Attributed to one of his friends (or, one of the boys he runs around with, Billy does not seem like the kind of guy that has friends) is this:

He was not sure he could recall ever having seen Billy Nolan smile before. There had not even been rumors.

She sends her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, and his buddies off to collect pig's blood for the prank that will cost them all so dearly.

From My Name Is Susan Snell (p. 23):
They finally even made a movie about it. I saw it last April. When I came out, I was sick. Whenever anything important happens in America, they have to gold-plate it, like baby shoes. That way you can forget it. And forgetting Carrie White may be a bigger mistake than anyone realizes....

Next up is part two of the book, simply titled 'Prom Night' (part one is called 'Blood Sport'). We all know what's coming.

To be continued...