Chapter 14

What happened to Matt Donaghy? Can it be that he is starting to become a second Ugly Girl, an Ugly Boy? He used to love his parents and now he is starting to hate them, also, he deliberately avoids his “friends” or other pupils and doesn’t want to join group activities... You could say the same about Ugly Girl!
Another similarity is, that both Ursula and Matt want to have hearts as cold and unemotional as stone, protecting them from being vulnerable to disappointments. Matt even blames his erstwhile friends for making him do this: If they had treated him more warm-heartedly, he would not be like that.

“When you feel such total disgust with the world,” (p.103, l.12)

“One thing you don’t want to do, Big Mouth. Bring Alex down to your level of existence” (p.103, l. 14)

When I read these sentences, I was actually quite shocked! Is he now really going to massacre people? In such an unstable state, a normally rather unimportant issue can let you snap and do things you will regret for a life time. Matt doesn’t seem to cope with the fact, that his reputation is no longer the same. The “misunderstanding” still burdens on him, making him face the cautious behaviour of the students and his “friend” Mr. Steiner disapproving of his article... I think you can already see the negative implications: Not only did he resign from his beloved vice presidency; he also left the “Rocky River Run”.
Someone needs to help this boy, or his personality will be ruined by his depressions and “inky black moods”. Hopefully Ugly Girl, who has learned to handle those feelings, can rescue him!