Go Ask Alice Chapters 261-270 Summary

Chapter 261: August 2

Alice has a good session with Dr. Miller. He encourages her to learn the other patients' backgrounds because it will be good experience for when she goes into social work.
Alice is nervous, though, to ask the other kids about their experiences.
She is trying to get Babbie interested in reading to get her mind off stuff, like the fact that her parents don't want her anymore so the institution is looking for foster homes.

In this entry, Alice recounts Tom's story, a guy in the men's section of her ward.
Tom is a really likable dude who comes from a good family. Unfortunately, he started sniffing glue and things went downhill fast from there. He got a job at a drugstore so he could afford his habit and ended up stealing a bunch of pills; then he got introduced to smack and began selling drugs at the junior high, and that's how he ended up in the ward.
What disturbs Alice the most, though, is that she can tell he is still really into drugs—like he can't wait to get out and start them up again. Another girl in their group, Julie, is the same way.
Alice is bummed out by the solitary cages, and the "firebug" who is always locked up in them.

Alice gets to go swimming.
On the way back, Margie Ann admits she doesn't want to leave the institution because she'd get caught up in the drug scene right away. In her next breath she proposes that she and Alice run off, because she could find them a mixed bag easily. Okay…

Alice's parents visit again, and they come bearing gifts: a ten-page letter from Joel.
Her dad finally got Jan to sign an affidavit saying that Alice wasn't really pushing drugs at school. Yay.
Now they're working on making Marcie retract what she said, and then Alice will be outta there in no time.

Alice was afraid to read Joel's letter because her Dad filled him in on why she's locked up, but it turns out she shouldn't have been scared—Mr. Perfect is still loving and understanding and blah, blah, blah.

Yay: Alice gets to go home tomorrow, as soon as all the paperwork is taken care of.
But really, it's not that bad—she thinks DT (Detention School) is worse.

Alice is finally home. Everyone is really happy to see her, especially the kitten, Happiness. (Did you remember they had a kitten named Happiness, or were you as confused as we were?)
Her dad is being really sweet, and when he suggests that she go to her room and lie down, Alice is like, oh yeah.

It's 2:00AM and Alice is ecstatic because she is able to pray again. She even prays for Marcie and Jan, which is quite big of her.

A colleague of her dad's had a heart attack, so he is going to fill in for two weeks in a lecture course back East, and they are all going with him. Alice is pretty stoked.