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The Perks of Being a Wallflower Part 2, Chapter 10 Summary

How It All Goes Down

December 21, 1991

  • It's time to head to Sam and Patrick's house for the final Secret Santa swap. Drumroll please…
  • All the friends sit around and drink brandy and reveal who was whose Secret Santa.
  • For Patrick's final gift, Charlie reads a poem. He doesn't know who wrote it. It's called "A Person, A Paper, A Promise," and you should definitely read it for yourself. 
  • Everyone else exchanges presents.
  • Patrick reveals that he's Charlie's Secret Santa. His final gift? A suit coat. "All the great writers used to wear suits all the time" (2.10.12).
  • Charlie gives everyone a gift, even though they didn't get him anything.
  • His gift to Sam is the most special: a record of the Beatles' "Something" that his Aunt Helen had given him.
  • In response, Sam tells him she loves him. (!)
  • But wait! There's more! She also got him a typewriter. 
  • That clicking on the keys is the noise of Charlie typing to Sam on the blank page, "I love you, too" (2.10.30).
  • Sam wants to know if Charlie has ever kissed a girl. When Charlie says he hasn't, Sam tells him that she wants his first kiss to be from someone who loves him.
  • You'll never guess what happens next. She kisses him.
  • Charlie says that "[i]t was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life" (2.10.43).
  • At the end of the letter, Charlie includes the poem he wrote to Patrick.