Normal Guys Walk with Pretty Girls Who Giggle
- At lunch, Karl meets up with Larry O'Grary, who is super weird but somehow has managed to not end up in the Madman Underground. They take a seat and start talking about what's up with Paul and why he won't talk to them.
- Karl has decided that in contrast to his original plan, avoiding his best friend isn't going to make him appear normal. Instead, he's decided to figure out what Paul's deal is and fix things as soon as possible.
- Paul totally ignores Karl and Larry and goes outside to eat, though. Meanwhile, Larry runs his mouth for the entirety of lunch about sci-fi novels.
- Karl finally can't take it anymore and tells him he's going to the library and isn't hungry; as a result, Karl spends the rest of the afternoon starving.
- On the way home, he meets up with Marti. Like all Madmen, Marti has a story of her own. Her dad is a genius and because he thinks genius is genetic, he's sent her to genius schools her whole life.
- Marti, however, hasn't become a genius. She's just become neurotic and stressed out and finally had a nervous breakdown. As a result, she's now giving a regular, non-genius school a try.
- Karl explains the relatively complex social structure of Lightsburg High to her. Here's the short version: It's all about the clubs that start with F.
- Anyway, there's a first-day-of-school dance that night, and Marti asks Karl if he will ask her to dance with him just so people will see that she isn't a total loser. Karl is cool with this—after all, if she didn't have braces, she'd have a pretty nice smile.