Every Last Word

Samantha, also known as “Sam,” is a pretty, brown-haired 16-year-old girl who suffers from OCD. For all intents and purposes, she is regarded as one of the “popular” girls at school. She is part of the clique known as the Crazy Eights, which is a girl group that is considered teenage royalty at Samantha’s high school. When she discovers a new friendship with Caroline, she is divided between the Crazy Eights and the members of Poet’s Corner. Samantha undergoes a transformation, which becomes particularly evident in Chapter 33, when she first stands up for herself and AJ to the Crazy Eights. That transformation is taken to its apex when Samantha ditches the Crazy Eights entirely, in favor of a new life with her boyfriend AJ and the other writerly misfits of Poet’s Corner. While the manifestations of her illness seem innocuous at first, such as needing to adhere to the number three, Samantha must come to terms with her mental instability when she realizes that her friendship with Caroline is a figment of her mind. In finally accepting herself and her illness, Samantha is able to let others, like AJ and the Poet's Corner members, see her true self.