Stephen King: Carrie pp. 100-169

Poor old Tommy Ross. The White Knight (no pun intended re. Carrie White) of Stephen King's first novel. Not only is he popular, he's dating the most eligible girl in school. But when she asks him to, instead of taking her to the prom that he ask Carrie White, the misfit loner with the religious crackpot mother, he does so with little discourse. He treats Carrie with respect and with charm, and does everything to help make her prom experience the best it can be. Of course in 'real life novels' the White Knight always ends up with the princess and they live happily ever after. but this is a White Knight in a Stephen King novel, and though it is his first published novel, we learn very quickly that the White Knight in his stories can invariably end up in far worse shape. And so it befalls for Tommy Ross, who does everything that an upstanding young man can do to please his girlfriend and try to bring out the misfit into the community, and he is taken out by a milk pail full of pig's blood that cracks his skull and ends his life. Well played Mr. King.

The Chris/Billy relationship moves through several significant stages rather swiftly, with each more or less believing they are in control of what is occurring. The few days that separate Billy's thoughts that he would do anything for Chris - even kill, while he is collecting the pig's blood...

"Billy said nothing, but of course it was not for Freddy Over-lock, who was an asshole. It was for Chris Hargensen, just as everything was for Chris, and had been since the day she swept down from her lofty college-course Olympus and made herself vulnerable to him. He would have done murder for her, and more."
Excerpt From
King, Stephen. “Carrie.” Random House, Inc., 1974-08-15T07:00:00+00:00. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright. 

... to where he is already ready to move on from the relationship just a few days later as they are about to put their plan into action at the prom - no doubt all come down to the fact that between the two events, Chris sleeps with him for the first time.

"He wondered how long she would last. Maybe not long after tonight. Somehow it had all led to this, even the early part, and when it was done the glue that had held them together would be thin and might dissolve, leaving them to wonder how it could have been in the first place. He thought she would start to look less like a goddess and more like the typical society bitch again, and that would make him want to belt her around a little. Or maybe a lot. Rub her nose in it."
Excerpt From
King, Stephen. “Carrie.” Random House, Inc., 1974-08-15T07:00:00+00:00. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright. 

Ah, you see? The boy has gotten what he wanted, and now golden exterior has been washed away and exposed the girl's real personality, and he's ready to run away. Just a typical male reaction, right girls?
... or...
The boy does everything the girl wants from him, but now he sees that split personality, the psychotic to the meek, and he knows that somehow he has to get away.

I guess it depends on how you read it.

So I got through this part, and things have begun to happen at the prom. Unexplained, terrible things. And Sue has sensed the terror building, and left her home where she has been holed up for the evening, and head into town. The final paragraph I read before putting the book down and going to sleep last night was this:

"She saw the man on the police-station steps cup his hand around his mouth and scream something; unclear over the shrieking town whistle, the fire sirens, the monster-mouth of the fire. Sounded like: “Heyret! Don't hey that ass!” The street was all wet down there.
The light danced on the water. Down by Teddy's Amoco station. “—hey, that's—”
And then the world exploded."

Excerpt From
King, Stephen. “Carrie.” Random House, Inc., 1974-08-15T07:00:00+00:00. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright. 

The perfect place to end, until I can return, almost like the end of a TV episode, when you have to wait until the following week for the next instalment.