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When it’s time for Charlie to accept his induction, he does so with grace and an uncharacteristic level of lucidity. Watching the livestream at home, Chelsea and her mom are overcome with emotion because they see the Charlie they know and love, not the man who’s been slowly slipping away from them. Simultaneously at the event, Marcus and McTavish cheer for Charlie. When the portable stage is rolled away, they realize Charlie is gone. Frantically, they search the field, finding Charlie exiting through a tunnel under the bleachers. By the time they catch up, Charlie is gone again, and they ask around until a woman tells them he got arrested by campus police for trying to climb a statue.

At the campus security center, Charlie is fine, and Marcus comes face-to-face with the cop from back home. Marcus takes full responsibility for the incident, admitting to McTavish that Charlie’s family didn’t want him to attend the ceremony. McTavish doesn’t understand why Charlie’s loved ones would deprive him of this experience. The cop doesn’t know why—only that it’s what the family wanted. He’ll drive Charlie home in his police cruiser. McTavish says they’ll follow, telling Charlie the day’s over, to which Marcus thinks “truer words had never been spoken” (210).