lly feels. Charlie eventually befriends two seniors, Sam (Emma Watson) and her stepbrother Patrick (Ezra Miller). After a football game, they take him along to a local restaurant and drive him home. Charlie later on dances with them at a high school dance and they invite him to a house party. At the party, Charlie eats a cannabis brownie, unaware of what was in it, and unintentionally gets stoned, amusing people with his clever observations. While stoned, he admits to Sam that his best friend committed suicide the year before. He also walks in on Patrick and Brad, (Johnny Simmons), a popular jock, making out in a room. Sam realizes that Charlie has no other friends, so she and Patrick resolve to make Charlie part of their group. Charlie also agrees to help Sam prepare for her SAT exams to enter her chosen college. On the way home, they drive through a tunnel and Sam stands up in the back of the pickup truck while listening to a song known through the film as "The Tunnel Song" ("Heroes" by David Bowie). During Christmas, the group organise a Secret Santa. Even though Sam was not Charlie's Santa, she still gives him a present, a vintage typewriter. They start talking about relationships: Charlie reveals he has never been kissed, let alone had a girlfriend. Sam opens up and tells him that her first kiss was from her father's boss when she was 11 years old. Sam then tells Charlie that she wants his first kiss to be from someone who loves him and she kisses Charlie. Sam, Patrick and all of their friends take part in acting out The Rocky Horror Picture Show at a theatre, with Sam as Janet and Patrick plays Dr. Frank-N-Furter. As time goes on, Charlie is asked to take part in the show as Rocky when Sam's college boyfriend, Craig, (Reece Thompson) isn't able to make it. Afterwards, an impressed Mary Elizabeth, (Mae Whitman), one of their friends, asks Charlie to the Sadie Hawkins dance and Charlie accepts. After the dance, Mary Elizabeth takes Charlie to her house and they kiss and made out, and she declares how glad she is to have him as her boyfriend. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, Charlie continues to reluctantly be her boyfriend. Mary Elizabeth dominates the relationship, and Charlie grows irritated by her. At a party, they break up during a game of Truth or Dare when Charlie, without thinking, kisses Sam after being dared to kiss the most beautiful girl in the room, and a fallout ensues. Sam was furious at Charlie. Charlie returns sadly to isolation and loneliness after being told by Patrick to stay away while things cooled down. During his isolation from his friends, Charlie has flashbacks of the death of his Aunt Helen, (Melanie Lynskey) who died when in a car accident when he was seven years old. Later, Patrick breaks up with his boyfriend Brad, a popular jock who is in the closet, after Brad's strict father caught them both together and hit his son. At the school cafeteria, Brad calls Patrick a "faggot" as he was trying to prove to everyone that he is not at all friends with Patrick. Patrick is infuriated and attempts to attack him, but Brad's friends beat him up until Charlie intervenes and beats up Brad's friend. Charlie blacks out, waking up to see his bruised knuckles and the boys on the floor. After this, Patrick, Sam, and Charlie reconcile as friends, Mary Elizabeth having since moved on from the breakup and started to date Peter, Craig's friend. Sam breaks up with Craig after finding out he has been cheating on her the entire time. Sam receives her college acceptance letter from Penn State University, which states that she must leave immediately for a summer introductory program. The night before she departs, Sam takes Charlie upstairs where she asks why he never asked her out, and after several heartfelt confessions to each other, they kiss. When she starts to touch him on his thigh, he pulls away gently. Sam asks, "What's wrong?" with Charlie replying, "Nothing" and they laid on the bed making out. In the morning, Charlie says goodbye as Sam and Patrick leave for college, leaving Charlie emotionally shaken and alone again. In a daze, Charlie goes to his empty home, having severe flashbacks of his Aunt Helen and her death. He calls his sister, where he blames himself for the death of his Aunt Helen. His sister (Nina Dobrev) believes he is suicidal and has a friend call the police. Charlie is in the kitchen staring at a large knife, then blacks out as the police are seen bursting through the door. Charlie then wakes up in hospital. The doctor tells his parents that he was sexually abused by his aunt as a child and that he has repressed the memories because he always loved her. Charlie undergoes therapy, recovers and returns home where he is visited by Sam and Patrick. The three go to a diner and Sam explains what life at college is like, and how she's also found "The Tunnel Song" Charlie was searching for. The three of them revisit the same tunnel, where this time Charlie stands in the back of the truck as they drive through.

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