Empire Falls

“Or else, just possibly, the principal is aware how big a favor it is that he‰ЫЄs asking. He‰ЫЄs been trying to pretend it‰ЫЄs a small, good thing, but they both know better. He‰ЫЄs asking someone on one of the lowest rungs of the high school‰ЫЄs social ladder–a person nearly as friendless as the boy she‰ЫЄs to befriend–to descend to the very bottom of the ladder itself, into the damp darkness where those dwell who have no hope or recourse but to wait patiently for their eventual rescue in the form of graduation (if applicable), college (ditto), a job (in Empire Falls?), marriage (implausible) or death (finally).”