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Ellis had been a rare bright spot in Charlie’s past, making her feel special, wanted, and loved. Placing Ellis on a pedestal, Charlie overlooks the fact that Ellis fueled her own addictions, was possessive of Mikey, and put the wolf boy and her own drug use above her friendship with Charlie. Ellis’s lie that the wolf boy’s drugs belong to Charlie leads to Charlie’s homelessness and sexual assault, and Ellis seems to acknowledge the seriousness of her actions when she cuts herself afterwards. This action is calculated to earn Charlie’s sympathy and also place some of the blame on Charlie for setting a bad example. Charlie misses Ellis more than anyone else, and also blames herself for Ellis’s tragic fate. In Charlie’s memory, Ellis remains perfect, forever the beautiful girl who rescued her from high school bullies and desperate loneliness. Over the course of the story, Charlie begins to forgive herself and understand Ellis as a more complex person with her own powerful flaws.
