22.)

Howard is alone. Howard eats a Hostess Frosted Hunny Bun™ and half a packet of Gushers™. Howard feels hungry. Howard smokes a cigarette. Howard walks to his computer to play the album Something Like Human, by Fuel. Howard feels fucking great. Howard finishes smoking his cigarette. Howard feels a little funny. Howard gets under his blanket and turns the light out. John comes home. Howard smokes pot with John. Howard and John drive to a party. Howard sees someone he knows on the way to the party and yells the person’s name and stops the car and thinks he might have dropped his money and then feels his pocket and realizes he didn’t drop his money. Howard rides the rest of the way to the party. Howard goes inside and drinks beer and liquor. Howard feels fucking great. Howard wants to fuck all the girls at the party. Howard wakes up at eleven AM on a small sofa he remembers having sat on the night before. Howard moves to another small sofa, closer to his friends. Howard doesn’t say anything. Howard walks to the bathroom. Howard feels like puking. Howard tries to throw up. Howard’s friends say they’re going to go to Wendy’s™. One of them asks Howard if he’d like to go. Howard weighs his options. Howard doesn’t answer. Howard’s friends leave. Howard drives his car home. Howard sleeps for four hours. Howard takes a bath. He reads the first article in US Weekly, At Home with Tom Cruise. Howard takes a shower. Howard goes to Super Stop and Shop and buys things for dinner. Howard comes home and goes on MySpace. Then Howard makes dinner and eats it alone. Howard thinks “I wish I had a TV tray so I could watch television while I eat dinner.” Howard leaves his dishes in the sink. Howard listens to the album Master of the Puppets by Metallica and talks to someone on MSN and someone on AIM. Howard feels bored.