he had gotten a typewriter finally ( and by then there was n't much else left over for him ; amy was in high school , national honor society , cheerleader , dramatics club , debate society , straight a 's , the braces had come off her teeth and her very best friend in the world was frannie goldsmith ... and her brother 's baby fat had not yet departed although he was thirteen years old , and he had begun to use big words as a defense , and with a slowly blooming horror he had begun to realize what life was , what it really was : one big heathen cooking pot , and he was the missionary alone inside , being slowly boiled ) .