As Holling’s family gets ready to go to the formal award ceremony for his father’s Chamber of Commerce Businessman of 1967 award, the freshly plastered ceiling of the perfectly decorated living room collapses. Thankfully, they make it to the ceremony and his father completes his speech “without any hollering and swearing” (132), despite still being red in the face from his anger at the plasterers. Everyone looks at Holling when Holling’s father talks about leaving his business to his son someday, and Holling simply smiles and nods.

On Wednesday, Holling gets his next assignment from Mrs. Baker: Romeo and Juliet. After reading it, Holling decides Romeo and Juliet were quite lacking in common sense. Meryl Lee also reads it, and while they discuss the balcony scene, Holling hears himself ask Meryl to go out with him on Valentine’s Day. At dinner, Holling seeks advice for where to take Meryl with his small savings of $3.78. Holling’s father chuckles a bit when he hears that Holling is taking out Meryl Lee Kowalski, the daughter of Paul Kowalski, his business competitor.

Holling’s predicament about where to take Meryl for Valentine’s is solved when Mrs. Bigio gives him two tickets to see Romeo and Juliet.