Kate and Merle at Ferris Beach Kate's perspective and understanding of deceptive appearances are strengthened by her meeting and subsequent relationship with Merle Hucks. Kate had gone to school with Merle and had been his neighbor for many years, but she had never known him as anything more than a bully and a Hucks. However, one day Kate finally meets Merle at Mrs. Poole's house and discovers that all her judgments and made-up perceptions of him were based on his appearance and rumors, and were far from the mark. When Kate finally meets Merle, she discovers that he is a very compassionate young man and not at all like what she had judged him to be. His understanding of Merle becomes clear one evening as he watches Dexter, RW, and the rest of the vigilantes rape Perry Loomis. In an attempt to save Perry from the violence unfolding, Merle is brutally beaten by Dexter's companions. Merle's chivalrous behavior shows Kate that he is certainly not one of them; he is different. ` Shortly after the rape, Merle and Kate meet for the first time in Whispering Pines Cemetery to discuss what happened to Perry. The cemetery is significant because it serves as a symbolic refuge where Fulton youth can escape the society around them, explore their minds, and employ their imaginations. Meeting Merle at the cemetery begins her first real relationship with a boy and also confirms the very reality of the rape she witnessed a few nights earlier. The rape expresses the bitterness of the dark side of the society surrounding Kate, which becomes vividly clear to her. Kate's understanding of Merle marks another threshold in her education as she realizes how deceptive appearances can be. When Kate gets a chance to dig beneath Merle's deceptive facade, she discovers that he has a much different character than she ever thought. Kate and Merle are very close to each other when tragedy strikes their lives again, this time with the arson of Merle's house and the murder of her brother Dexter. The tragedy of the Hucks serves as a threshold that provides Kate with a deeper understanding of relationships and the meaning of family. As the drama unfolds in front of the Hucks' house, Kate stays by Merle's side comforting him until he leaves her to take care of his family..