Chapter 15 is a good place to look for Holden's perceptions of Sally Hayes. Sally is a fellow New Yorker whom Holden has known "for years." Like Holden, she attends a private boarding school. Holden has come to realize that he thinks that Sally is actually "stupid" because she doesn't share his values. His perception of her has been distorted because they "necked so damn much."
When he is hiding out in New York, Holden likely calls Sally because he is lonely. He admits that "she gave me a pain the ass, but she was very good-looking." He makes a date with her to attend a theater matinee, despite his annoyance about the way she speaks and acts. On their date, he tries, and fails, to connect with her. Sally is a conventional girl of her social class and does not understand or recognize Holden's struggles to come to terms with Allie's death, his fear of growing up, and his attempts to forge his own identity.
Sally Hayes is a girl that Holden has been dating on and off for some time. She's a very attractive and well-read young lady, but Holden is as critical of her as he is of just about everyone else. For instance, he calls her "stupid" even though there's no evidence to suggest that she's anything of the kind. Holden's insulting words towards Sally tell us a lot more about him than they do about her. She represents everything he's come to despise. She's bubbly, popular, and entirely at ease with the society in which she moves so effortlessly. This makes her a "phony" in Holden's eyes. He's so alienated from everyone and everything around him that the very idea of someone actually wanting to be part of a social world he hates so much is just something he can't begin to comprehend. So he responds in the only way he knows how: with insults, resentment, and immaturity.
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