Vanessa is starting her senior year of college at Atlantica. Strane calls, cancelling their plans for the evening. Vanessa is upset at the lost opportunity to be together alone for one last night before her roommate Bridget moves in the following day.

When Bridget arrives, she is anxious to meet Strane for the first time, having imagined Strane according to Vanessa’s descriptions. They move Bridget’s belongings into the apartment, and then Bridget cuts Vanessa’s hair, giving her bangs.

As Vanessa contemplates the start of her last year at college, she realizes that she feels as “dark and deeply bad” (270) now as she did when she was a teenager. She attends the first meeting of her literature capstone class and sees another student who reminds her of Jenny. When Henry Plough, her professor, enters the classroom, he reminds her of a younger version of Strane.

The following weekend, Strane comes to see Vanessa. He notices her new hairstyle, and she notices that he has aged. At her apartment, they smoke pot and drink wine before engaging in sex, and Vanessa refuses to let Strane give her oral sex. He loses his erection. When they continue, Vanessa wants Strange to treat her roughly, but Strane refuses.