Content Warning: This section describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of death and murder, domestic abuse, sexual violence, and drug and alcohol misuse.

Note: The novel moves between two main timelines: The “Before” and “After” chapters describe events leading up to or following Lucy’s disappearance.

In the earlier timeline, Margot, a college student, reflects on how quickly women become friends, thinking about how her mother’s friends told her that college friendships last forever. She thinks that Lucy Sharpe chose her as her best friend. Lucy, Sloane Peters, and Margot sit in a circle, spinning a knife and playing truth or dare, while Nicole Clausen sits away from them, detached. When Margot asks Lucy to pick truth or dare, Lucy grabs the knife. Margot comments that they would do anything for each other.

Some time after the events of the Prologue, Detective Frank is interrogating Margot, Sloane, and Nicole. He asks them when they last saw Lucy. Margot says that they saw her three days ago, and Frank notes that Lucy missed work and class. Nicole tells him that isn’t unusual for Lucy, and Sloane suggests that she probably went out of town with a man for the weekend.