Avery prepares for the summer’s-end Plus-One Party in Littleport, Maine. Her friend Luciana (Luce) arrives as the party is well underway; Parker, her boyfriend, dropped her off and went to park their car down the street. Avery asks if Parker’s sister Sadie, their mutual friend, came with them, but Luce says Sadie was still packing her things when they left. When Parker finally arrives, he tells the two women that Sadie told him not to wait for her, which is “Sadie-speak for not coming” (8).

Avery recalls that Sadie visited her earlier that day and wonders what she was dressed up for if she is not attending the party. Avery tries to text Sadie but gets no response. At midnight, two police officers arrive and ask to speak to Parker. The officers found Sadie’s body on the nearby Breaker Beach. Parker, Avery, and Luce immediately leave the party and head to the scene themselves. Upon arriving, Avery sees an officer’s flashlight catch the shine of Sadie’s gold sandals.

A year later, Avery reminisces on the days immediately after Sadie’s death. The official cause of death was drowning, and the fact that Sadie stopped to unstrap her shoes and leave them behind made the officers think that her death was not an accident.