Back on the bus, heading home for Christmas break, Cash and Delaney have an opportunity to talk about how school has tested their friendship. Delaney thinks Vi’s rejection of him may impact their friendship, telling Cash, “Maybe you should write a poem about how awesome I am to take your mind off your pain” (286).

Back in Sawyer, Cash feels oddly out of place. Christmas itself is quiet and peaceful, but Cash is aware of how much worse his grandfather seems. Because Delaney’s mother, still experiencing opioid addiction, has left town with a new lover, Delaney spends most of the break with Cash and his grandparents. They talk about their new lives, the school, their new friends, and that trip to New York.

Before heading back to Connecticut, Cash and Delaney paddle a canoe down the Pigeon River on one of “those tranquil days when the river reflects the brisk blue of the December sky” (291). Delaney counsels Cash to move on from Vi. She makes a reference to how she has lived with “unreturned love” (290), but Cash does not pick up on her hint. All Cash thinks is how great it would be to someday have a girlfriend just like Delaney.