Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of emotional abuse and explicit sexual content.

As narrator, Cass offers her own perspective on her decision to move to New York with Sidney, and she recalls the night that Sidney discovered her in the café: at the moment Sidney knocks, Cass is replaying her desertion of Amanda over and over in her mind and is overwhelmed with shame. Sidney is the last person she wants to see, and she is annoyed when Sidney ignores her signals and slips into the café. Cass is in such a fragile state that when Sidney asks her what is bothering her, she breaks down. She fights against confiding in Sidney, but she ultimately reveals her whole story. In the aftermath of this torrent of emotion, Cass sees Sidney as a safe place, “like dry land” (92), and when Sidney kisses her and asks her to come to New York, she says yes.

Sidney secretly travels to Bolton Landing to find out more about Amanda and Annie. She visits Mr. Riley, pretending to be a researcher gathering information on local drama programs. During the conversation, she pretends a casual interest in his Twelfth Night poster and asks him about the production.