Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of emotional abuse and addiction.

In 2011, Ryan describes how uncertain her own sense of identity is becoming. She sees media reports about her supposed romantic relationships with men, and even though she usually learns that these reports were planted by her own people, she is increasingly bothered by the façade. She tells Janie to call Vanity Fair; Ryan is ready to publicly share the truth about her sexuality.

When Amanda is working the desk at her father’s garage, she is pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Riley. His smile makes her feel as if things really are going to get better. Mr. Riley asks her to start coming to the high school to help him with the drama department’s current production—Twelfth Night. She agrees, feeling a mixture of happy excitement and anger, reflecting that, even now, Annie seems inextricably bound up in everything about her life.

Cass collects celebrity gossip magazines, searching them for stories about Ryan. Just before the final film in the Very Last trilogy is supposed to begin filming in Charleston, she discovers the Vanity Fair story in which Ryan reveals to Jake Fischer that she is a lesbian.