Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain instances and discussions of suicide, self-harm, mental illness, abuse, substance use disorder, and rape.

The first third of the novel comprises Charlie’s fractured recollections of her first week at Creeley Center, a group home for girls who practice various forms of self-harm.

Charlie briefly wakes up in the hospital encased in bandages. Her next memory is being at Creeley. The girls there have nicknamed their therapist, Doc Stinson, Casper because she is “so quiet” (14). Their days are highly regimented, and the girls are forbidden anything that can be used for self-harm. The routine makes Charlie feel simultaneously safe and panicky. When she has an anxiety attack, her roommate, Louisa, whose body is as scarred as Charlie’s and who smells “like strawberries,” comforts her (5). Charlie is unable to speak, and only Louisa accepts her silence.

Charlie has trouble sleeping but refuses sleep aids. She is afraid that “Fucking Frank” will find her and wants to remain alert (25). One night, she wanders to the nurse’s station and writes a note to Barbero, the nurse on duty, asking how long she has been at Creeley. He refuses to answer unless she asks verbally. Increasingly frustrated, Charlie throws a chair and kicks the nurse’s desk, breaking her toe.