The news article in this chapter captures the story of Amanda Kinney, a custodian at Garvin High who knew Nick outside of school, as the two lived in the same neighborhood. Kinney, who suffered a gunshot wound while hiding students in the janitor’s closet, describes Nick as a good kid.

Dr. Hieler and Valerie have an unproductive session in which Valerie shows up late because she has weekend detention. The session ends early, before her mother arrives to pick her up, so Valerie wanders across the street to a strip mall.

Distracted by an explosion of glitter from one of the stores, Valerie heads toward it, admitting, “Curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to know what kind of spill could look so glorious, so shiny. Spills are usually ugly and messy, not beautiful” (245). Here, she meets Bea, an eccentric artist, who invites Valerie to paint on a canvas. Valerie describes the first swipe with a paintbrush: “The best way I can describe the feeling was that it was miraculous. Or maybe soulful. Or maybe both” (249). Valerie finds the act healing, her problems “dwarfed” by the positive energy and flurry of activity within the story (246).