Several years pass. Lynn is now 14 years old and Katie is 10. They go to school together. Lynn earns straight A’s, while Katie gets straight C’s, but her father says this is a sign of consistency and that he is very proud of her.

During a game of dodgeball, a boy accidentally hits Lynn in the chest with the ball, which prompts Lynn to crumple strangely. Katie watches as “She went right to bed and slept through dinner” (62). Lynn misses the entire next day of school. A doctor comes to see her and puts her on iron pills.

Katie notices slight changes in Lynn’s behavior. These are partly driven by Lynn’s new friend from school, Amber. Lynn and Amber try being feminine—or Fuminine as the girls joke, punning on the name of the dainty Aunt Fumi—putting on makeup and walking like fashion models through the house with books on their heads. They whisper together and giggle while they look in the mirror. This for the first time causes some division between Katie and Lynn.

When Lynn and Amber find out that a boy named Gregg and another boy are going to be camping, they want to go to the same campground.