Fast forward to June 5, Laurie’s 23rd birthday. She is awakened by an eager Sarah, who puts her into Pink Lady clothes from the movie Grease. The day is meant to be a surprise, and Laurie realizes “how hard she’s trying to give me a fun birthday […]. Whatever it is she has planned for us today, I need to give her my one hundred percent best” (72). Sarah and Laurie take a train to a surprise destination, where they are greeted by Jack and his friend Billy. Laurie suspects a set-up, but Billy is not her type.

Jack is eager to please the girls on Laurie’s birthday, even though he is a bit embarrassed by their location. The Barnes Common is set up to look like a 1950s American high school, with music from Grease playing and carnival activities spread around. Now months into his relationship with Sarah, Jack reflects, “I’ve always got off on the feeling that I’m running to keep up with her, it keeps me on my toes, but lately she’s sprinting so fast that sometimes I feel like I lose sight of her altogether” (77). As Jack tries to keep up with the exuberant Sarah, Billy suggests to him that he’ll make a move on Laurie.