Gideon learns that his mother is getting remarried. To escape his home, he goes to see Kylie and challenges her to a game of chess. They bet $10 on the winner, but really it’s a test to see if their friendship is still alive. Kylie wins, and they go for a walk. Gideon tells her about his new family and says he’ll have to move to a new school, but Kylie doesn’t think it will impact their friendship. The next day, the Owenses are planning to visit the aunts, but Gillian refuses to go. Although Kylie knows every step of their journey, she has the distinct feeling it will never happen. She begins to feel as though she’s hitting a crossroads in her own journey and is approaching adulthood.

Meanwhile, Gary Hallet has arrived in town from Arizona, a place where there is more lightning than anywhere else in the world. He knows two people who were struck by lightning and lived. One was his grandfather. Previously, Gary’s grandfather had been an alcoholic, but after the lightning strike he remained sober for life. He became Gary’s legal guardian after his parents’ deaths. Gary is working as an investigator and looking into the deaths of the teenagers who bought drugs from Jimmy.