Isa meets Fatima for the first time when she, Kate, and Thea get off the train at Salten. Isa feels a kinship with Fatima due to her London accent, and the fact that they are both 15 and new at Salten. Isa does not share that her mother is in the hospital and that her distracted father has just sent both Isa and her younger brother, Will, away to boarding school. Fatima’s own parents, both doctors, are doing a year of sadqa in Pakistan. Girls crowd the grounds of Salten House, a tall, formal, edifice painted bright white, relieved only by the black steps of fire escapes. Fatima and Isa learn they are roommates and have a coveted room in isolated Tower Two. Thea and Kate have the room above them.

Back in present time, Isa, Fatima, and Kate share drinks at the Tide Mill. Fatima no longer drinks alcohol and claims not to miss it. Isa says she tries to moderate her alcohol intake now, but it was hard to abstain during pregnancy. Isa is proud that she quit smoking. As Kate rolls her own cigarettes, she admits she has a hard time reconciling the new Fatima and Isa with the memories of her old friends; they look the same, yet things have changed.