Avery and Bett’s email exchanges continue, even though Sam forbids Avery from speaking to Bett, who he believes is a terrible influence. Bett gets her period and feels like she will never get used to it. Avery assures her that she will. Bett tells Gaga and many friends about her period, but not Marlow, who is struggling after the breakup; he pours himself into his work rather than spending time with friends or playing sports. Avery creates a new secret email address with the name “A. Allenberry Bloom” instead of “Avery Bloom.”

Kristina and Gaga lease apartments on the same floor of the same building. As part of the custody battle, a social worker comes to observe Avery spend one day with Kristina and one day with Sam. Kristina acts differently than normal during the visit. She wears beige clothing with no jewelry, scarves, or hats and has posted notes around the house about vitamins and appointments. Rather than going out to eat like usual, they make cookies.

The novel skips ahead two months, and Bett emails Avery on Christmas. Bett’s favorite present was the stuffed dogfish and camp T-shirt Avery gave her. Coincidentally, Bett sent Avery a stuffed owl, as well as a camp T-shirt.