The morning after the house party, Percy gets Joe’s compact disc (CD) in the mail. Joe’s song reminds Percy of indie folk musician Elliott Smith. She is relieved that the song is of decent quality and reaches out to Joe through instant messaging. Percy critiques the song over the absence of a hook and its forced, generic melody, but she praises him for his singing voice and the deftness of the bridge. She suggests swapping the melodies of the verse and the bridge, and Joe is open to this idea. Immediately after logging off, Percy regrets her critical comments and wishes that she could take them back.

She prepares an apologetic speech to give to Joe the next time she sees him. When they meet, Joe tells her that her suggestions worked and that he is making final revisions to the lyrics. When he asks about Percy’s musical background, she claims not to have any musical talent. She admits that she sometimes gets self-conscious over the idea of songwriting and says that the topic of her capabilities is making her anxious. The conversation moves on to Joe’s background, and he shares that he grew up in the Bay Area suburbs; his mom died of melanoma when he was younger.

Joe invites Percy to write a music column for the zine that he and Zoe publish, which is called Ring Finger. Percy buys a copy of the zine’s latest issue and reads Zoe’s work, then decides to contrast her writing against the heaviness that she sees in Zoe’s essay.

At the end of the week, Joe tells Percy that he has finished the song, which is entitled “Somebody Said.” He invites her to his house, wanting to play it for her. A starstruck Percy conveys her elation with the result, and Joe thanks her for her help.

Percy spends the weekend writing her first column for Ring Finger. She starts drafting a piece on “Surf’s Up” by the Beach Boys but finds that she is talking too much about her rebellious preference for her middle name, Percy (which is short for “Persephone”). In the second draft, she tries to argue that “Surf’s Up” is proof that the Beach Boys had punk sensibilities, but she digresses with an aside about her own mother’s punk sensibilities, which manifested in her short-lived classical music career.

In the third draft, she front-loads the essay with a discussion of her mom’s punk sensibilities. One afternoon, Percy’s mother made her listen to “Surf’s Up,” hoping to give her an alternative to the pop punk music of the day. The song instantly transported Percy to a ruined world where she felt wonder, loneliness, and unresolved tension and was powerfully struck with the insight of life’s immensity. Afterwards, she cried to her mother over the song’s beauty.

In the fourth draft, Percy recalls that her mother tried to teach her to play the piano. Percy begged off from her lessons when she realized that she didn’t have the skill or talent for it. Percy later regretted this decision when she attempted to teach herself to play “Surf’s Up” on the keyboard and found herself frustrated by its difficulty. She resigned herself to the belief that she would never write a song as good as “Surf’s Up” and reassured herself that she had the skills to appreciate it, which gave her a way to make music a part of her life.

Now, Percy decides to scrap her essay on “Surf’s Up” altogether and writes about a song that will appeal to college readers: “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One” by Neutral Milk Hotel. In her first draft, she recalls her early obsession with the band. Their music resonated with the resentment she felt next to her overly competent brother, a star athlete. Percy stops the draft as she starts talking about her friend, Sandy.

The next draft begins with Percy describing Sandy. Percy was elated to hear that Sandy expressed her liking for “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One.” Sandy corrected Percy’s interpretation of what “carrot flowers” referred to, which caused Percy to worry about whether people at Berkeley would think she was stupid. Sandy and Percy drifted apart after high school ended. At Berkeley, Percy didn’t meet any other Neutral Milk Hotel fans until she started working at Amoeba Music. Even then, her co-workers didn’t care for her misinterpretation of the lyrics and rarely ever talked about their personal relationships to songs.

Percy stops writing this draft, fearing that it is too vulnerable to publish. She writes a less personal essay about a No Doubt song, burying all the other drafts in an “archives” folder on her computer. Later, she takes another stab at writing about “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One.” This draft recounts that during a work break at Amoeba, her coworker Neil criticized In the Aeroplane over the Sea, provoking Percy’s defense of the album. She then shifted her critique towards Neil, urging him to express how Neutral Milk Hotel’s albums make him feel instead of passing abstract judgment over them. As an older member of Generation X, Neil was naturally skeptical of Percy’s love for authenticity and fun, which motivated his criticism of Neutral Milk Hotel. On one occasion, Neil kissed Percy, and she perfunctorily returned the gesture. He then started introducing Percy as his girlfriend and later tried to take her virginity. She ran away from him in the middle of having sex and soon quit her job at Amoeba.

Joe invites Percy to work on some more songs together. When Percy arrives, she is surprised to hear Joe listening to a hip-hop song— “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy. Joe explains that hip-hop helped him to work through his grief after the death of his mother. He later elaborates that the song was a useful conduit for his anger, allowing him to cope with his father’s alcohol addiction. Percy is surprised to hear Joe describe himself as being full of rage. Joe replies that he has disguised his rage as a cynical version of calm.

Joe admits that he doesn’t have the instinct for improving his songs. Even after Percy denies that she is a songwriter, he asks for her feedback. They spend the night working on his songs, sometimes debating over Joe’s textbook knowledge of music theory. More often than not, Joe concedes to Percy’s suggestions.

At sunrise, he offers to drive Percy home. She nearly falls asleep in the car, but Joe beckons her to talk to him to keep him awake during the drive. He asks her to tell him about her high school experience. Percy explains that she didn’t have many friends growing up because she tended to repel them. Both of her parents worked blue-collar jobs, and Percy spent whatever she earned from her summer jobs on CDs. Joe wonders what made her like music so much. Percy answers that songs “gave [her] a window into a magical life” (35). She believed that if she gave songs enough attention, they would show her the way to live correctly.

Zoe invites Percy to a Ring Finger editorial meeting. Zoe is warm to Percy, having heard many good things about her from Joe. The editorial team has read Percy’s article on “Total Hate ’95” by No Doubt, which argues against performatively disliking the band and instead encourages readers to enjoy the fun of ska music. Two editors are skeptical of the piece, stating that it feels too mainstream and corporate for the zine. Zoe defends Percy’s work, calling it flippant in a way that matches the zine’s energy.

Percy stays in Berkeley instead of flying home to Indiana for Thanksgiving. She spends most of her time working on new columns for Ring Finger, layering in sociopolitical commentary to deepen her discussion. After Thanksgiving, Zoe and Joe invite Percy to visit the suburb where they grew up. Zoe admits that she gave “Total Hate ’95” another try and still hated the song, which Percy mocks. When Zoe calls her annoying, Percy becomes self-deprecating. Zoe reassures her that being annoying is not the same as being hated. Percy acknowledges that she is at her best when she is being annoying about music.

Percy, Joe, and Zoe go to an open-mic night. Zoe confides that she is planning to break up with Joe and that she would approve of Percy as a match for him, calling her his “musical soulmate.” Zoe then comes out as lesbian to Percy to explain why their breakup is imminent. Zoe feels guilty about breaking up with Joe because he doesn’t have anyone else to turn to. Finally, she thanks Percy for being good for Joe. Percy admits that she would rather be thanked for helping Joe with his songs.

Percy, Joe, and Zoe return to Zoe’s parents’ house with another boy named Luke Skinner. Percy soon realizes that Luke is there to audition as a guitarist for Joe’s band. Percy and Joe sleep over in Zoe’s room, and when Percy wakes up early the next morning, she overhears Zoe’s parents talking about how Joe likes his coffee. Percy sees photos of Zoe and Joe growing up together and realizes that Joe is, in some ways, a Gutierrez. Percy thinks about being a good match for Joe and regards the potential of their relationship with hope.