With her bedroom window propped open, Kami overhears Thiago’s accusation that someone in her house is responsible for his family’s suffering. The moment triggers reflection on her own home life—her mother’s rigid insistence on keeping family conflict private—and deepens Kami’s long-held guilt. She continues to blame herself for revealing what she witnessed as a child and the damage she believes followed. The Di Bianco brothers, she recalls, were the only people who ever let her be herself.

Unable to sleep, she works on a portrait of Thiago in her drawing pad but cannot capture the intensity of his eyes. She resolves to focus on rebuilding her friendship with Taylor and accept that any meaningful relationship with Thiago is beyond repair.

At cheerleading practice the next day, basketball player Victor Viani shouts a crude compliment at her. She ignores him. Thiago then appears to announce a school blood drive, directing all athletes and cheerleaders aged 17 and older to participate. When Kami asks why no notice was given, he responds with open contempt.

Kami’s deep fear of needles overwhelms her. She steps outside to recover, and Taylor finds her looking pale and unwell on the bleachers. Thiago interrupts, insisting the blood drive is nonnegotiable and ordering Taylor back in line under threat of being benched. Alone with Kami, Thiago mocks her fear and refuses to let her leave. He invokes a private childhood memory—her father holding her hand through medical procedures—which enrages her. When she tries to walk off, he threatens to have her removed from the cheerleading squad, finally admitting that the blood drive matters to him because he wants to make a good impression; Coach Klebb’s possible retirement creates an opportunity for advancement.

They briefly argue before Taylor returns. Thiago leaves Kami in his brother’s care and walks away. Not wanting to abandon her teammates, Kami agrees to donate if Taylor stays with her. He promises to hold her hand throughout, and she hugs him and kisses his cheek, grateful their friendship has been restored.

Taylor narrates from outside the bloodmobile, reflecting on Thiago’s unfair treatment of Kami and his own deep childhood connection to her—a friendship that predates school, with their mothers having been close at the same time. He recognizes that the parental affair hurt both families simultaneously, making it a double betrayal.

Inside, Taylor holds Kami’s hand and talks her through donating blood. With his support, she completes the donation. Afterward, Taylor notices a prolonged, unexpectedly gentle look pass between Kami and Thiago—the same expression Thiago uses to calm their mother during her anxiety attacks. The observation both moves and frustrates him. He was the one who helped her today, yet she is staring at Thiago that way; and if Thiago truly hates her, what does that stare mean?

Taylor suggests they get dinner together, but Kami declines, saying she feels too ill. Thiago steps in, insisting Taylor stay behind to help him, and hands him $40 for food on the way back. Taylor jogs after Kami to check on her one last time. She kisses him on the cheek before leaving, and the feeling stays with him for the rest of the night.

After the blood drive, Kami is ambushed in the school parking lot by her ex-boyfriend, Danny Walker, who is clearly intoxicated. He shoves her against her car, grabs her wrist hard enough to bruise it, blames her for destroying his future in basketball, and attempts to force a kiss on her. Taylor and Julian Murphy—the older half-brother of Kami’s friend Kate—arrive in time and pull Danny off. A fight breaks out; Thiago and Coach Klebb appear and separate everyone, but Danny drives off before anyone can stop him.

Principal Harrison summons Kami, Taylor, and Julian to his office. When asked what happened, Kami lies in an attempt to prevent Danny from getting into further trouble, claiming it was “just an argument, that’s all” (97). Taylor objects out loud. Thiago draws attention to her bruised wrist for the principal to see, but Kami attributes the mark to roughhousing with Cameron at home. The principal cannot pursue it without her cooperation. All three students receive two weeks of detention from six to eight each evening.

Outside the office, Kami stops to thank Julian before Taylor pulls her aside and demands the truth. He reveals he suspected something was wrong between Kami and Danny earlier and believes this was not the first incident. Shortly after, Kami receives a hostile text from Danny blaming her for everything. She retreats to a bathroom stall to compose herself.

The next day at lunch, campus gossip swirls around the fight. When her friends Kate and Lana use the nickname “Lady Kamila,” she walks out. On the athletic fields, Julian finds her and, sensing her hesitation when he invites her to the movies, tells her plainly that he is gay. He then tells her that both Taylor and Thiago have feelings for her. Kami denies it, insisting that Taylor is only a friend. Growing emotional, she says that Thiago hates her and has reason to. She then walks away.

Thiago supervises detention but feels that Principal Harrison is targeting him. He keeps his head down and works on plays for the upcoming game against Falls Church, a long-standing rival that eliminated Carsville from last year’s state championship semifinals.

When Kami arrives, still in her cheerleading uniform, Thiago immediately snaps at her for being one minute late. Taylor arrives 10 minutes later, and Kami challenges the disparity in Thiago’s response. He defends his right to give his brother preferential treatment. Julian voices a quiet objection, and Thiago threatens to keep the whole room until nine to silence further protest.

After the session ends, Thiago and Taylor walk out to find Kami talking with Julian. Both brothers agree they do not trust him, and Thiago remarks that he feels he has seen Julian somewhere before. On the drive home, Thiago watches Kami through the rearview mirror while Taylor stares openly. Thiago tells Taylor to stop staring. Taylor says he is genuinely worried about Kami and suspects Danny has hurt her before. Thiago dismisses this aloud, though the possibility unsettles him.

At home, Katia is on the porch and suggests calling Kami over for dinner. The two women wave to each other. Thiago clenches his fists and notices that Kami looks hurt. He tells his mother that if Kami enters the house, he is leaving, and goes inside.

Katia’s wave gives Kami a sense of relief and welcome, but Thiago’s visible hostility immediately undoes it. Inside the Hamilton house, Kami’s mother, Anne, reveals that Cameron got into a fight at recess and, as punishment, must skip dinner and is banned from handling his pet. She then confiscates Kami’s phone as punishment for her own school incident, asking no questions about what actually happened. Furious, Kami refuses to eat dinner in solidarity with Cameron and instead comforts him on the couch. Although Cameron refuses to explain why he fought, the two quietly arrange to raid the spaghetti leftovers at midnight.

Later, from her darkened bedroom window, Kami spots Thiago shirtless in his driveway working on his motorcycle. She starts drawing him. She is still drawing when he looks up and catches her watching. She freezes, and he steps away.

The next morning, Kami sees Danny leaving the principal’s office with his parents. He then confronts her directly in the hallway, telling her he has been removed from the team for the fall season. In biology class, he attempts to sit beside her, but Taylor physically blocks him, and the two nearly come to blows before the teacher intervenes.

The teacher announces a major project on human sexuality, worth half the semester grade, to be completed with whoever is currently seated next to each student—pairing Kami and Taylor automatically. After class, Taylor suggests they work at his house following detention, reassuring her that Katia wants to see her and that Thiago will be out for the evening. Kami agrees to come for an hour.

Taylor acknowledges he is nervous about Thiago’s reaction to inviting Kami over but decides to go ahead anyway. He reflects that his feelings for Kami have shifted; he no longer sees her as a sister and is romantically attracted to her. He wonders whether Thiago’s feelings toward her are more complicated than he admits.

In advanced math, Taylor shares class with Julian and finds himself uneasy around him. He recalls how calm Julian appeared during the fight against Danny and is unsettled by the memory, though he concedes the reaction may be jealousy. At lunch, he sees Julian join Kami and the cheerleaders and decides to join them as well, sitting on Kami’s other side and proposing a paintball tournament against Falls Church the night of their away game. When Kami teases him that Falls Church will dominate in basketball too, he playfully pokes her ribs. Before returning to the team’s table, he leans close and whispers in her ear, deliberately letting his lips brush it as he goes.

Kami is still feeling the effect of Taylor’s whisper when she notices Danny watching her from across the cafeteria. She pushes the discomfort aside and talks with Julian, who teases her about her feelings for Taylor and tells her she carries a “magnetic” quality that draws people to her. She dismisses the idea and instead thinks about the darkness she believes she carries within her.

At cheerleading practice, a disagreement with Kate over the routine escalates into a confrontation. Kami follows her, apologizes, and offers practical direction, which Kate accepts. Kate then presses Kami about Julian, hinting at romantic interest; Kami deflects without revealing that Julian is gay.

During detention, Kami and Taylor quietly pass notes playing hangman and tic-tac-toe while Danny watches from behind. Thiago confronts them afterward, warning that any repeat will result in doubled punishment. Outside, Kami parks on a back street to hide her car from her mother, and the two walk to the Di Bianco house together.

Returning to the Di Bianco house brings back childhood memories for Kami. Katia greets her with freshly baked cake and genuine warmth. While working on their biology project, Kami and Taylor struggle to focus, drifting into an increasingly personal conversation about sex and relationships. The moment intensifies until they are on the verge of kissing when Katia walks back in. Afterward, Taylor tells Katia that they have chosen myths surrounding female sexuality as their project topic and later silently mouths “I like you” to Kami (139).

As Kami leaves, Taylor walks her to the door and tells her that being with her has always felt right and that everything else can wait. She leans in to kiss his cheek but lands instead on the corner of his mouth. The chapter closes on a retrospective note: Kami reflects that if she had known where this path was leading, she would have sat next to someone else entirely.