Coley tackles Sonya off the tracks just as the train speeds past, saving her life. As they lie in the grass, Sonya apologizes for not paying attention. The near-death experience prompts Coley to confide in Sonya about her mother’s death by suicide. She tearfully admits to feeling guilty, believing that she might have saved her mother if she had taken her usual bus instead of missing it and taking the next one, which made her arrive too late. 

Sonya comforts her, and they cry together. Sonya then whispers, “Olive juice,” a phrase that Coley understands to mean, “I love you” (154). Coley whispers it back, and they share a passionate first kiss.

After kissing by the tracks, Sonya falls asleep in Coley’s arms. She’s awakened by her buzzing phone and abruptly leaves, telling Coley that she has to go. 

Back home, Coley sees on AIM that Sonya has an “away” message on. The next morning, Coley reads a series of messages from Sonya apologizing for being “weird” the night before and blaming her behavior on the vodka. Coley then finds Sonya’s public LiveJournal entry detailing plans for a “girls’ night” and a kickback with Brooke and SJ, which makes her feel erased and excluded. Hurt and angry, Coley responds to Sonya’s AIM message by pretending that she has no idea what Sonya is apologizing for.

Coley decides to go to the kickback at Sonya’s house, determined to speak with her face-to-face. When she arrives, she finds that Sonya is already heavily intoxicated. 

During a conversation, Coley learns for the first time that Sonya goes away to a dance camp for half of every summer. When Brooke teases Sonya about Coley, Sonya snaps at her to “shut up.” Later, Coley confronts Sonya in the bathroom, but Sonya is dismissive, saying that Coley is “a lot of drama” and that she feels overwhelmed (170). Moments later in the hallway, Sonya apologizes, says “olive juice,” and leads Coley to her bedroom. They drink and dance intimately, but Sonya suddenly becomes distraught, crying, “I’m not like this” (177). She runs out of the room and into Trenton and Brooke. Seeing her tears, Trenton glares at Coley. Brooke tells Coley that she should leave, predicting that Sonya and Trenton will get back together.

Coley searches for Sonya and finds her making out with Trenton in the laundry room. Devastated, Coley goes outside to the patio, where Alex finds her. He shares a joint with her and tells her a story from their childhood about how he saved Sonya from a pony that Trenton had agitated, cementing their friendship. Seeking a distraction, Coley kisses Alex but feels nothing and begins to cry. Alex offers to drive her home. 

As they’re leaving, Sonya, Trenton, Brooke, and SJ see them. Trenton yells an antigay slur at both Alex and Coley, mocking Alex for being with her. During the drive home, Alex reveals that Sonya told their friends about Coley’s mother’s death.

Back at home, Coley is horrified by Sonya’s betrayal and trying to process it when she realizes that she left her mother’s jacket at Sonya’s. Curtis drives her to retrieve it. She arrives to find Sonya having a “bon voyage” party with her friends, a gathering from which Coley was intentionally excluded. 

Coley confronts Sonya in her bedroom. Sonya flatly denies having romantic feelings for her, claiming that she’s just “touchy-feely” with all her friends. Coley demands an apology for sharing the secret about her mother; Sonya says nothing, which hurts Coley. Furious, Coley calls Sonya a “terrible person” and leaves in tears.

Sonya posts a public LiveJournal entry describing her cheerful arrival at dance camp. However, a private entry reveals her true misery. She reflects on how her going-away party “sucked” because of the confrontation with Coley and admits to feeling some guilt for telling SJ about Coley’s mother. Her distress is compounded by the presence of Faith, who’s at the camp as Madame Rosard’s assistant and is watching her every move. Sonya feels like her sanctuary at the camp has been invaded and wishes that Faith would leave her alone.

Curtis tries to connect with Coley by showing her old family photos, but the gesture backfires, making her angry. She confronts him for abandoning her and her mother, revealing that her mother died wearing the tiger’s-eye necklace he had made for her. Upset, Coley flees on her bike and almost rides into traffic. 

Coley stops at a 7-Eleven, where she has a brief, kind interaction with the cashier, Blake. Sensing Coley’s distress, Blake invites her to her house to smoke weed.

Blake drives Coley to her home in the country, where they get high. Overwhelmed by feelings of self-hatred, Coley impulsively asks Blake for scissors and cuts her long hair into a short, choppy style. 

Blake shows Coley that she can make smoke rings with her bong. Afterward, Blake kisses Coley. Coley kisses back but finds herself fantasizing that she’s with Sonya. Disgusted with herself for using Blake as a replacement, especially after Blake tells her that she likes her, Coley pulls away. She makes an excuse about her father expecting her and asks to be taken home.

When Blake drops Coley off late, Curtis is waiting. He confronts her about her haircut and for breaking curfew, establishing a new midnight rule. This sparks a major argument, during which Coley accuses him of being a neglectful father who abandoned them, teaching her that she was “disposable.” In a moment of painful honesty, Curtis admits that he was a coward for not fighting to stay in Coley’s life and clarifies that her mother was the one who left him. 

Later, Curtis speaks to Coley through her locked bedroom door, reaffirming that he will always love both her and her mother.

Following their argument, Coley and Curtis call an uneasy truce, carefully navigating their interactions with each other. When Blake calls to hang out, Coley accepts and makes a point to tell Curtis where she’s going. 

At Blake’s house, Coley discovers that Blake is preparing to train to become a body piercer. Blake gives Coley a new cartilage piercing. She shares her aspiration to become a tattoo artist and shows Coley her sketchbook, filled with graveyards, zombie hands, a self-portrait, a cat, and an angel drawing. She then reveals that she had an abortion after becoming pregnant by her gay ex-boyfriend. Later, Blake kisses Coley again. Coley reciprocates but feels a growing sense of unease, recognizing that she’s hiding her true feelings and being emotionally dishonest. She realizes that she’s mirroring Sonya’s behavior toward her.