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Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, gender discrimination, and bullying.

Rachel Doricko lives by what she refers to as a weird-hat philosophy: “[P]eople are the most scared by what makes zero sense to them but that they cannot, no matter how they try, avoid” (49). In her everyday life, she manifests this philosophy by wearing a racoon hat. Rachel’s approach works on Kate Heffer, who craves order, as evidenced by the fact that she compulsively recites the first 50 digits of pi throughout the match. Kate will enjoy a successful career as an event planner in the future. She will thrive in this line of work because it makes her feel like a hero. Rachel will look back on the match and see how each moment added to her advantage.

Rachel is a theatrical fighter, spurting out noises every time she hits Kate to intimidate her. She uses a series of visual cues to mnemonically imprint each round of the match in her memory. The first image is a plastic hat worn by a man who looks like a rich uncle.

Kate is panicking. She is desperate to win because she is a perfectionist who wants to be the best at everything for her parents. Now that she is losing, she feels she has been tricked into doing something she can’t be the best at. She falls back on the digits of pi to convince herself that the fight will turn in her favor.

Rachel’s second image is a $100 bill. This is the prize money she will win if she becomes tournament champion. Rachel has several brothers who frequently beat her, but she is ambivalent about whether it means they see her as one of the boys or they just like to bully her. Her eldest brother believes in her skill as a boxer and even referred her to the gym she trains in. Rachel is the only woman at her gym, which aligns with her philosophy.

Rachel finds it ridiculous when older women tell her she is pretty because she doesn’t believe she has the kind of the beauty they want. As a boxer, her body comes across as being awkward, which is exacerbated by the fact that her hands have a slight tremor. By contrast, Kate has been told by everyone that she has the perfect body for boxing. She wanted to try dancing, but no one encouraged her to follow through with it.

To embolden herself, Kate tries to internalize the idea that her whole life has been leading up to this fight. Her dawning realization that she is still losing turns this philosophy against her. Rachel wishes she could wear her racoon hat instead of her stuffy headgear. She tells herself that if she loses, she will have to burn the $100 bill. She throws dozens of punches at Kate, which is the third image she visualizes.

Rachel doesn’t believe in showing off her achievements. What she does believe in is having people talk about her achievements in her absence. This resonates with her weird-hat philosophy because she wants people to keep thinking of her after she is gone. Rachel has succeeded in confusing Kate, which gets Kate’s defenses down. Kate cries after another round is called for Rachel.

When Rachel was young, her childhood home in San Diego, California, was destroyed by a wildfire. Rachel has since come to believe that everything is meaningless, yet she derives some pleasure from knowing that being in the Daughters of America Cup means that she is one of the best boxers in the nation. Rachel was brought to the tournament by her grandmother, who has never watched a boxing match before. Rachel’s grandmother is so struck by the noise and the chaos of the fight that she starts to wonder about Rachel’s soul. The spectators pick up on Rachel’s noises and Kate’s counting, but aren’t sure of what they are hearing.

Andi Taylor sleeps in her car parked outside Bob’s Boxing Palace. Sleeping helps her to cope with her loss in the tournament. She consoles herself with the knowledge that whoever will win the current fight will go on to fight Artemis. Artemis studies the fighters in the ring and cannot predict who the winner will be; she thinks Kate’s counting means that she will deploy a comeback strategy.

Rachel’s coach isn’t present because he is attending a non-championship tournament for one of his male trainees. Rachel accepts that the power and control her coach exerts over his gym is the price she must pay to get better at boxing. She accepts it on the condition that she will get her $100 in the end. One of her favorite training activities is trail running because it helps her to forget her body.

During the fight, Rachel keeps thinking about the fire that destroyed her house. Her strongest memory of the fire is her mother telling her to be a good girl to convince her to get into the car. Rachel is disgusted by the concept of a “good girl” because boys simply have to look clean to be considered a good. Being called a “good girl” feels inorganic—like people are speaking to a dog, not a person.

Rachel says the words “good boy” aloud, which Kate takes as an insult. Kate’s entire life has been devoted to earning the title of “good girl.” She starts to look down on the endeavor of boxing and wonders if losing the fight will earn her parents’ approval. She thinks of the top two female swimmers in the world and notes that the second-best swimmer is more famous than the best one. She is unsure whether she should prefer winning over losing. She starts opening herself up to hits. Rachel gets annoyed that Kate isn’t putting up much of a fight.

Kate only started boxing because she wanted to befriend the girl who invited her to join a sparring camp. The girl eventually left Kate behind, but Kate proved to be a competent fighter. Now Kate wonders if that girl liked her.

Kate’s lack of interest in winning becomes clear to spectators. Rachel hits Kate in the eye and it swells instantly. The round ends, leaving one of the judges concerned for Kate’s safety. Rachel fantasizes that the spectators will talk about Kate’s humiliation after the fight is over. Kate’s mother relaxes because she doesn’t really approve of boxing for girls. She and Kate’s father are especially bothered when they that Kate is badly beaten. They cheer her on anyway. Rachel’s grandmother is silent and in awe.

The fight ends, much to everyone’s relief. Rachel is declared the winner. Kate weeps and crawls out of the ring. She is taken into her parents’ embrace. She realizes that being good at boxing was never something she wanted for herself, but wanted because other people convinced her it was good to want. Kate’s mother will affirm this insight later. This reflects Kate’s ability to rewrite her understanding of her personal history to fit the truths she accepts at any given moment. She will eventually do the same thing for her bride clients. After her loss, which marks her retirement from boxing, Kate is rewarded with lunch at a place of her choice.

During the lunch break, Rachel stays in the gym and eats an orange while wearing her raccoon hat. She eats alone and isn’t approached by anyone. Rachel thinks that people see her as something destructive they can’t understand, like a wildfire, the memory of which slowly destroyed Kate. She sees the next fighters getting ready for their match. The fighters look alike, though one of them has a birthmark. Rachel predicts that the fighter with the birthmark will win the match. The match begins and the girl with the birthmark receives the first blow.