Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Lena spends her days walking aimlessly around Oia. She half-hopes that Kostos will tell everyone what really happened, but so far, he hasn’t. Lena still finds herself unable to broach the subject with her grandparents. She returns to the olive grove to finish her painting but is startled out of her reverie by a sound in the water. Looking up, she sees Kostos skinny-dipping in the pond. She realizes that Kostos hadn’t been intruding on her privacy the day he surprised her at the pond—instead, she’d been in his spot. She writes to Tibby, detailing her shame but noting that Kostos looked into her eyes for the first time in days, which pleases her.

Bridget writes to Lena. She has a feeling that the upcoming night is going to be special. Unable to sleep, she goes for a walk. She recalls old memories with her brother but can’t picture her mother in them. Bridget walks past Eric’s door, knowing that she is “pushing him […] pushing herself” (131). Eric silently gets up and follows her to the edge of the beach, where they sleep together. Afterward, Bridget stays behind alone. She finds herself crying, unsure how to handle the intensity of her feelings and how to confront and cope with what happened.

It's been nearly two weeks since Carmen returned home, and she still feels ill-at-ease. She tries to spend time with her mother but finds herself easily annoyed by her mother’s habits. Whenever she is alone, she vows to be kinder, but finds it difficult to do so when she is around her mother. Carmen realizes that there are only three weeks left until her father’s wedding and feels guilty that they haven’t spoken since her last outburst.

Effie excitedly tells Lena that she kissed a cute waiter in town. Lena reprimands her but is secretly jealous of Effie’s open attitude toward boys and love. She sits down to draw and finds herself making a detailed portrait of Kostos.

Lena thinks about Bridget, whose last letter worried her. She knows that Bridget occasionally “crashes” into deep emotional lows. She asks her grandmother about Kostos’s family, and Grandma tells her that Kostos lost his parents and younger brother in a car wreck when he was three years old. Lena feels ashamed that people like Bridget and Kostos, who have experienced so much loss, are still open to love while she herself is closed off. She finally tells her grandmother that Kostos is innocent.

Bridget wakes up to her camp friends eagerly interrogating her about her encounter with Eric but realizes that she doesn’t want to talk about it. She lies and says that nothing happened, letting them go on to breakfast without her. Bridget stays in bed all day, skipping meals.

Carmen makes several attempts to write to her father but can’t stop herself from including something mean in each one. In the end, she forgoes the letter and sends him money to repair the window.

As Bridget prepares to send the pants back to Carmen, Eric visits her cabin to check on her. He takes responsibility for their encounter, which annoys Bridget because she feels he’s taking away her agency. She writes to Carmen, saying that she is “very mixed up” (142) and should’ve listened to Carmen’s advice about having good sense.

Carmen returns to Tibby’s house, where Tibby and Bailey interview her. Carmen tells Bailey they are fighting, and Bailey responds that it doesn’t matter because they love each other. Bailey starts the interview, asking questions about Al’s wedding and Carmen’s feelings. When Carmen starts to cry, Bailey tells her it’s okay to be angry.

Several days later, Bailey misses her usual visit to Wallman’s. Worried, Tibby bikes to the Graffmans’ house, where a neighbor informs her that Bailey was taken to the hospital. There, Tibby meets Mrs. Graffman, who tells her that they are stopping treatment for Bailey’s leukemia so that she can live out her last few months with more normality. She expresses her appreciation for Tibby, who quickly leaves, overwhelmed by emotion.

In early August, Lena returns to the olive grove to finish her painting. She’s unsure if she’s hoping to see Kostos but knows that she will give him the painting as an olive branch.

Tibby calls in sick at Wallman’s, not wanting to face the knowledge that Bailey is dying. When she goes to feed Mimi, she finds the guinea pig lying dead in her cage. Tibby refuses to accept the reality of Mimi’s death, and instead puts her body in the freezer. She tries to write a letter but can’t think of anything to say. She ignores a call from Bailey, instead retreating to her room to watch TV.

Lena writes to Carmen, lamenting the fact that she and Bapi Kaligaris have never had a conversation. She asks for “pointers on how to be a normal person” (149).

Carmen talks to her mom, asking why she finds it so hard to get mad at her father. Her mother suggests that Carmen feels less secure in her relationship with Al and reminds her how much she struggled in the wake of the divorce.

At camp, Bridget continues to feel worn-out and listless. Molly encourages her to go all-out for their next game, but Bridget is unable to summon any energy on the field. She walks away from the game, angering Molly.