The Lake of Lost Girls

In November 1998, Jess calls her father in tears as she adjusts to life at college. She and Daisy then learn that Tammy has been missing for four days. While Daisy and another student, Kara, eagerly speculate about Tammy possibly running away with Dr. Daniels, who has frequent affairs with his students, Jess suggests that Tammy might be following the band Phish, as she was known to do. The girls plan a hall party during Tammy’s absence. In the cafeteria, Jess joins her Pi Gamma Delta sorority pledge sisters, reflecting on how her academic performance is declining as her social life expands. A flashback reveals Jess’s close relationship with her father, who comforted her after her mother criticized her for getting a B on a test.

A few days later, Jess receives an F on an essay she wrote at the last minute but nevertheless chooses to attend a Sigma Kappa Phi fraternity party. Feeling watched and drinking heavily, Jess momentarily hallucinates seeing Tammy before an attractive student distracts her. They spend hours talking upstairs, and he walks her home. Outside her dorm, they witness her pledge sister Phoebe Baker in a car with Dr. Daniels, engaged in a romantic encounter.