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1. When Melissa (George) is looking at magazines in Chapter I, she imagines herself with the girls on the beach. What does she imagine would happen if she were with them?

Melissa thinks that if she were with the girls on the beach, she would be dressed like them and would fit in perfectly. She thinks that they would want to know her name and she would say "Melissa."

2. What does Scott's conclusion that Melissa (George) is looking at "dirty magazines" (8) in Chapter I, "Secrets," tell readers about Scott?

When Scott decides that Melissa is looking at pornography, he is using teasing to try to bond with the person that he sees as a bother--Melissa. He chooses to believe that Melissa is doing something that he himself might do, teases her about it in the affectionate way that older siblings use to create a bond with younger siblings without losing their status as the older sibling, and then indicates that he will keep it a secret from their mother, creating a sense that they are on the same "team." This shows readers that Scott genuinely cares about Melissa but that he does not really understand her at all.

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