Summary

During the same period in which Hazel returns to Falls Landing, Britney works as a server at an art gallery, where she prepares to wait on the guests of an installment by a man whom she used to be romantically involved with. The courtship ended very poorly, and various people in Britney’s life urge her not to attend the event. Her mother, who calls Britney obsessively to make sure that she is safe and healthy, suggests that going may not be such a good idea; so, too, does Britney’s roommate, a woman whom Britney believes is in love with her. In spite of these warnings, Britney decides to go anyway, in part because she has developed a masochistic streak in the wake of the court case she had against this boyfriend and in part because she feels friendless; nobody has visited...