Summary

In the section, "New Year's," Lada attends a New Year's gathering at a rented cabin at the behest of her friend Kristina. When Kristina announces their estranged childhood friend, Masha is arriving soon, Lada realizes she is drunker than she wants to be. A man presses close to her and feeds her an apple. She thinks about Masha, who she has not seen in seven years. While she, Masha, and Kristina were all friends, Lada and Masha were always closest. She laments Kristina's seeming continued closeness with her. Masha's communication died off years ago when she left for university in St. Petersburg.

Lada thinks about all the time she and Masha spent together, lying side by side, Masha reading aloud to her. She starts feeling anxious about her appearance in light of Masha's imminent arrival. The man keeps pressing closer to...