Summary

In Chapter 1, Lila describes a strange phenomena she calls 'dissolving margins.' The setting for this episode is set several years forward in the narrative, when the girls are fifteen years old. They are enjoying New Year's Eve on the terrace of Stefano Carracci. She describes it to Elena as witnessing the outlines of people blurring and dissolving. Physical symptoms accompanied this feeling: cold sweats and a rapid heartbeat, nausea, her ears ringing. What was left, to Lila's eyes, after the outlines of her friends and family dissolved, was the raw materials of the world, terrifying in its base nature.

In Chapter 2, the action returns to the term after elementary school, after Lila's broken arm. As a compromise for not being able to afford middle school, the Cerullo family consents to send Lila to a class in home-making: stenography, bookkeeping, etc. This Lila...