Summary

Vanessa returns her narrative to the winter of her sophomore year at Browick. Given the intense, ongoing relationship with Strane, she finds fitting in with her friends difficult, even awkward. One morning she is approached in the dorm’s shower room by Jenny Murphy, formerly her roommate with whom she had had a falling out over a boy they both liked. In a low voice, Jenny asks Vanessa outright whether the rumors were true about her sleeping with Mr. Strane. Taken aback, Vanessa denies anything inappropriate. Vanessa later talks with Strane about the nature of their relationship, how in the eyes of others their affair could get Strane terminated and imprisoned. No one, she intones darkly, would blame her. She promises she would never tell anyone. During a sophomore class overnight field trip to Quebec, Vanessa has a chance encounter with Jesse Ly...