Book 1, Part 4 Summary

Selena is beautiful and desperate to get out of the life she's leading. In the one-room shack she shares with her family, she listens to her father having sex with her silent mother. Selena cries herself to sleep vowing she will never be like her mother.

Allison always waits outside for Selena to come out of the house for their regular Saturday stroll during which they fantasize they are movie stars' wives or wealthy citizens of the town. They pretend o gossip about some of the town's citizens, but the woman at the soda counter became angry and warned them that gossip can be dangerous.

Allison yearns to show Selena her favorite spot at Road's End. Along the way, the girls encounter Ted Carter, whom Allison says is after Selena. Selena says she doesn't mind, and the two girls each realize...