Summary

Pages 35 to 79 -- An emotional Bev came to Julia's house to pick up Cassie. She hugged her daughter, but Julia could tell from Bev's face that something else was wrong. The girls were no longer able to go swimming at the Saghafi's house, play sports, or ride bikes because of Cassie's injured arm, and so they spent a number of bored days doing chores for Julia's mother.

Feeling like they were wasting their summer, Julia and Cassie explored Royston over the course of a few days. They spend time in Bell's Dry Goods shop visiting the stuffed animals, and in Rite Aid examining the nail polishes. They felt like they were too old to spend time on the playground now.

Julia describes one afternoon where she and Cassie encountered Beckett, the school bully, who was with Peter Oundle, the boy Julia had a...