Chapters 1 and 2 Summary

It's the summer of 1978 and Bettina Ballentyne is in the aparthouse with her mother, Babs Ballentyne, and Babs's friend, Andie. Bettina is an only child, she's ten years old and she is reading the subscription of Tiger Beat her mother got her for her birthday. When Babs sends Bettina out of the room, Bettina decides to play on the spiral staircase that goes from her mother's room down into the living room.

In the process, Bettina comes across her mother's scrapbook scissors. Bettina presses the cold blades on her cheek. As she is opening and closing the scissors, she accidentally cuts some of her own hair. Bettina tries to cut more of her hair to fix it. When Bettina goes back into the kitchen, Babs asks her what she did to her hair. Babs calls her hair stylist to see if...