Chapter 3 Summary

Holly and Susie watch Earth from their heavens, and they see souls coming into contact with the living. After Susie was murdered she recalls touching a girl named Ruth Connors, a student at her junior high. Ruth tells her mother about the encounter with the ghost, which she describes as a girl with hollow eyes. Ruth's mother chastises her for her overly active imagination.

To express herself after her experience, Ruth begins writing poetry. She becomes very interested in Susie's life, seeking out Susie's photos in school yearbooks. Ruth approaches Susie's friends, Clarissa and Brian, as they hold one another in the hallway. They do not notice, and Ruth does not speak to them. Ruth returns later to steal a bag of marijuana and photos out of Clarissa's locker. Ruth smokes the marijuana in her family's tool shed while looking at photos of...