Complex Math Problem: How do you solve the messes you can't see? In other words—Is fitting in just covering up who you really are in hopes that people don't notice?
-- Narrator/Esther (chapter 2)

Importance: The first in a series of Esther's seemingly unsolvable math problems, this moment marks the start of Esther's struggle to assimilate in her new home in Truth or Consequences. When Esther moves to New Mexico with her family, her mother, stepfather Tom, and sister Hannah make a series of efforts to fit into their new community. Esther, however, still consumed by the events of her past in Ohio, feels like fitting in is just a cover for who she really is. Her parents moved the family to New Mexico with the hopes of hiding Esther's former pregnancy and the truth about the child she gave up. Esther, however, does not want to bury her former life. The conundrum at...