Chapter One (Jacob) Summary

Seventeen-year-old backpacker Jacob Todd has just arrived in Amsterdam. He feels lonely and confused, not knowing anyone in the city and not being able to speak the language. He sits down at a café to watch a trio of street musicians, including an attractive teenage-girl who beats the bongos. He feels himself starting to become aroused as he watches her play, and is startled out of his reverie when another teenage girl, even more beautiful than the bongo player, sits down at his table and strikes up a conversation. Jacob is struck by how beautiful he finds the girl even though she looks like a boy. Even her voice is low like a boy's, but Jacob is aroused and enjoys having someone to flirt with. The two teenagers share a few beers and a very flirtatious conversation. The girl...