Summary

Rex continues to text Lavinia’s phone, which Louise deliberately ignores. She calls her parents for Christmas and reveals she has been put on a list of “Five Under Thirty” writers to look out for, though they are not especially impressed with it, especially since the prize incurs no money. Cordelia tells Louise she has bought a ticket to Paris to see her family for New Year’s Eve.

The next day, Louise meets up with Hal, who has given her a new literary connection. They discuss Hal’s trysts with Lavinia, though when Louise calls him out, indirectly, for betraying Rex, Hal asks if she really “want[s] to play the bad friend game” (249). Rex keeps texting Lavinia and finally Louise, as Lavinia, tells him to stop and he does. Cordelia packs her suitcase and on New Year’s Eve leaves for...