Pages 16 - 30 Summary

When she can't sleep at night, Cookie sneaks out of the house and swings in her backyard swing, remembering the way Sister taught her how to pump. She remembers lots of things about her sister: her delicate face and limbs, her curlicue hairdo, the way she drew faces on homemade paper dolls. Everything for Cookie is different now that Sister is institutionalized. The empty chair at the dinner table reminds Cookie of what she is missing, and if she forgets, for even a moment, the girls at her school remind her with their unnerving questions and inappropriate jokes. Cookie tries to pretend that everything is normal, but too many things upset that vision. She also desperately wants to tell her friends what she is feeling, but fears how they will judge her for her admission.

At school, Cookie has a crush...