Chapters 1 and 2 Summary

Chapter 1 opens with Alison Parker and Brenda Paxson helping their friend, Fran Darey, haul the set she is designing for a school play into her garage so she can work on it over the weekend. As they make their way toward the house, Alison notices a strange purple envelope in Fran's mailbox, and when she goes back outside later, she offers to get the mail for Fran. Back inside, the girls sit around eating Twinkies and gossiping until Brenda starts pressuring Fran to open the strange letter that has no return address.

Brenda eventually grabs the letter from Fran when she resists Brenda's pressure to open the letter and Fran, enraged, jumps at Brenda to get the letter back. The two girls get into a physical brawl and Fran emerges victorious, the letter in hand. When Alison, whom Fran inexplicably idealizes...