After school, Eve Bennett cannot ride home with Nate Bennett because he stays late for newspaper and poetry magazine duties. Shelby drives Eve home, but with no grading to do on the first day, Eve feels restless and unmoored. Instead of settling in, she gets back in her car and drives to the mall, partly to fill time and partly to escape her empty house.

At the mall, Eve hesitates before going inside, uneasy about being seen by students and thinking about how differently Nate moves through the school world. She notices teenagers enjoying their last free afternoon and reflects on Nate's ease, his popularity, and the kind of high-achieving students he attracts, such as Bryce Evans. After forcing herself to calm down, she enters the mall and resists food temptations before drifting into an upscale shoe store.

In Footsies, Eve finds a pair of Christian Louboutin pumps in her size and is immediately captivated. Trying them on gives her a rush of confidence and glamour, and she starts rationalizing the purchase as a reward she deserves. But when Eve sees the price, the fantasy collapses because she knows Nate will disapprove and because she cannot justify the expense, which turns her desire into frustration and sadness.

Seeing that the distracted clerk is occupied and that her large purse is empty, Eve impulsively slips the shoes into her bag. Although she is terrified and tells herself she has not done anything like this in a long time, she decides to leave without paying, hoping to avoid Nate's judgment and the credit card bill. Eve follows an elderly customer toward the exit, believes she is about to get away with it, and then the store alarm suddenly goes off.