Addie is doing history homework when she receives a Snapflash message from Nathaniel, even though he had already said they needed to cool things down. Nathaniel tells Addie that Eve knows about their affair and immediately follows with the news that he can never see Addie again. The message devastates Addie, who sees Eve’s discovery as the disaster that has destroyed what she believes is a soulmate relationship.

Addie asks whether Eve told Principal Higgins. Nathaniel says Eve has not reported them, but she is threatening to do so unless he does everything she wants. He explains that Eve is forcing him to end things with Addie at once and resign from teaching. Addie is horrified both by losing Nathaniel and by the idea of him leaving school, because she sees him as the only teacher who truly believed in her. When Nathaniel adds that Eve kicked him out and says that if Eve were dead he could keep his job and stay with Addie, the remark lodges in Addie’s mind.

As Addie keeps turning over Nathaniel’s words, her mother interrupts her thoughts by coming into her room. Addie’s mother reminds her that she is leaving for an overnight hospital shift and checks whether Addie will be all right alone. Addie brushes off the concern, but privately thinks that being alone would allow Nathaniel to come over without interference. After her mother kisses her goodbye and leaves, Addie immediately acts on that hope.

Addie messages Nathaniel to tell him her mother is gone and asks him to come over. Nathaniel refuses, saying Eve is serious and will destroy him if he sees Addie again. When Addie presses him, he stops replying. Once her mother’s car drives away, Addie breaks down sobbing. She convinces herself that her love with Nathaniel is deeper than anyone else’s and blames Eve for controlling him and ruining their future, which leaves Addie isolated, furious, and fixated on Eve as the obstacle between them.