The chapter opens with Fish’s oft-repeated warning that being noticed by men is dangerous, a rule she struggled to follow because she herself drew attention. Louisa recalls Fish’s contradictory bravado and vulnerability: Fish mocked men yet admitted they were easy to love, fell for grand promises, and paid for brief happiness “on credit” with heartache.

Louisa describes Fish’s daily rhythms—joyful mornings fading into wilted evenings—and their companionship. On Fish’s eighteenth birthday, Louisa planned a special surprise: they intentionally got locked inside a library, hiding in a bathroom stall to evade guards with a deliberately “so stupid it’s genius” plan. Emerging into the silent stacks, they played games, read fairy tales aloud, and shared affection and jokes that underscored their closeness.

They treated the cafeteria like a “loan” rather than theft, until Fish opened an emergency exit and set off an alarm, forcing a frantic escape. Walking home at dawn, Fish celebrated the miracle of existence and urged Louisa not to fear death. Louisa later connects this memory to her present trauma, admitting she often wakes screaming “I give up! Just come out!” as if calling Fish out from hiding. She frames the survivor’s curse of overdose loss: believing constant vigilance could have prevented the death.

The narrative contrasts their diverging lives. Louisa tried and failed to fit in at school, humiliated by wealthier classmates and ultimately choosing loneliness over rejection. Fish sought belonging elsewhere, skipping school and falling in with older drinkers and drug users. She shielded Louisa from her worst moments, wearing long sleeves and insisting she be remembered as her “best version.”

After Fish’s eighteenth birthday, staff at the foster home found jewelry and watches in Fish’s backpack. A “kind” man had given her a necklace that actually belonged to his wife, later reported stolen for insurance, leading to a police investigation. The foster home expelled Fish. She refused to let seventeen-year-old Louisa run away with her, promising their fairy tale was only beginning, and disappeared into the town and night.

Days later, a cleaner opening the library at sunrise found Fish curled among the fairy tales. Police informed the foster home that a doctor ruled it an overdose and said she drifted off peacefully. The chapter closes with the image of Fish’s body “full of happiness on credit,” and Louisa’s enduring guilt and loss.