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Summary: Chapter 1

Aza Holmes’s story begins in her high school cafeteria with her friends Daisy and Mychal. Here, she considers that she is not the author of her own life but rather the product of outside forces controlling her. Aza hears the sounds of her digestion and becomes anxious about the bacteria in her gut. Daisy tries to engage Aza by asking her about a boy Aza went to camp with, Davis Pickett, but she is focused on her fear of the bacteria C. diff and the possibility of it causing a deadly infection in her. She shifts her focus to the callus on her finger and feels compelled to make it bleed to make sure it is not infected. Aza tells Daisy that she knows of Davis but is still distracted by her thoughts. As they leave the cafeteria, Aza reflects that she does remember Davis and that he was someone who saw the world the way she does.

Summary: Chapter 2

Aza’s mom, a math teacher at the school, stops Aza on her way to class and asks her if she feels anxious and if she is taking her medication. Aza deflects instead of answering directly. She tells her mom that she is taking her medicine even though she only takes it three times a week instead of daily. Aza continues with her school day before walking to her car to meet Daisy and drive her to work. Daisy mentions Davis again, telling Aza that there is a $100,000 reward for information regarding Russell Pickett, Davis’s father, since he disappeared before police executed a search warrant on his home related to a fraud and bribery investigation. Daisy says that they have a chance to find information and get the reward since Aza knows Davis. Aza thinks about finding information and remembers that the Picketts have an unmonitored camera at the back of their property, so the two girls decide to check out the camera instead of Aza taking Daisy to work.

Next section Chapters 3–4

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