This chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the school year. Shmoop introduces us to the protagonist, who is a student at a school in the U.S. In this flashback, Shmoo introduces Shmoo as a "model" and Shmoo's "housemate" . Shmoo explains that she is a member of the library committee and that she makes the rice balls Shmoo is eating. She asks Shmoo if she can come and explain to her why she is on the committee, but Shmoo refuses, saying that he is too busy eating to come. She tells Shmoo that she wants to know where the picture of her was taken and that Shmoo has been looking for clues about it in the library, but she can't find it anywhere. She wonders if Shmoo and his friend are still in the school, and she wonders if they have gone. She says that she doesn't blame her if the other girls find out, because she feels different from them. She also says that the girls have been very nice to her, even if they don't like it. She mentions that a student sent her a picture of a group of girls in a "tremendous tremble" , which Shmoo thinks is a reference to her housemate Shmoo.