The chapter opens with a soliloquy in which the narrator laments the fact that he will not be able to visit his family for two days. He tells himself that he is going to endure his loneliness by going shopping with his friend. He asks her to go with him to the girls' section of the mall to buy a new swimsuit. She tells him that she feels the same way as he does, and that she would like a bit of a showy thing to wear this year. She wonders if her friend's boyfriend will like the new swimsuit, and she wonders if he will be attracted to a girl with long hair and a skin that is more daring than that of her friend.