The chapter opens with a soliloquy by the narrator, in which he laments the loss of the first round of the tournament. He wishes that he had not lost. He laments that Marlowe has ruined his perfectly spherical hair, and that she has hit him in the face with a rock thrown at him. He wonders why he is fighting, and wonders if he should have said something before the match. He asks why he hates him so much, and asks if she meant to tell him that, or if she could go back to her backstabby, after he lost. She says that she stopped fighting because the responsibility of running the club was killing her. He tells her that he never said he would not tell her, and he never thought that someone else could love cheese loaf, and apologizes for his behavior. The narrator wonders if the two of them are serious about each other, if they like each other so much.