In this chapter, the three students discuss the phantom spider, which they have nicknamed "the fatty" because of its tendency to throw up. They explain that they have been assigned to different classes because the other students in their class couldn't tolerate the smell, so they had to be put together. The smell is caused by a gap in the wall between the cells in the sweat glands, and it also has to do with "genetic problems" . The three students have had to have their sweat glands removed, which is painful and expensive, but they have found a remedy for the problem that is free of charge