In this chapter, we are introduced to a young girl named Priscilla, who has come to live with her parents in the small town of Spinoza, in the state of New Mexico. She has been living with her mother and her brother, Balthazar, for the past three months, and she is very homesick for her family back in the U.S. She is also very upset about the fact that she is not allowed to eat lunch with her friends at her table. She tells us that she has sensed some tension between her and her sister, and that she will forgive her and take care of her. When she finds out that the fire bell has gone off in her school's cafeteria, she immediately goes to investigate. She finds that someone has torched her locker, and when she asks why, she learns that it is because she keeps a picture of her with her at school. She also learns that the picture says that she should always be with her family, and so she goes to school and keeps the picture with her