Content Warning: This novel refers to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as child neglect, murder, violence, racism, and anti-gay bias.

The unnamed narrator ponders the smell of a dirt basement, which she associates with terror. A funeral brings about traumatic associations with the smell of a cellar. The narrator clarifies that she is now an adult who used a traumatic childhood experience as fodder for a successful novel.

The narrator ponders a gold necklace that plays a significant role in her traumatic experience, which she reveals took place in 1983. The necklace had a paper-airplane charm and belonged to a boy named Gabriel.

The narrator, Cass, participates in a board-game night with her family, which includes her parents and her sister, Sephie. The last week of school starts the next day. Cass ponders the summer, looking forward to tanning with her sister. Her parents participate in a lot of physical affection and are attractive. Cass adores her mom’s sister, her aunt Jin.

The atmosphere in the room is very tense. Her dad massages Sephie’s shoulders even though it clearly makes her and Cass uncomfortable.

Cass asks if the family can drive to Canada to visit Aunt Jin.