The story jumps back to 1987. In this section, the young Diana returns home after her summer on Cape Cod, bruised and disheartened, and determined to see the world as being colorless and corrupted. Her mother and sisters worry about her, believing that she has left behind a boy she loves. They encourage her to find someone new, but Diana thinks to herself that she will never have sex again. She develops a habit of binge eating and stops caring about school. Her teachers and Dr. Levy worry, too, but Diana claims that she’s just tired. She sees a therapist but refuses to open up to her. She believes that she is broken.

Three years pass and she leaves the academy to go on to university. However, bereft of any academic ambition, she quickly drops out and works a series of temporary jobs. Eventually, she gets a job cleaning offices at the university where Dr. Levy works. At her lowest moments, she considers death by suicide. One morning in April, Dr. Levy visits her, and because she knows that something significant must have happened to Diana during that summer in 1987, she offers Diana the opportunity to stay at her parents’ old cottage on the Cape for the winter.