- It's winter break now, and Margaret (along with the rest of Mr. Benedict's sixth graders) is invited to a party—Norman Fishbein's party, to be exact.
- Margaret gets ready for the party: a special hair do, filed nails, fancy underwear… but something's still missing. After another little chat with God, Margaret gives into temptation and puts three cotton balls on each side of her bra: "'Well, so what if it was cheating! Probably other girls did it too. I'd look a lot better, wouldn't I? So why not!'" (13.52).