- In the now: Nikki feels like she's going back to school too soon. She was gone for six months in the surface world, but one hundred years passed in the Everneath.
- As Nikki walks into her school (Park City High) she can hear people whispering about her, like wondering why she looks so awful. Most people think she was using drugs.
- She walks into her English class, and the teacher tells her that she'll have to study hard to catch up on what she's missed.
- Cole told Nikki that the Everneath would change her, but she still finds it weird that she can taste the emotions of the people around her. Right now, it's mostly curiosity, but one emotion stands out.
- One person says hi to Nikki: It's Jack, the boy who'd gotten her through a really hard time. He was her reason for returning, but she has no idea what to say to him—she only manages to whisper "hi" back.
- They discuss Greek mythology in English class. When someone brings up Hades and Persephone (Hades is the god of the Underworld and he kidnapped her), Nikki responds with distaste.
- After class, Nikki drops her pencil, and Jack returns it to her. The encounter is incredibly awkward, and she can't help but think about how things used to be.
- Now we're in the past, six months before the Feed: Nikki hangs out with Jack and her BFF Jules.
- Jack is all flirtatious and cute with Nikki, telling her that she's his good luck charm, so she'd better be at the game that night.
- When the football team tackles Jack in the hallway (he's their star quarterback), Jules asks Nikki if it's worth it to date him.
- Nikki thinks about how Jack hangs out in the cemetery while she visits her mom's grave—a drunk driver killed her mom five months ago—and knows that, yeah, being with Jack is totally worth it.