- In the now: The next day, Nikki is sitting with Jack in their English classroom when a boy shows up. He doesn't look like Cole (his hair is darker, he has more piercings), but his eyes are Cole's and Nikki knows he's somehow changed his appearance.
- The boy asks if Nikki remembers him, and introduces himself as Neal from the party. Nikki asks him to go away, and when he refuses, Nikki tries to leave the room.
- "Neal" blocks her exit, and Jack gets up to intervene. Nikki manages to push past him, and hides in her car. She realizes that if Cole starts to follow her around like that, someone she cares about could get hurt.
- Later that night, Cole shows up (looking like himself). Nikki asks him how he did it. He says he can use his energy to alter his appearance, though it feels wasteful.
- Cole says he had to see what was going on with her and Jack, and that it was for her own good. But he still doesn't understand why she chose to Return.
- Nikki defiantly admits that she had Jack's face in her mind during the hundred years when Cole was draining her energy and her memories—and getting to spend even one day with Jack after the Feed means that she won.
- Cole says he doesn't understand mortal relationships. Nikki thinks about when she'd first met Cole, and wonders if he knew then that he'd drag her to the Everneath.
- In the past (one month before the Feed): Jules and Nikki get into a super elite club because a guy who has a crush on Jules puts them on the guest list.
- The club is super crowded. They see Meredith, a girl from school, and go to say hi because she's actually at a table.
- Also at the table are the members of the popular band the Dead Elvises. Nikki recognizes the blond guitarist, Cole, as well as the second guitarist, Maxwell, and the bass player (Oliver) and the drummer (Gavin, maybe?).
- Cole offers to let Nikki and Jules sit at their table, and Nikki finds herself sandwiched between him and Maxwell. Nikki feels a little star-struck since she's a fan of the band, and other fans keep coming up to ask for autographs while they chat.
- At one point Maxwell checks his texts, and tells Cole that the queen says they owe her. Cole tells Nikki that they call their manager the queen, sort of as a joke. Then everyone gets up to dance, and Nikki is so carried away by the music that she forgets about the upcoming trial for her mother's killer.