- In the now: When Nikki gets home from school, Cole is waiting in her bedroom. She tells him to go bother someone else.
- Cole asks why she's still into Jack, and reminds her that Jack left her first, leaving her so horribly broken that she agreed to go to the Everneath.
- Further, Cole says he doesn't want to see Nikki getting hurt—but Nikki gets the sense that there's something Cole's not telling her. His iPhone vibrates and he leaves.
- Nikki becomes convinced that Cole is hiding something from her, and decides to follow him. She gets in her car and follows him out of the neighborhood and to a convenience store—the same convenience store where she was found when she returned to the surface world.
- Nikki hides behind a wall next to the shop, and overhears Cole talking to another guy. The guy tells Cole that it's done, and Cole tells him to keep it up (even though the old man in question was being a pain).
- The guy tells Cole that they're ahead of their quota, but Cole says to stick with it because if they fall behind, the queen's people will start asking questions. And if that happens, someone might find out about Nikki and tell the queen.
- Next the guy complains about always having to find offerings, but Cole says that Nikki is stronger than Meredith was, so it's fair.
- This gets Nikki thinking: Meredith was a girl from school who dated Maxwell, the guitarist in Cole's band—and when Nikki sneaks a look, she sees that Cole was talking to Maxwell. Both guys leave.
- Nikki goes into the convenience store and asks the clerk a few questions, but the guy doesn't have a clue.
- Nikki leaves without having learned much that makes sense, except that Cole didn't want the queen to learn about her existence. She tucks away that info for later.