- Epigraph: "Can you make yourself love? Can you make yourself be loved?"—Lena Kaligaris (a.k.a. one of our protagonists)
- Lena and her sister are in Greece visiting their grandparents who live on a volcanic island. How cool is that?
- Way cooler than Wallman's, that's for sure, where Tibby is starting her job and manager, Duncan Howe, is showing her the ropes.
- To humor herself while her friends are away, Tibby is going to create a "suckumentary" movie about her summer—Duncan will have the leading role.
- Putting together an antiperspirant display, Tibby places some tape in her smock, and then Duncan accuses Tibby of stealing the tape. Bummer. Tibby thinks it's because her nose ring makes her look a little rough around the edges.
- Now Lena is writing Carmen a letter. Confused yet? She talks about her old, velour-sweat-suit-wearing grandmother and teeny weeny grandfather. She spent her life imagining they are beautiful and memorable people, but it turns out that only the memorable part is accurate. Her grandfather, or "Bapi," doesn't speak English.
- She has the Pants and wonders, "Can you make yourself love someone?" Now, where have we heard that before?