Nivia is a 17-year-old Black student at Caswell Prep, a prestigious art school that her parents and grandfather also attended. The students are in the process of finishing up projects for the Jabec Art Prize.

Nivia returns to her dorm at 3 am, covered in paint and turpentine, and finds her old roommate, Ryan, crying in the bathroom. Ryan is struggling with the theme of the art competition: “Tell. Your. Truth.” (44). Nivia tries to convince Ryan to do something unexpected and to paint what she wants, but Ryan struggles with the pressure that her entire family—whose lives revolve around art—places on her. However, Nivia notes to herself how much the prize would mean to her as well.

The next day, the students discover what Nivia was out doing the night before: painting over a Jabec work in the gallery to enter it into the art competition. However, Nivia fears the disciplinary consequences of coming forward to claim the work as her own. When Headmaster Ewing asks the class about the work, Ryan lies and claims that it was her.

After class, Ryan and Nivia argue about Ryan’s lie. Ryan claims that she needs the Jabec Prize in order to prove her worth to her family, that it means more to her than Nivia since Nivia would not even admit it was her.