Scott asks Lee in the cafeteria if she knows of a poem by Lord Byron about a vampire, and she recites lines from The Giaour. Although he loves the creepy lines, he refuses her offer to bring a copy of the poem to school for him because he doesn’t want people thinking he spends time with her. Both Lee and Mouth are absent the next few days, but Bobby returns home. On Monday, Lee returns to school and gives Scott the vampire poem, but she has bandages on her wrists from doing “something stupid in the kitchen” (133).

Kyle joins the wrestling team and advises Scott to join, but Scott doesn’t see himself as an athlete. Lee asks Scott if he likes the vampire poem, but he hasn’t read it yet. He reads it quickly during study hall but won’t discuss it with Lee because he believes the bandages on her wrist are from self-harm. He immediately realizes that the situation mirrors when he lied to Tobie and turns back to talk to her, but Lee has already left.