Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Sloane sensing Naomi's arrival before the shuttle even pulls up—she recognizes her friend's signature smoky vanilla perfume. When the shuttle arrives, Naomi steps out wearing a striking 1970s outfit: a faux-fur bucket hat, a denim halter jumpsuit with wide bell-bottoms, cowboy boots, and an orange suedette jacket with fuzzy pink trim. Her long black hair is braided, and she wears only metallic green eyeliner.

Naomi tackles Sloane in an aggressive hug, shouting that she's going to eat her, then immediately shifts to asking whether she smells like she's been traveling for twenty hours. She comments approvingly on Sloane's shorter, strawberry-blond hair, noting it's closer to her natural color and edgier than the platinum Sloane had at their last meeting.

The narrative then flashes back to that last meeting: Levi's birthday party in Brooklyn, nearly a year earlier. Sloane and Joel drove six and a half hours to a grunge rave in a Bushwick warehouse. Sloane saw Naomi for only about ten minutes before Naomi disappeared, and the next day they had an awkward brunch where Naomi was hungover and blamed Lee, her on-and-off boyfriend of a decade. Sloane reflects on Naomi and Lee's volatile relationship—fire and gasoline—and worries that Lee might turn Naomi up so high she'll explode.

Back in the present, Naomi critiques the lodging's decor as Pinterest chic and luxe basic, joking about wanting a haunted mansion instead. She takes an apple from a basket, bites into it, and dismisses it as possibly plastic. She gives a mixed report on the tour—good, bad, fun, exhausting—and expresses gratitude that the band's hit song Kitchen Floor pays the bills, while simultaneously being sick of hearing it. She mimes shooting herself in the head at the mention of the song.

The conversation turns to Lee. Naomi admits the song is thoroughly mediocre and that it depresses her that it's their big hit. Sloane asks whether Naomi has had the talk about the band getting someone else to manage PR, and Naomi says not yet. She pulls out a handful of Dum-Dums lollipops—her substitute for smoking, which she's been using for about three years at one lollipop a day. Sloane suspects the lollipop is a deflection from talking about work.

The chapter reveals that Naomi studied photography in college and had success in fashion before starting PR for Levi's band as a supportive side gig. But Data Ave took off and consumed both their lives. For the past year, Naomi has expressed dissatisfaction and a desire to return to being an artist. When Sloane once asked why she couldn't do both, Naomi lost it, saying it's not possible—it's consuming, twenty-four seven, and she ended up on her boyfriend's payroll with her life revolving around him. Sloane felt she was failing her friend, unable to find the right advice.

Naomi changes the subject, as she often does, asking what they should do. She suggests going into town for dinner, jokes about doing cocaine, asks where the bathroom is (noting it takes fifteen minutes to get in and out of her jumpsuit), and apologizes for forgetting Sloane's birthday crown. When Sloane asks what's in her giant suitcase, Naomi cackles and says her victims.

Key Events

Naomi arrives at the lodging in a distinctive 1970s outfit, and Sloane senses her before the shuttle arrives.
The two friends reunite with an aggressive tackle-hug; Naomi compliments Sloane's new hair.
Flashback to Levi's birthday party in Brooklyn nearly a year earlier, where Naomi was hungover and blamed Lee.
Naomi critiques the lodging's decor and jokes about wanting a haunted mansion.
Naomi discusses the tour and the band's hit song Kitchen Floor, expressing both gratitude and exhaustion.
Naomi reveals she hasn't had the talk with Lee about replacing her as PR manager.
The chapter reveals Naomi's background in photography and fashion, and her dissatisfaction with working for Lee.
Naomi deflects from the work conversation with lollipops and a subject change.
Naomi suggests going into town for dinner and jokes about her suitcase containing victims.

Character Development

Sloane: This chapter deepens Sloane's role as the steady, grounding friend. She senses Naomi's arrival intuitively, notices details, and tries to offer support even when she doesn't know what to say. Her internal reflection on the Brooklyn party shows her concern for Naomi's wellbeing and her awareness of the unhealthy dynamic between Naomi and Lee. She also reveals her own insecurity about her hair, worrying it's too suburban.

Naomi: Naomi emerges as a vibrant, larger-than-life character who uses humor and deflection to avoid difficult conversations. Her aggressive hug and theatrical comments mask deeper dissatisfaction with her career and relationship. The lollipops—a substitute for smoking—symbolize her pattern of swapping one coping mechanism for another. Her frustration about working for Lee and wanting to return to being an artist reveals a core conflict: she's trapped in a role that consumes her, and she can't see a way out.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Friendship and reunion: The chapter centers on the reunion of two close friends, showing both the warmth of their connection and the gaps that time and distance have created. Sloane's intuitive sense of Naomi's arrival suggests a deep bond.

Toxic romantic partnership: Naomi and Lee's relationship is described as fire and gasoline—passionate but volatile. Naomi blames Lee for her hangover, and Sloane worries about the relationship's destructive potential.

Career dissatisfaction and lost artistic identity: Naomi's photography background and fashion success contrast sharply with her current role managing PR for her boyfriend's band. She explicitly wants to return to being an artist but feels it's impossible.

Coping mechanisms and substance substitution: Naomi's lollipops replaced smoking but have become their own daily habit. The substitution pattern suggests she's not addressing underlying issues.

Avoidance and deflection in communication: Naomi repeatedly changes the subject when conversations get uncomfortable—the lollipop, the subject change after her outburst about work, the joking about cocaine and victims.

Fame and creative compromise: Kitchen Floor is described as thoroughly mediocre yet it's the band's big hit, suggesting the tension between artistic merit and commercial success.

Unequal power dynamics in relationships: Naomi is on her boyfriend's payroll, her life revolving around him—a position she resents but can't escape.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter establishes the central friendship dynamic that will likely drive the story forward. It introduces Naomi as a fully realized character with her own conflicts—a woman trapped between loyalty to her boyfriend and her own artistic ambitions. The chapter also plants seeds for future tension: Naomi's dissatisfaction with Lee, her avoidance of hard conversations, and her joking references to violence that may or may not be foreshadowing. The reunion itself, set against the backdrop of Sloane's birthday weekend, creates the conditions for whatever events follow.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Naomi's use of lollipops function as both a coping mechanism and a form of deflection in this chapter?

Naomi started using lollipops to quit smoking, and they were effective—she no longer smokes. But she's been on one lollipop a day for about three years, suggesting the substitute has become its own habit. In the chapter, she pulls out the lollipops specifically when the conversation turns to work and Lee, and Sloane suspects the treat is a means of deflection. The lollipops represent Naomi's pattern of swapping one coping mechanism for another rather than addressing the underlying issues.

2. What does the flashback to Levi's birthday party reveal about Naomi and Lee's relationship, and how does it inform Sloane's perspective?

The flashback shows Naomi hungover and blaming Lee, with Sloane holding back her hair in the bathroom. Sloane's narration describes the relationship as fire and gasoline—passionate but volatile. She appreciates that Lee never tries to dim Naomi's light, but worries he'll turn her up so high she'll explode. This perspective frames the present-day conversation about Naomi's dissatisfaction with working for Lee, making Sloane's concern feel grounded in a year of observation.

3. How does Naomi's description of Kitchen Floor reveal the tension between commercial success and artistic fulfillment?

Naomi says she's grateful the song pays the bills but that hearing it makes her want to shoot herself. She calls it thoroughly mediocre and says it depresses her that it's their big hit. This tension mirrors her larger conflict: she's achieved a kind of success (the band is doing well, the song is a hit) but at the cost of her own artistic identity. She studied photography and had fashion success, but now her life revolves around Lee's band—a compromise she resents.