Wintergirls

At home, Lia’s father and stepmother, Jennifer, are watching a movie on the couch. Jennifer tells Lia that Emma is sleeping over at a friend’s house. Lia tells her father and Jennifer that she just got back from a friend’s place, where they played cards and ate pizza. Lia’s father tells Lia that’s wonderful to hear. Lia says she is going to the funeral the next day with a group of classmates from the school play, and that her therapist agrees that going to the funeral is a good idea. Jennifer tells Lia she spoke with Lia’s mother, who wants Lia to come over and spend the night Saturday night. Lia says she doesn’t want to. Jennifer insists Lia go for just one night, adding, “Think of what a good example you’d show Emma—how to deal head-on with things that make you uncomfortable. Everybody has to learn how to do that” (126). Lia agrees to spend just one night at her mother’s.

Lia takes a shower then goes back into the kitchen for a cup of tea. From the kitchen, Lia can hear her father and Jennifer talking on the couch in the next room.