As Betty turns 17, she begins to take her life as a writer more seriously and to see herself as beautiful. Flossie divorces Cutlass and keeps Nova so that she can have access to some of Cutlass’s money. She gets a job at a diner a few towns away.

Betty goes trick-or-treating with Nova and Flossie, and Flossie sets Nova down on the train tracks and ties his shoelace to the rail tie. Betty realizes and tries to help, but Flossie pins her down. They fight as the train gets closer. Flossie says that their mother promised that she’d be a star, and Betty pleads with Flossie to save Nova so that she can save herself. Finally, she moves to retrieve Nova. The train screeches to a halt a moment before hitting them both, and Flossie denies ever having tried to kill her child.

In the week following Halloween, Nova falls to the ground while trying to jump on the bed. Flossie assumes that he’s being dramatic when he won’t stop crying, but when Mrs. Silkworm gets there, she picks him up and takes him to the hospital. Flossie takes this opportunity to go to California. Nova’s brain swells, and Mrs.