When Lynn comes home from the hospital, her parents tell Katie and Sammy that Lynn is fine, but has to have more iron. They feed her liver and give her iron pills. Gradually, Lynn improves. One night, she tells Katie that Amber has dumped her as a friend. The next day, Katie sees Amber with several other girls. When Amber and her friends mock and insult Katie, Katie punches Amber.

Katie tells her parents that Amber has dropped Lynn. Her parents decide it is time to buy a house. They gather documents to take to the bank. Knowing their parents are going to seek a loan, Lynn and Katie give them the $100 they have saved from their allowance money to help with the purchase. Their mother starts crying and rushes from the room. Katie finds the response confusing as she is too young to fully grasp nuanced emotions: “The money was supposed to make them happy, so we felt a little weird” (134).

Two weeks later, with an approved loan, her parents take Lynn house hunting. Lynn chooses a light blue house, since Katie likes blue. When they move into the house, the sisters get to choose where to put their study desks.