Content Warning: This guide contains discussion of drug abuse, sex, violence, and mental health stigmatizations.

Tess moves to New York City, leaving her unnamed suburban hometown, feeling reborn as she crosses the George Washington Bridge. She is 22 years old and has very little money. An acquaintance named Jesse has a room she can rent in Williamsburg for $700 a month. 

Tess interviews for a waitressing job at an upscale restaurant in Union Square. The manager, Howard, asks her why she chose to move to New York City, and Tess doesn’t have an answer about ambitions for herself in the city because the only thing she knows that she wants is “[to live] a twenty-four-hour life” (11). Howard and Tess discuss what she’s reading, what she wants out of life, what her likes and dislikes are. Tess is confused by the questions Howard asks, but he explains that the restaurant he manages is unique. Tess doesn’t have a lot of answers for Howard because she doesn’t yet have identifiable goals or dreams. Howard ogles Tess’s body as she leaves the interview.