They have two hours to kill before dinner. Two hours here can feel like three days. Chaz convinces Josh to go to Group Exercise where they’ll do jumping jacks, push-ups, and run in place. Howie says he’ll go with them. Josh says “Okay” at the precise moment that Chaz says “No.” Then Chaz shrugs and says, “Yeah. Whatever,” and Howie trots along beside them like he is a dachshund or a corgi, some kind of dog with short legs. Jeanette goes looking for Nina, and Teacher has an appointment with his psychiatrist, an elderly woman whom he speaks of with high regard. Bunny can’t remember her name, but wonders if they’ll let her swap Dr. Fitzgerald for the elderly woman.
Andrea tells Bunny that before dinner, she’s going to take a shower. “Wash my hair. Put on real clothes.” She is wearing a pair of jeans and a paper pajama top. “I even have shoes here. A cute pair of flats that I can wear.”
“For your birthday,” Bunny notes, and Andrea drifts into talk about birthday parties she had as a child. “Every year, I got a new puffy dress. I didn’t have brothers or sisters, so my mother would go hog wild with balloons, streamers, party hats, and an ice cream cake from Carvel. I was a happy kid,” she says. “I don’t know what happened.”
“You liked the paper hats?” Bunny asks, and Andrea says, “Don’t all kids like paper hats?”