Where Sleeping Girls Lie

On Tuesday, Sade and Baz do homework over lunch. Baz expresses his exhaustion from worry about Elizabeth and wonders aloud if Jude might be able to sell him something to make him sleep. Sade is surprised to learn Jude is a drug dealer and urges Baz not to take any pills. He agrees but tells Sade he doesn’t know if he “can carry on” with “everything” (235). This worries Sade, but she suggests he get some rest and text if he needs anything. Back in her room, Sade finds more flowers from Jude. She agrees to see him again at the on-campus cafe the following day.

In the evening, Sade heads for the pool, where August is already swimming. They tease each other in the water as usual, but August suddenly moves closer and kisses Sade. She immediately pushes him away and climbs out of the pool as he apologizes. Sade is in such a rush to get to her room that she doesn’t immediately see Persephone waiting at her door. The other girl apologizes for their argument and offers to help Sade learn more about the Fishermen. She suggests they use a cloning app on August’s phone to copy his data and read the Fishermen’s messages. Sade is surprised that Persephone wants to help, but she insists that she “always help[s] [her] friends” (240).

The next day, Sade meets Jude at the coffee shop and asks him about dating April. Jude avoids the question, and Sade leaves, fed up “with boys who thought they could do whatever they liked because they knew how to charm and gaslight” (241).

On Thursday, August approaches her between classes to apologize for the kiss. He looks distraught, and Sade decides to take advantage of his regret, asking him to help her train for the swim team later that evening as an excuse to use the cloning app on his phone. August is already in the pool when she arrives at Newton. She slips into the boys’ changing room to find his things and breaks into his phone.

By Friday, most of the students are preparing to leave for the half-term break. Sade and Baz, however, are staying on campus. On their way to lunch, Persephone approaches Sade to tell her she received the copy of August’s phone and suggests they meet that evening to look through it. Sade sees Jude watching her in the cafeteria and feels anxious. Her anxiety increases when he jumps up on a table and announces to the full cafeteria that Sade is “the only girl for [him]” (248). He is sure that she likes him too, but she needs him to “prove [his] commitment” before she agrees to be with him (248). Sade is reminded of supposedly romantic love declarations from books and movies, but to her, it feels like being “cornered, forced to go along with the master’s puppet show in order to not upset him” (248).

Persephone looks “more betrayed than shocked” (248) and walks silently out of the cafeteria. Confused, Sade decides that Persephone needs to answer some questions and heads to the other girl’s dorm after class. Persephone has tears in her eyes as she tells Sade that Jude is a rapist.

Sade is silent after Persephone’s announcement. Finally, she tells the other girl she is “so sorry.” Persephone doesn’t acknowledge her apology; she just tells Sade that she looked at August’s phone data and found a group chat that ANA boys use to “post really vile things about girls at the school” (251). There are also a number of photos and videos that are password-protected. Persephone thinks the password corresponds to particular girls’ nicknames. The most recent exchange is about Jude’s declaration in the cafeteria. Jude, going by “Jack the Ripper,” complains that “new girl is frigid as hell” and hopes “she won’t remember being so frigid in the end” (252). Persephone tells Sade that Jude came on to her during their first year, finally cornering her one night and promising to “turn [her] straight” one day (252). She knows that he hooked up with girls “who weren’t okay afterward,” but she never told anyone because they were just “a bunch of rumors,” and she didn’t think anyone would believe her (253). Sade tells Persephone that “[t]hey need to be stopped” (253).

Sade spends the break with Persephone trying to decipher the Fisherman chat and understand how Elizabeth fits in. On Monday, Sade receives a letter just like the one she found in Elizabeth’s jewelry box. It is written in Morse code, and Sade quickly translates it to find an invitation to a Hawking Soiree, preceded by a warning that “[r]ats that squeal become a meal” (255). Sade is remembering the dead rat on her first day when Jude texts her. He explains that the invitation is for his birthday party and hopes the Hawking tradition of Morse code didn’t scare her.

Sade immediately texts Persephone, who advises Sade to decline the invitation, insisting that “[n]othing good comes from a Hawking party” (257). Sade, however, suggests they use the invitation to “catch Jude” and stop him from hurting other girls.

On Wednesday, Sade sees Jude in the library. He tells Sade he “know[s] what [she’s] planning” (261), and Sade panics for a moment before he continues, saying that he will figure out what she’s getting him for his birthday surprise. Relieved, Sade goes along with the implication, agreeing she will see him at his party.

When Sade gets back to her room, she finds an email from an unknown sender warning her to “stop digging.” She responds immediately, demanding to know who sent the email, but her message is returned as undeliverable.

On the day of the party, Sade goes to Persephone’s room to plan for the evening. She intends to coax a confession from Jude and record it on a hidden phone. She is nervous but determined. By the time Persephone drops her off in a borrowed car, the party is already well underway. August is the first person to greet Sade, and she fights the urge to recoil as he hugs her. August seemed “so kind and gentle” (266), but now that she knows about the chat, she can’t shake the feeling that “everything he said [is] slimy and calculated” (267). August tells her that Jude is looking for her and congratulates her on their new relationship. Jude is already drunk and challenges Sade to a game of Never Have I Ever. After the game, he invites her to his room, and Sade discreetly begins recording on her phone. Jude offers her a drink, assuring her that he knows she is Muslim, and so the drink does not contain alcohol. He urges her to “drink up,” and she pretends to take a sip.

Jude starts to come onto her, asking her to kiss him and give him his birthday present, but Sade deflects. She pushes him into a hammock, and he struggles to rebalance. Sade turns off the phone’s recording. He asks her if she ever gets tired of acting like she doesn’t want him, and she suggests that maybe she legitimately isn’t interested. Jude tells her that she sometimes reminds him of someone, which scares him. He is visibly unsteady, and Sade tells him “the real fun” will start the next day when he can’t remember what happened (271). Actually, she tells him, it “isn’t fun. It’s confusing and scary. It’s violating. It’s worse than anything you could imagine” (271). Jude looks at her with a sudden clarity and calls her Jamila. She reminds him she is Sade, not Jamila.

Sade finds Persephone and intends to leave the party as quickly as possible, but she realizes that she left her jacket and phone in Jude’s room. When she hurries back to retrieve it, she sees Jude sprawled on his bed. He is dead.

The chapter ends with another diary entry that reads, “I’m glad / he’s dead” (274).