Debbie shifts into a confession about a story she has never told. In her second year at MIT, Debbie was thriving academically, earning straight A’s in difficult computer science courses and imagining a successful future. Her roommate Selena persuaded Debbie to abandon a planned night of coding and attend a Zeta Pi fraternity party, dressing Debbie up and walking with her across campus in the cold.

At the party, Debbie quickly became uncomfortable. Selena disappeared with a guy, leaving Debbie alone with a Coke, a headache, and no easy way home. A confident upperclassman named Hutch approached Debbie, flirted with her, and offered to get her another drink with a small amount of rum. Debbie accepted, and she later concluded that Hutch must have drugged the drink because one alcoholic beverage could not explain what happened next.

Hutch led Debbie upstairs under the pretense of finding a quieter place. Debbie’s memories became fragmented: she remembered his room, a bed, and feeling tired, then woke to find Hutch assaulting her. Debbie told Hutch to stop and tried to push him away, but Debbie’s body felt too weak and sluggish to resist. Hutch ignored Debbie, finished, zipped his pants, and left.

Debbie stumbled out of the party without Selena or her coat and somehow made it back to her dorm. Debbie tried to minimize the assault in her own mind, refusing to name it as rape, but the trauma consumed her. Nightmares, fear of seeing Hutch, sleeplessness, and declining focus destroyed her academic performance; after straight A’s the previous semester, Debbie failed every class, spoke only vaguely to a counselor, went home for the summer, and never returned to MIT.

Debbie explains that she nearly told Cooper many times, especially because Cooper was patient with Debbie’s anxiety about sex, but shame and fear kept Debbie silent until it felt too late. Remembering this trauma intensifies Debbie’s fury at Zane for blackmailing Lexi with topless photos. Debbie decides that while she cannot physically destroy Zane, she will do something she believes will be worse.