After sleeping in her car, Avery arrives at school exhausted, aching, and still wet from a rushed post-gym shower. During English class, an office aide calls Avery to the principal’s office, and Avery assumes Principal Altman has finished grading her physics retake.

Instead, Avery finds Libby waiting in Altman’s office, having come straight from work in her scrubs. Avery first fears something has happened to their father, Ricky, but a sharply dressed teenage boy says Ricky is alive and passed out in a Michigan motel. The boy then has Altman leave his own office, revealing that he holds unusual authority or leverage.

The boy introduces himself as Grayson Hawthorne, grandson of the recently deceased Tobias Hawthorne. Grayson explains that attorneys for Tobias’s estate have been sending certified letters to Avery for weeks, but Libby ignored them because she assumed they were scams. Grayson says Avery has been named in Tobias Hawthorne’s will, though Grayson does not know what Avery has inherited, and Avery’s presence is required at the will’s reading.

Avery is stunned because Avery has never heard of Tobias Hawthorne and cannot understand why a stranger would leave anything to her. Grayson has already arranged travel, making the invitation feel like a summons, then leaves Avery and Libby alone. Libby admits she is impressed by Grayson’s power and urges Avery to take the opportunity seriously.

Avery and Libby search Tobias Hawthorne online and find that he was a wealthy philanthropist. Libby suggests the inheritance could help Avery travel, pay for college, or improve her circumstances, while Avery remains wary of hoping too much. When Avery worries that neither sister can miss work, Libby reveals she has covered both their shifts and that the trip to Texas has been booked first class.