On the final Friday of summer holidays, Pip, Cara, and Lauren set up Cara’s birthday camp in a beech forest outside Kilton. Cara has brought a marquee rather than a tent, but the girls manage to assemble it before the boys arrive. While Pip lays out sleeping bags, Pip thinks uneasily that Andie Bell could be buried somewhere in the surrounding woods.

Ant, Zach, and Connor join them with supplies, and the group settles inside the lit marquee as rain begins. Connor awkwardly jokes with Pip, Ant teases Connor about liking Pip, and Cara jokingly links Pip to Ravi Singh. The mood remains casual and teasing as the friends drink, eat snacks, and try to enjoy the night.

Ant begins a ghost story that mirrors their exact situation: six friends camping in a marquee in the woods. Ant turns the story into a cruel joke about Andie Bell’s zombie corpse attacking them. Pip objects because Andie was a murdered girl, but Zach challenges Pip by pointing out that Pip is using Andie for a school project.

Ant then mentions Andie’s secret older lover, revealing that Pip’s confidential lead has spread among the group. Ant says Lauren told him, Lauren says Cara told her, and Cara admits she shared it with Naomi and Lauren because Cara did not realize it was supposed to stay secret. Pip recognizes that Pip did not explicitly say the information was private, but Pip is frustrated and resolves not to make that mistake again.

Zach brings out a Ouija board, and Lauren refuses to play because it crosses her fear boundary. While the boys try to persuade Lauren, Pip notices a brief white light in the trees, like a phone screen turning on and off. Pip then sees a dark figure shift on two legs and quietly warns the group that someone may be watching them from the woods.