Contents
Chapter 25
Overview
Laurel leaves Floyd’s, returns home, and reopens Ellie’s diaries, finding entries that escalate from praise of her math tutor to fear, calling her a “bunny boiler.”
That night, Floyd admits Noelle was an obsessive ex who became pregnant and later abandoned Poppy, but he sidesteps confirming paternity, deepening Laurel’s unease.
Summary
Laurel wakes at Floyd’s uneasy and decides to go home. Relieved he doesn’t pressure her to stay, she reflects on recent revelations linking Poppy’s mother to Ellie’s former tutor and seeks comfort in her own space.
At home, Laurel opens Ellie’s box and rereads scattered diary entries from the months before Ellie disappeared. The entries chart Ellie’s fixation on Theo and revision, then detail a tutor who initially brings gifts, praise, and stellar results before growing intense and unsettling. Ellie ultimately labels the tutor a “bunny boiler” and plans to cancel her, after which the tutor vanishes from the diary.
Laurel fixates on the term, wondering if Noelle was obsessed, inappropriate, or jealous, but finds no explicit answers. She puts the diaries away, unsettled by the implications and the gap between Ellie’s fear and the official narrative of a runaway and hit-and-run.
That evening over dinner, Laurel asks Floyd about Noelle. Floyd describes Noelle as a needy fan from his brief popularity, says he succumbed to a relationship after a breakup, and portrays her as obsessive and hard to shake. He says Noelle became pregnant and later abandoned Poppy, but he pointedly avoids confirming whether he is the father.
Floyd frames the story as sad and shifts sympathy to Poppy’s abandonment, toasting Laurel’s positive influence. Laurel’s appetite fades, her unease sharpened by Floyd’s evasiveness and the grim tenor of the story.
Who Appears
- LaurelProtagonist; leaves Floyd’s, reviews Ellie’s diaries, fixates on the tutor as “bunny boiler,” questions Floyd about Noelle, ends uneasy.
- FloydLaurel’s boyfriend; recounts affair with Noelle, her obsession, pregnancy, and abandonment of Poppy; evades confirming paternity.
- EllieMissing daughter; diary entries show initial gratitude then fear of her math tutor, whom she calls a “bunny boiler.”
- Noelle DonnellyFormer tutor and Floyd’s obsessive ex; described as needy, intense, pregnant, later abandoning Poppy; possibly tied to Ellie.
- PoppyFloyd’s daughter; appears at breakfast; central to discussion of Noelle’s abandonment and Laurel’s new role.
- TheoEllie’s boyfriend; appears in diary as academic benchmark and focus alongside revision.
- Sara-JadeMentioned as Floyd’s older daughter; context for Floyd meeting Noelle after a breakup.
- HannaLaurel’s daughter; earlier remark about Noelle being creepy informs Laurel’s suspicion.