a cliff where a whirligig stands, engraved with the name Lea Rosalia Santos Zamora. Alexandra believes the whirligig has a powerful energy that can bring fantasies to life. After Alexandra has finished her fantasy boyfriend story for Steph, they hear a cough behind them. They turn around and see a nine-year-old boy standing there. Fast forward three years and Steph is still in a relationship with the boy’s older brother, Kyle, and she looks after and maintains the powerful whirligig on the cliff.

In Chapter 2, we meet eighth graders Alexandra and Steph. They’re long-time friends, even though they have very different personalities. Alexandra is a more take-charge, outgoing person. She likes to go “ouija walking,” which Steph describes as “An Alexandra invention in which you walk without any conscious plan, letting your feet go where they will.” This is a play on the old ouija board game, where people put their fingers on a planchette that moves across fancy letters printed on a board, “magically” spelling out answers to questions asked. The fact that Alexandra calls their wandering “ouija walking” shows that she is into such spiritual techniques. This interest is confirmed when she uses guided imagery with Steph at the point of the whirligig.