How to Make Friends with the Dark

Content Warning: This section discusses themes of grief, parental loss, and trauma.

Sixteen-year-old Grace “Tiger” Tolliver finds a stack of unpaid bills on the dresser, which worries her. Her mother, June Tolliver, is asleep on the couch with a headache. The running water in the house is dirty, and there is no food. June recently lost her job since the daycare she worked at suddenly closed.

Tiger wakes June up, and as June drives her to school, June promises to do better and take care of all the pending chores. Tiger hesitantly tells June that she is going to the Memorial Days dance with Kai Henderson. Kai, Tiger, and Tiger’s best friend, Katerina “Cake” Rishworth, play in a band together. June is worried about the dance, citing the inevitable drinking at the afterparty, and asks Tiger a number of questions about it. Tiger lashes out at June, saying she is tired of feeling like a “bug in a jar” (10), and she runs off into the school.

In zero period, Lupe Hidalgo, a senior, makes fun of Tiger’s clothes. As usual, Tiger is wearing thrifted clothes that her mother picked out. Tiger’s phone vibrates constantly, but she doesn’t check it; she counts down the minutes until biology, when she will see Kai.