The Victim Contents

Chapter Two: Friends

The Victim › Chapter Two

The narrator joins a political movement and helps turn an injured friend’s story into publicity. She soon sees what public outrage can do for her.

Start Chapter Two: “Overexplaining” →

Sections

  1. Overexplaining
    Alone in a police station, the narrator waits to tell her version of what happened.
  2. A new life
    The narrator learns that her adoptive mother left everything to children's charities, and nothing to her.
  3. White supremacist
    With free time at last, the narrator returns to reading, and to the politics around her.
  4. Peaceful protest
    A demonstration turns violent within a minute, and a friend pulls the narrator out of the crowd.
  5. Tol
    A young activist gives the most memorable speech at a party event, and the narrator takes notice.
  6. Bullies
    The movement grows fast under her roommate's brother, whose methods worry the narrator.
  7. Charity case
    A video of an injured friend goes viral, and the donations start pouring in.
  8. First interview
    The narrator and her injured friend are prepared for their first television interview.
  9. Plans of mice and women
    As summer ends, the narrator grows close to her roommate and tells her a lie she cannot take back.
  10. Doxed
    An anonymous comment exposes the address of two men the movement blames for an attack.
  11. Due process
    Questioned by detectives after a video goes viral, the narrator tells them only what they need to know.
  12. Moral high ground
    Nursing a hangover, the narrator and her roommate plan their next move.
  13. The patriarchy
    Ignored by someone she needs, the narrator throws herself into a mayoral campaign.
  14. Real lives matter
    A serial arsonist's fourth fire kills sixteen people, and the campaign must decide how to respond.
  15. The arsonist
    The narrator's speech turns the tide of the campaign as the fires continue.
  16. Hanging by a thread
    As news about “the arsonist” floods national television, the campaign loses its funding.
  17. Make the country great again
    A sudden death leaves the narrator facing a grieving family at the funeral.
  18. Nazis
    A college debate about free speech for extremists turns personal.
  19. The man who played with matches
    Someone from the past returns, and the narrator feels herself sliding toward the abyss.
  20. Anti-christian
    Two housemates who cannot stand each other turn every conversation into an argument.
  21. Can't have your cake nor eat it
    A housemate starts acting strangely on the way to AA meetings, and refuses to explain why.
  22. Grug
    A wounded man wakes up to find the narrator watching him, and she wants answers.
  23. Runaway
    A confession about “Matches”, a dangerous man from someone's past.
  24. Closing in
    Memories of her little sister return just as the police come to the door.
  25. Retaliation
    The narrator drives back to a motel to deal with the man who let her down.
  26. White lies
    Waking from nightmares in a speeding car, the narrator must decide whom to protect.