Make Your Home Among Strangers

At her hearing, Lizet receives support from the female dean and secretary, who both struggle against the behavior of their four male colleagues. Lizet is not dismissed from school, but instead put on academic probation because, after further consideration, Rawlings decides she was not provided with the tools for success by her high school and family environment. Lizet doesn’t totally understand any of this until she leaves the hearing, when she reads over her lengthy probation contract at the circulation desk in the library. She reflects, “Why did I feel like I’d tricked Rawlings into letting me in at all? How could I make this feeling go away?” (99). As Lizet reads her contract and thinks about the work ahead of her to avoid remedial courses in the spring, a pale, red-haired boy sets off the library sensor. He introduces himself as Ethan, and Lizet mostly ignores him—for now. 

Lizet visits a chemistry tutor on campus and makes appointments to study biology and calculus for the rest of the semester. On her way to the writing center to see a tutor about an upcoming English paper, she catches a news report on