The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

In Pen’s dorm room, she and Alice discuss Pen’s visit to the Lennoxes. Alice accuses Pen of falling in love with the whole Lennox clan. She tells Pen that she would never look twice at Sasha normally, but in this context, he appeared irresistibly romantic. Pen isn’t so sure that Alice’s judgment is accurate. To change the subject, she asks Alice about her upcoming rehearsal for Arcadia.

Meeting Jo and Pen at a restaurant for lunch, Alice reflects that Pen’s upbringing taught her to second-guess herself and never take up space. This marks a fundamental difference between the two of them, and Alice hopes that school will slowly allow Pen to change her tentative outlook for the better. At lunch, Jo points out a girl named Sylvia who was her childhood crush in boarding school. The two of them were kicked out of their school for having a romantic relationship, and Jo is nervous about the prospect of approaching her again.

On her laptop, Pen is excited when Chet and Sasha add her to a chat app and begin messaging her. Chet teases her in a friendly way and tells her that Sasha could give her horseback riding lessons since she isn’t a very good rider.