Come and Get It

Kennedy struggles to fit into campus life at the University of Arkansas. She spends much of her time alone inspecting various parts of her body and her belongings for grime. She observes how Tyler’s presence makes her feel insecure about herself.

One night, Kennedy overhears Millie, Ryland, and Colette talking about the residents in the adjacent room. She starts eavesdropping on them night after night and is pleased when the RAs start gossiping about Tyler and her love for dogs. Millie gets up to do her rounds and mentions that they are supposed to do a health and safety check the following Tuesday morning.

Kennedy goes to the kitchen, where Peyton is preparing dinner and Tyler and her friends are getting ready to go out. Tyler, Casey, and Jenna happen to start talking about the health and safety checks, and Tyler remembers a prank some girls had played on their RAs, trashing their rooms and then cleaning them up before they returned with the resident director. When Tyler expresses her wish to do the same prank, Kennedy reveals the schedule to her. Tyler convinces Peyton to participate in the prank, which she plans to do on Millie. Kennedy feels excluded and hurt by Tyler’s preference for Peyton.

Later that night, Peyton reminds her to do her dishes, which annoys Kennedy. She forgets to do them anyway and falls asleep reading Agatha’s book.

On the morning of the health and safety check, the RAs gather in Josh’s office. Millie feels guilty that she, Ryland, and Colette have formed a clique that visibly excludes Joanie. However, she also learns that Joanie and Josh have been forming their own connection over movies.

As the RAs begin their inspections, Colette begs off from confronting the students herself. Millie agrees on the condition that Colette accompany her anyway. Everything is turning out alright until they reach Taylor, Peyton, and Kennedy’s suite, where Millie finds an outrageous mess on Peyton’s side of the double. Millie tells Peyton that they’re going to retrieve Josh to look at the mess. Because Peyton is the only other Black resident in Belgrade, Millie worries about Josh giving her a hard time.

When they return to the suite with Josh, they are surprised to find the mess is gone. They get back to the elevator, where Josh berates Millie and Colette for the incident. Since Millie is the assistant assigned to the suite, Josh asks her back to his office to talk more. Millie is embarrassed as Josh admonishes her to be more proactive with preventing these kinds of incidents, especially since Aimee is planning to make Millie the resident director of Belgrade the following year. When Josh realizes that Millie didn’t know, he is embarrassed and asks her not to tell anyone else.

Millie knows she will have to resolve whatever issues underlie the prank, so she goes to confront Peyton about it. Millie quickly gets her to admit that Tyler had masterminded the prank and that Kennedy had eavesdropped on the RAs, learning the inspection schedule. Millie also realizes that Tyler took advantage of Peyton by involving her in the prank, which Millie cautions Peyton against. Peyton argues that she only participated because Tyler said it would be funnier. She also brings up that Kennedy hasn’t been washing her dishes. Millie advises her to find some way to resolve it, recalling one resident whose roommates started leaving dirty dishes on her bed to pressure her. Before she leaves, she notices a neatly folded 20-dollar bill among Peyton’s things, signaling to her that Tyler had paid her to participate in the prank.

Millie shares her findings with her friends at their favorite bar. Colette agrees that Tyler’s decision to involve Peyton was racist. They gossip about Tyler with the intent of getting back at her but can’t work up anything concrete. Millie brings up the time she had overheard Tyler calling her “ghetto.” When they mention Tyler’s plans for her sorority house’s Halloween decorations, Ryland and Colette propose stealing Tyler’s sorority theme for their dorm decorations. Millie is annoyed because she has been handling dormitory decorations ever since they moved in, and Colette hasn’t shown any initiative to come up with a decorative theme until now. She tries to get Colette to stop, but Colette argues that it won’t really matter because Tyler is going to continue living a privileged life anyway.

Coming back from the bathroom, a drunk Millie sees Agatha and approaches her. Agatha expresses that the interview helped her to realize what she really wanted to write, and she tries to get Millie to talk about how her residents make her feel. Millie admits that because Belgrade isn’t the best place to live, it releases a lot of unwarranted aggression among the residents. This prompts Agatha to share that she is now studying the relationship students have to wealth. Millie invites her to come back to Belgrade to observe the residents. When Millie returns to her friends, Colette deduces that Agatha is lesbian.

In the days following her first interview at Belgrade, Agatha is compelled by the quotes she has gathered from Jenna. Jean encourages her to send Jenna’s quotes as a standalone piece to her agent. Agatha changes Jenna’s name and passes it along. The agent raves over the profile and sends it to Teen Vogue. When the magazine editors ask Agatha for more information, Agatha fills it out herself, devising responses from the insight Millie had given her as well as additional research. The piece is well-received upon publication, and she is given an opportunity to write a second profile for the magazine website. Excited by the possibility that Robin might read her work, Agatha tries to conduct another interview but fails to get anything worthwhile. She runs into Millie at the bar, and they agree to meet at Belgrade.

On the morning of her 38th birthday, Agatha goes for a run and accidentally comes across Millie doing maintenance work on her house-sit. Millie explains her arrangement with Aimee’s relatives and shows Agatha around the house, expressing the hope that the effort she is making will convince them to sell it to her. Agatha is impressed by Millie’s motivation, especially in contrast to Robin.

The next day, Agatha goes to Belgrade, and Millie brings her up to her room. Millie sets Agatha up to eavesdrop on Tyler, Casey, Jenna, and Peyton while they are in the suite next door. Agatha takes notes on anything they mention about their lifestyle spending and campus life, following their conversation “[e]ffortlessly, as if she [is] watching television” (180). Agatha is pleased with the results. She pays Millie $40 and hopes to return but asks Millie to keep their arrangement secret. Millie agrees, admitting that she doesn’t mind because of the prank they played on her. Agatha encourages her to do something about it.

Kennedy meets a student named Shea in her Gender Studies class and finds the potential for friendship with her. They talk about their living situations, and Kennedy learns that Shea lives in the sorority house near her dormitory. They consider attending a department barbecue that weekend and trade phone numbers to coordinate.

On Saturday, Kennedy gets ready for the barbecue and texts Shea to come along. When Shea doesn’t immediately respond, Kennedy goes to the kitchen to eat something. She tries to distract herself but is ultimately surprised when Shea does answer, saying, “We just walked in. Are you here?” (192). Kennedy is hurt that Shea didn’t pass by Belgrade to pick her up on the way but is also curious to know who is accompanying Shea. She starts to worry that Shea will feel like Kennedy is too needy for her company. Panicking, Kennedy leaves the dormitory and goes to Target instead of the barbecue.

She buys paper clips and beauty products. She takes an Uber back home but gets off before the ride is over to walk the rest of the way. As she walks, she imagines being assaulted by a stranger and pictures how Millie and her suitemates would react to her, giving her care and attention.