The Town That Drowned
Ruby is the main character of this novel and the story is told entirely from her point of view. She is a 14‑year-old girl. Near the beginning of the book she has a vision of some of the townspeople swimming around her and one person happens to be someone she had never seen before. Ruby gets bullied at school (mainly by June Crouse) as a result of this incident. To make things worse, she has a unique brother who is seen as a freak by others. She receives suspicion after the townspeople learn that her house would be saved from being flooded (Later on, it is revealed that Ruby had to move anyway since the water went further than expected). Her best friend and cousin is Sarah Carson who was always there for Ruby. However, in that year, Sarah moved to another town and leaving Ruby to face her troubles on her own. Later on in the story Ruby falls in love with Troy Rutherford, who happens to be her first love.
A Stroke of Good Fortune
On the second floor Ruby is accosted by Mr. Jerger, a 78-year-old former teacher who asks her if she knows whose birthday it is. When she does not, he drags her into his apartment and shows her a book about Ponce de Leon and tells her about his search for the legendary Fountain of Youth. When she excuses herself from Mr. Jerger, and continues up the stairs, she becomes out of breath after only five steps and wonders for an instant if she has cancer. By the time she reaches the apartment of her friend Laverne Watts on the third floor she is nauseated and disoriented. After Ruby enters her friend's apartment and collapses into a chair, Laverne begins to tease her about being pregnant, and asks after her brother Rufus. Ruby does not like Laverne's interest in her brother, and denies the possibility that she is pregnant, claiming that her husband would never "slip up". Finally, however, Ruby begins to admit to herself the possibility that she is pregnant. Suddenly, she is startled by a loud noise coming from below, and when she peers down the banister she sees Mr. Jerger fighting and yelling with Hartley Gilfeet. As she stares down the stairwell, she says the words "Good Fortune, Baby" and feels a little roll in her stomach.