- Pierre Anthon's still in the tree, bundled up for winter now. And he's still ranting about how the heap of meaning is meaningless.
- But who cares? A TV show in Atlanta wants to fly the whole class to America to do an interview. Wowzers.
- However, the parents finally do something non-stupid and tell them they can't go, for security reasons. The kids are only slightly bummed; after all, if their security has become that important, they must be really meaningful. (They've obviously never heard of reality show celebrities.)
- Pierre Anthon sees through it, though. He says the adults kept them behind because they wanted the media to keep coming to Taering and spending money at all the local businesses.
- But the Atlanta TV show host refuses to come to Taering; she's too busy.
- Which must mean the kids aren't really that important at all.
- Which must mean the heap of meaning really isn't that meaningful.
- Which must mean Pierre Anthon is right.
- Agnes can't deal with the doubt. She goes back to pretending to be superior, because that's way better than Pierre Anthon being right.
- The class realizes that, for reasons they can't explain, the victory in their celebrity is beginning to feel like defeat.