Jessica Darling is a high school student living in Pineville, New Jersey. Jessica is the youngest of three children. She has an older sister and an older brother. Her older brother died when he was a baby, so Jessica never knew him. Jessica has a dark and negative view of the world and is looking forward to getting out of Pineville and starting her new life away at college.
She is head over heels in love with Marcus Flutie, but has stopped speaking to him and hanging around with since she found out he was just trying to get into Jessica's pants. Jessica's best friend is Hope. After Hope's brother died of an overdose, Hope's parents moved her to Tennessee. Jessica writes letters to Hope throughout the novel to keep Hope up to date on what is happening in Jessica's life.
