Elizabeth "Liz" Buxbaum

Elizabeth is usually called Liz by friends and family. She is a high school senior as this novel opens. The milestones she encounters as a senior prompt renewed grief over the death of her mother seven years earlier. Liz has never stopped grieving, but she has become accustomed to hiding her pain from others. This includes her closest friend, Jocelyn. From Jocelyn's perspective, Liz simply becomes withdrawn and is uninterested in spending time together. Liz's father has remarried, and Helena is a kind woman who wants to be friends with Liz. Liz's grief and her worry that she is moving past her memories of her mother make Liz reluctant to accept any of Helena's offers of friendship.

Liz has spent so much time with the romantic comedy movies her mother loved that she has adopted those messages as life lessons she needs to follow. In addition...