Scarlett moved in across the street from Halley when both girls were eleven and they have been best friends ever since.

Scarlett, popular, flamboyant and mature, has always taken care of her mother who has had a drinking problem. Halley, quiet, smart and steady, has a close knit family.

Her father is a popular radio host and her mother a well-known child psychologist who uses her relationship with Halley as the basis for a series of books on parenting and mother/daughter relationships. The differences between Halley and Scarlett have only strengthened their friendship.

The summer before their junior year, the two find jobs working as checkers at Milton's, the only place in town with enough positions to hire both of them. Since Halley spends the first two weeks of summer with her parents on their yearly vacation, this time a cross-country trip to California and...