Summary

The novel is separated into chapters narrated in the first-person present by three different narrators: Ivy, Mateo, and Cal. The three characters all attend Carlton High, and they were once best friends, but they have fallen out of touch with one another.

In Chapter 1, Ivy wakes up early to talk to her parents through Skype. They are in San Francisco and are about to head back home to Massachusetts for the Carlton Citizen of the Year ceremony, in which Ivy’s mother is going to be awarded for her contributions to a statewide report on opioid abuse. Ivy, who wants nothing more than to impress her mega-impressive parents and outshine her overachieving younger brother, volunteered to introduce her mother weeks ago and is nervous about not forgetting her speech, since she gets nervous in front of crowds. The day before, she had lost...