Melinda Sordino narrates the story of her first year of high school. She begins the year a total outcast, and all of her previous friends have either drifted away or abandoned her after what happened over the summer. On the bus to school, Melinda finds nobody to sit with. During the first assembly in the auditorium, she sits beside a new student named Heather, who knows nothing of the drama. Melinda meets Mr. Neck, a man with a thick neck who turns out to be her social studies teacher. Melinda frames her narrative as if she observes life from the outside, and she dreads spending the year alone. Rachel, her ex-best friend, laughs at her and taunts her. She includes a sarcastic list of “the first ten lies they tell you in high school” (5), mocking the idea that she has support from the school or that these years will be cherished in the future.

At lunch, Melinda finds herself in the cafeteria, overwhelmed by social pressure. She observantly remarks on the people around her but does so in a shallow manner, as if she views them as objects.