July 1985. 15-year-old Louise's divorced parents, Janet and Jim, are attending the wake of a teenage girl who has overdosed on drugs. Jim worries about their own daughter, but Janet reassures him that Louise is "all right." Jim asks if Louise's friend Kelly, "the sexy one," is also okay. Janet replies that she doesn't know, she doesn't think so. Kelly, 16, is walking on the beach with her boyfriend. Both are dressed in punk clothing and look tired and vacant. Louise, dressed in a private school uniform, returns home from school to find Matthew waiting for her with the news that he recently ran into Kelly at a club. Louise is not overjoyed to see him, but asks a lot of questions about her former friend. The story then moves backwards over the preceeding months--February 1985, January 1985, December 1984, and October 1984--to chart the breakup of Louise and Kelly's once inseparable friendship.