"There's really no relief for pain, is there? You either get it now, or you get it later. Or both. But you always get it. Pain makes absolutely freakin' sure of that." – Juliet Brynn must start her life over again in her newly-divorced mom's run-down apartment, and at a new school where she knows no one. Nothing seems familiar or safe or invulnerable except Damon, who feels a world away back at Juliet's old school on the other side of town. As her mother's new relationship threatens Juliet's tenuous hold on her own self-reliance, Juliet's new friends cope with damaged families, broken hearts, and death in increasingly destructive ways. When Juliet finds herself completely alone in the world with no protections or safety nets, she must choose between the two paths before her: one leading to a dark future that makes no sense, and another that will take her to the only destination which promises to finally put an end to all her pain.