Molly is an eighth-grade student at Fisher Middle School who launches a podcast to protest the administration's sexist dress code. She views herself as fairly average compared to her athletically or artistically gifted friends but possesses a strong sense of justice. At home, she manages the heavy emotional toll of her older brother's addiction by retreating to her childhood treehouse. She actively seeks to protect him from getting into legal trouble while hoping to earn his affection.

Olivia is an eighth-grade student whose public shaming serves as the inciting incident for the dress code protest. She attempts to hide a period bloodstain by tying a sweatshirt around her waist, which leaves her shoulders exposed and violates school rules. Following the incident, she faces intense bullying from classmates who blame her for the cancellation of their camping trip. She feels immense embarrassment and initially refuses to speak publicly about the event.

Danny is Molly's eleventh-grade older brother. He struggles with a severe nicotine addiction and actively sells vape pods to younger middle school students. His behavior creates massive financial and emotional strain on his parents' marriage. He frequently treats his younger sister with cruelty, though he readily exploits her willingness to hide his contraband in her bedroom.

Dr. Couchman is the strict principal of Fisher Middle School. He enforces the dress code policy with zero tolerance, frequently blaming female students for creating a distracting learning environment. He utilizes collective punishment to enforce compliance and stubbornly refuses to listen to student grievances, prioritizing absolute authority over student wellbeing.

Fingertip (whose real name is Mrs. Aeyler) is the dean of students at Fisher Middle School. She earns her nickname by aggressively forcing girls to extend their arms to check if their shorts fall below their fingertips. She actively targets girls with more developed bodies and constantly stares at students to find any excuse to issue warnings, creating a deeply uncomfortable environment.

Will is Molly's next-door neighbor and best friend. They share a long history of making slime together in Molly's treehouse. He provides a crucial male perspective on the dress code debate, rejecting the school administration's assumption that boys are easily distracted by girls' clothing. He supports Molly's activism while dealing with his own private romantic feelings for one of her friends.

Navya is an eighth-grade student and a passionate lacrosse player. She originally inspired Molly to find a cause to care about through her own intense dedication to sports. She eagerly helps Molly draft the formal petition to the superintendent and physically protests the school's sexist policies, standing firmly by Molly's side during conflicts with teachers.

Bea is a talented eighth-grade artist who forms a core part of Molly's friend group. She uses her creative skills to design the physical protest posters that the girls hang around the school hallways. She actively participates in the podcast and shares her own experiences of being unfairly targeted by the administration for wearing standard summer clothing.

Ashley is an eighth-grade student who comes from a significantly wealthier family than her peers. While she initially sympathizes with Olivia, she quickly loses interest in the dress code protests. She dismisses the podcast as unnecessary and begins spending more time with other neighbors, causing a painful but realistic rift in Molly's core friend group.

Pearl is an eighth-grade student who drifted away from Molly after being placed in honors classes. She remains fiercely dedicated to Olivia and serves as her primary emotional support during the dress code fallout. As the podcast gains traction, she reconnects with Molly and becomes a vital organizer for the physical protests inside the school building.

Megan is Molly's eighth-grade science lab partner. She has cerebral palsy and relies on physical accommodations, which makes her a frequent target for school bullies. Despite the constant exclusion by her peers, she maintains a sharp, resilient personality and forms a genuine bond with Molly. She provides Molly with a quiet, stress-free refuge away from middle school drama.

Tom is an eighth-grade boy who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury during a skiing accident in the third grade. The injury forced him to relearn basic physical skills and caused him to lose his previous popularity. Molly and her friends are the only students who regularly converse with him at lunch, and they actively intervene to ensure he is not left out of class events.

Nick is the primary bully at Fisher Middle School. He invents highly specific, cruel nicknames that target his classmates' physical insecurities, racial backgrounds, or disabilities. He operates with a small group of followers and continually evades administrative punishment because the principal refuses to investigate anonymous complaints properly.

Liza is an eighth-grade student who used to be very close with Molly. She highlights the discriminatory nature of the dress code by frequently receiving violations for wearing the exact same shorts that Molly wears without issue. She appears on the podcast to discuss her 37 separate warnings and joins Molly in intentionally violating the rules as a form of protest.

Mr. Dern is a math teacher at Fisher Middle School who actively assists Dr. Couchman and Fingertip in policing girls' clothing. He demonstrates a profound lack of empathy for student welfare, famously failing a senior student on a math quiz because she was forced to leave the room for a dress code violation during the test.

Ms. Lane is a language arts teacher who serves as a vital adult ally to the students. Unlike the administration, she actually listens to student concerns and takes immediate action when she overhears Nick bullying his classmates. She ultimately helps the students secure a meeting with the board of education by bringing in the supportive ex-principal.

Molly's mother is a full-time parent who sacrificed her career specifically to manage Danny's severe behavioral and addiction issues. She operates under immense daily stress and occasionally misdirects her anger toward Molly when discovering contraband. However, she actively encourages Molly's activism, suggesting the formal petition and physically sleeping in a minivan to chaperone the school camp-in.

Molly's father is a hardworking parent trying to keep his family afloat amid the severe stress caused by his son's addiction. He is forced to stop his weekend DJing jobs to help his wife manage Danny full-time. He eventually takes direct action by transporting Danny to an addiction specialist to begin a formal recovery plan.

Mary Kate is Molly's seventh-grade neighbor who used to spend hours making slime in the treehouse. As a younger student, she looks up to Molly for guidance on navigating middle school dynamics. She experiences her own unfair dress code violation for showing a sliver of midriff, which Molly posts on the podcast's social media page.

Jessica is a high school senior who suffered under Fisher Middle School's dress code years earlier. She appears as a guest on the podcast to describe how the administration prioritized covering her body over her education, resulting in her failing a math quiz because she was forced out of the classroom to change clothes.

Jasmine is a high school senior who shares a particularly painful memory on Molly's podcast. During her time at the middle school, she was aggressively yelled at for wearing a tank top and lacking a bra, despite suffering from severe chest and shoulder sunburns. The traumatic incident caused her severe anxiety regarding her appearance.

Talia is a seventh-grade student who recently moved to the town from Trinidad. She faces explicitly racist and sexist disciplinary action after she tells a boy to stop touching her natural hair without permission. Instead of reprimanding the boy, the administration demands she fix her "puffy" hair and assigns her detention when she argues back.

Catherine is a ninth-grade student who transferred to a Catholic school specifically to escape Fisher Middle School's oppressive environment. Because she has a larger, "big-boned" body type, she was relentlessly targeted by the dean of students for wearing standard leggings and shorts, culminating in being denied access to the school nurse while running a fever.

Ms. Santos-Skinner is the guidance counselor at Fisher Middle School. While technically part of the administration, she acts as a quiet ally to the students. She secretly returns Molly's confiscated protest posters in a hidden folder and brings snacks to support the students during their garden camp-in.