Seventeen-year-old Julie is a high school senior with red hair and a fondness for pink clothing. Following a traumatic car accident the previous summer, she has become increasingly quiet and studious, focusing heavily on her academics to secure an acceptance to a prestigious women's college. She struggles with a guilty conscience and tries to distance herself from her former friends to cope with her emotional burdens.

Eighteen-year-old Barry is a popular college student and former high school football player. He relies heavily on his parents' financial support, living in a fraternity house and frequently clashing with his controlling mother. Barry possesses a cynical view of romantic relationships, prioritizing his own desires and social standing over loyalty to his girlfriend.

Helen is a young woman who recently won a beauty pageant, securing her a well-paying position as the "Future Star" at Channel Five. Coming from a large, financially strained household, she uses her physical appearance and new job to escape her family's circumstances and afford her own apartment. She is fiercely protective of her relationship with Barry, often choosing to ignore signs of his infidelity to maintain her hard-won social standing.

Eighteen-year-old Ray is an academically talented young man who spent the past year traveling and working odd jobs on fishing boats. He returns to his hometown with a beard and a more mature demeanor, though he is still haunted by the traumatic accident he was involved in the previous summer. Ray feels a strong sense of responsibility and deeply regrets the choices he and his friends made.

A military veteran who recently returned from a deployment in Iraq. He integrates himself into the social circles of the main characters, presenting varying sides of his personality to different people. He acts as a polite, serious suitor when spending time with Julie, while adopting a more flirtatious, competitive demeanor during his interactions with Helen.

Mrs. James is a widowed mother and an alumna of Smith College. She is highly observant of her daughter's shifting moods and frequently experiences accurate premonitions about danger affecting her family. She creates a warm, stable home environment filled with baking and sewing, hoping to support Julie through her difficult senior year.

Celia is Barry's mother, a woman who attempts to heavily manage her son's life and relationships. She uses the family's financial leverage to influence Barry's decisions, such as attempting to dictate where he lives and how he travels. She strongly disapproves of Helen, believing Barry is dating beneath his social class.

Mr. Cox is an electrical engineer who earns a high salary but frequently voices concerns about expenses. He spends the majority of his time focused on his work, inadvertently neglecting his wife and creating an imbalance in their household dynamics. He occasionally steps in to mediate conflicts between his wife and son.

Elsa is Helen's older sister who works as a cashier in a department store. She holds strong beliefs about the value of difficult, exhausting labor and actively resents Helen's beauty-pageant success and expensive apartment. She frequently insults Helen's social aspirations and expresses a bitter, competitive attitude toward her sister's lifestyle.

Herb is Ray's father and a former professional football player who opened a successful sporting goods store after an injury ended his athletic career. While he occasionally wishes Ray were more athletic, he genuinely loves his son and shows pride in Ray's ability to befriend popular athletes and cheerleaders.

Mr. Rivers is a construction worker who labors hard to support his large, lower-class family. Despite his difficult days, he remains deeply affectionate toward his wife and views her as beautiful. He recognizes the toxic dynamic between his daughters and tries to encourage a healthier perspective on love and success.

Mrs. Rivers is Helen and Elsa's mother, a woman who appears physically haggard from years of childbearing and stretching a tight household budget. She serves as the caretaker of her large family and tries to mediate the frequent arguments between her children.

Daniel was a young boy who died the previous summer after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle in the dark. His sudden death caused massive trauma to his family, leading to severe disruptions in his parents' lives and leaving the family home in the hands of his sister.

Megan is a hairdresser and the half-sister of the late Daniel Gregg. With her mother hospitalized and her father relocated, she takes responsibility for the domestic chores at their family home. She is friendly and welcoming to strangers, readily offering iced tea and conversation to visitors.

Mary is the mother of Daniel Gregg. Overwhelmed by guilt and grief after failing to pick her son up from a friend's house the night he died, she experienced a severe psychological breakdown and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Las Lunas.

Michael is the biological father of Daniel Gregg. Following his son's death and his wife's subsequent hospitalization, he relocated to another town to be near the psychiatric facility, leaving the family property in the hands of his stepdaughter.

Lou is one of Barry's fraternity brothers at the local university. He embodies the casual, male-dominated atmosphere of the fraternity, frequently teasing Barry about his active dating life and making assumptions about the women who call the house.