Trent hits a hockey puck into Jared Richards's chest during a pickup game, killing him due to an unknown heart defect.

Fallon Little defends Trent from Jeremiah at the park and says he owes her a drawing in return.

Trent argues with his dad at a family dinner, storms out, and decides to walk home alone.

Trent has a panic attack during a PE basketball game, shoves Noah, and smashes a soccer ball rack.

Trent goes to Fallon's house to watch movies and the two officially form a movie club.

At Fallon's birthday amusement park trip, the two discuss Jared's death and Fallon insists Trent should not feel guilty.

Jeremiah puts mashed potatoes in Fallon's chair at lunch and bullies her while Trent struggles to hold back.

Annie Richards blows the cover on a soup prank; Trent loses control and hurls his bowl across the table.

Trent beats up Jeremiah at the movie theater after Jeremiah insults Fallon's appearance.

Fallon runs from the theater after seeing Trent's violence and tells him about her recurring nightmares where she cannot scream.

Trent discovers that Fallon's parents have forbidden her from spending time with him because of his violent outbursts.

Trent seeks Ms. Emerson's advice and she has him start watering her classroom plants daily to learn how to make amends.

Trent is assigned Annie Richards as his basketball buddy at the community program, and they end up getting along.

Trent presents Fallon with a sketchbook full of drawings of her, then takes her to a secluded island where they scream together.

Trent joins the intramural baseball team and plays a full session without his trauma symptoms returning.

Trent Zimmerman starts sixth grade still haunted by accidentally killing his hockey teammate Jared Richards six months earlier. He forms an unlikely friendship with Fallon Little, a girl with a prominent facial scar, who helps him find brief moments of comfort and happiness through their shared love of movies. Trent's unresolved rage continues to surface, erupting when he beats up a bully at the movie theater and frightening Fallon away. With his home life in crisis and his only friendship damaged, Trent turns to his teacher Ms. Emerson for guidance and learns to make amends through the consistent, unglamorous work of rebuilding trust. He repairs his friendship with Fallon through thoughtful gestures and helps her face her own trauma in return. By the end, Trent has reclaimed his love of baseball and reconnected with his family, finally believing that his story is not over.

The core story of Trent's guilt, friendship with Fallon, and path to healing.

Trent sits at the park wanting to join the baseball game but cannot bring himself to approach the other kids.

Fallon surprises Trent at the kitchen store and asks him to draw a picture of her; he refuses.

Trent deliberately acts out on his first day of sixth grade to earn detention and avoid dinner with his dad.

Trent smashes one of Ms. Emerson's potted plants on his way out of her classroom after earning detention.

Trent watches Field of Dreams at Fallon's house and discovers he can spot continuity errors in movies.

Trent asks Fallon the real story behind her scar; she refuses to say and makes him promise never to ask again.

When Trent visits his dad's house, his stepmother Kari intercepts and refuses to let him hold baby Jewel.

Trent's dad yells that Trent will never hold Jewel; Trent smashes a milk carton and storms out of the house.

Ms. Emerson informs Trent he is failing PE and must choose between joining intramural baseball or a community basketball program.

Trent discovers his mom and her boss Ray kissing at the kitchen store and leaves before they see him.

Noah begins sitting with Trent during PE and they talk about baseball together for the first time.

Trent bikes to Cedar Lake for the first time since Jared's death and throws his Book of Thoughts into the water.

Trent visits Fallon's dad and honestly explains why he values Fallon's friendship, asking for a chance to earn her trust back.

Doug confesses he feels guilty about Jared's death because he was the one who encouraged Trent to play hockey that day.

Fallon visits the kitchen store to tell Trent she got the Wicked Witch understudy role and thanks him for encouraging her.

Beneath the main conflict, smaller but significant scenes reveal who Trent is and how deeply Jared's death has changed him. His deliberate misbehavior at school exposes how much he punishes himself, while his visits to his dad's house show a relationship that has eroded past the point of simple disagreements. The truth about those around him surfaces gradually — his mom's developing romance with Ray, and the painful revelation that his younger brother Doug has quietly carried his own guilt over Jared's death all along. Through quieter milestones like his first real conversation with Noah, his honest appeal to Fallon's father, and his journey to the lake where the accident happened, the novel shows how healing requires confronting the past directly. These events fill in the emotional texture of Trent's world and make clear that the people closest to him are all struggling with things they haven't said out loud.

The quieter moments that reveal Trent's inner world and the people around him.

Trent reveals that every drawing in his Book of Thoughts is of Jared Richards, not imaginary strangers.

Trent phones his dad to announce he has joined a movie club and will no longer be coming to family dinners.

Trent's mom tells him he is acting out on purpose to give people a reason to hate him.

Trent suggests Fallon should be an actress and immediately realizes she may have given up that dream because of her scar.

Trent's dad calls to announce the birth of baby Jewel; Trent doesn't know how to respond.

Trent tries to attend intramural baseball tryouts but the crack of the bat triggers a panic attack and he flees.

Trent's mom suggests he move in with his dad; Trent overhears a phone call revealing his dad has refused.

Ms. Emerson refuses to acknowledge Trent's deliberate misbehavior, denying him the detention he is trying to earn.

After his first basketball session with Annie Richards, Trent realizes his arms never went clammy during the entire lesson.

Fallon admits she asked to be cast as a tree in the school play rather than try for a speaking role.

Aaron reveals that Clarisse is not his girlfriend but his secret tutor because he is failing trigonometry.

Ms. Emerson advises Trent that whenever he chooses to speak, he should always speak truths.

Ray agrees to help Trent overcome his sports anxiety and teaches him visualization techniques to use during play.

Trent accepts his dad's dinner invitation and says 'it's good to see you too,' choosing to speak truths.

Fallon takes Trent to a bench by the lake and begins to tell him the real story of how she got her scar.

This pool traces the pivotal revelations and choices that define Trent's inner transformation throughout the novel. Early discoveries — that his obsessive drawings are all of Jared, that he is self-sabotaging to earn others' hatred, that he has quietly closed off from everyone — reveal how deeply his guilt has corrupted his sense of self. As the story progresses, he begins to see beyond his own pain: Fallon's scar was no accident, Aaron is secretly failing trigonometry, and his brother Doug carries the same guilt about Jared's death that Trent believed was his alone to bear. Guided by Ms. Emerson's advice to speak truths and Ray's patient coaching, Trent breaks through his sports anxiety and finally re-enters the life he has been hiding from. The pool closes with the novel's most intimate turning point — Fallon choosing to tell Trent the true story of her scar, a sign that their friendship has become one of real and lasting trust.

The key discoveries and decisions that shift Trent's path toward self-forgiveness.