Gage lies about having an apartment and takes Ari away from Janna's home, leaving them without a place to live.

Ari sits in class exhausted and distracted after two months of drifting between friends' apartments and a shelter.

Teenagers at Chloe's apartment party stumble in on Ari playing with her paper things and call them freaky.

Ari meets Reggie, a man without a home, and gives him her only 14 cents to help buy dog food.

Gage arranges Briggs's apartment to look like it belongs to him and Ari, convincing Janna they have a home.

Ari discovers at school that Janna has cut off payment for her lunches, leaving her with no way to eat.

Gage announces he got a job at Jiffy Lube, and he and Ari celebrate with hopes of finding an apartment.

Ari finds Gage asleep on a bus stop bench after he fails to pick her up from Head Start.

Ari and Gage visit an apartment but are told they need an income voucher to qualify for low-income housing.

Ari vomits in the school hallway and on the principal's leg after days of stress and not eating properly.

While recovering at Janna's, Ari finds a scrapbook showing that Janna and Ari's father once went to prom together.

Girls at the shelter steal Ari's paper things folder and deface all her beloved cutouts with pen.

Alone in Chloe's apartment, Ari calls Janna and decides to go home, admitting she and Gage never had an apartment.

Gage visits Janna's home and he and Ari agree to live apart but remain a family; Janna and Gage hug.

Ari opens her Carter Middle School acceptance letter with Gage at her side.

Ari follows her older brother Gage out of their guardian Janna's home believing he has an apartment, only to discover they have nowhere permanent to live. Over the following months, Ari struggles to keep up with school and friendships while drifting between friends' couches and shelters. A brief hope emerges when Gage lands a job, but finding an apartment proves far more complicated than either sibling expected. After a protest at school ends in disaster, Ari ends up back at Janna's, where she uncovers a long-hidden secret about Janna and her late father. The crisis deepens when Ari's paper things are destroyed at a shelter and she is left alone, prompting her to call Janna and finally go home for good. Ari and Gage reach a heartfelt understanding, and her perseverance is rewarded when she is accepted to Carter Middle School.

Ari's journey from homelessness back to safety.

Ari volunteers at Head Start preschool, where the staff and children, especially Omar, always welcome her warmly.

Gage lends Ari his library card so she can check out books on Louisa May Alcott for her history project.

Briggs gives Ari a funny hat for Crazy Hat Day, but Ari laments the school has banned all such traditions.

Daniel helps Ari complete her bibliography in computer class and secretly submits it to Mr. O on her behalf.

Briggs accidentally rips Ari's oldest paper doll, Miles, and Ari feels too invisible to cry or speak.

Ari helps Sasha study fractions by writing a clever pretend letter, but Sasha mocks the method as too complicated.

Reggie gives Ari an intricately folded paper plane he made from a Jiffy Lube advertisement.

Daniel shows Ari his year-end bucket list, which includes convincing Ari to join him, and she agrees.

Ari and Gage stay overnight in Perry and Kristen's cupola; Kristen opens up about her miscarriage and troubled marriage.

Ari and Daniel hang dozens of paper snowflakes throughout the school hallways before other students arrive.

Ari overhears Gage and Janna arguing, packs her things, and leaves Janna's home again to stay with Gage.

Ari locks herself out of Briggs's apartment and waits in the cold; Gage arrives and blames himself for her hardship.

Ms. Finch gives Ari a new pair of plaid shoes that fit perfectly, and Ari thanks her through tears.

Ari confides in Daniel about her months of homelessness and feels less ashamed the more she speaks.

At the year-end sleepover, Daniel gifts Ari a snowflake necklace and holds her hand as they walk back to the group.

While navigating life without a home, Ari finds warmth in unexpected places, including the preschoolers at Head Start, her growing friendship with Daniel, and the generous Reggie. As her bond with Sasha frays, Daniel quietly becomes her most important ally, helping her with schoolwork, inviting her into his plans, and listening without judgment when she finally tells him the truth. Key moments of loss are woven throughout, from a favorite paper doll being accidentally torn to paper things left behind at a shelter. Ari and Daniel's daring plan to hang snowflakes in the school leads to detention but plants the seeds of the community-building work that defines the end of her school year. After Ari locks herself out of Briggs's apartment in the cold, the full weight of Gage's inability to care for her becomes undeniable. Their friendship deepens through every shared adventure, culminating in a tender moment at the year-end sleepover when Daniel gives Ari a snowflake necklace.

Friendships, small kindnesses, and moments of connection.

Sasha earns a patrol leadership position at school that Ari did not get, deepening Ari's fears about her Carter application.

Sasha laughs off the shared memory of playing paper dolls with Ari, calling it dorky and childish.

Ari sends Reggie's paper plane out of the cupola window as a wish for Gage to get a job at Jiffy Lube.

Sasha and classmates openly mock Ari's greasy hair and disheveled appearance in front of other students.

Daniel suggests Ari create her own leadership position rather than apply for existing ones to strengthen her Carter application.

Ari picks up a Carter Middle School application from the school office for the first time.

Ari shows Head Start children how to make paper snowflakes, sparking her idea to decorate the school hallways.

The principal calls Ari and Daniel to his office and gives them both detention for the snowflake display.

Ari tries to print housing authority forms online to help Gage; Gage finds her and angrily stops her.

Ari runs out of the soup kitchen to avoid being spotted by Sasha's friend who is volunteering there.

Ari and Gage sleep in Chloe's car and Ari realizes they are no different from Reggie and other people without homes.

Mr. O's civil disobedience lesson inspires the whole class to collectively decide to bring back Crazy Hat Day.

Reggie tells Ari that his paper plane wish idea has caught on and spread to shelters across the city.

Ari speaks to a newspaper reporter about her experiences of homelessness and the importance of school traditions for community.

Ari and Daniel climb the school bleachers and jump off together at graduation, ready for whatever comes next.

From the moment Sasha earns a leadership role Ari missed, a chain of turning points begins to shift Ari's understanding of herself and her situation. Small acts of hope, like wishing on Reggie's paper plane, alternate with painful moments, like being mocked by classmates and having Gage stop her from finding housing forms. Daniel's advice to create her own leadership opportunity sets Ari on a new course, and a spontaneous act of school decoration sparks both consequences and community. As Ari confronts the depth of her homelessness by running from the soup kitchen and sleeping in a car, she must decide whether to keep hiding or tell her truth. A newspaper interview gives her the courage to speak publicly, the principal restores the school's traditions, and Reggie's paper plane wish idea has spread throughout the city. The story closes with Ari and Daniel jumping off the bleachers together, a joyful embrace of an uncertain but hopeful future.