By September, Angie and Conlan have divorced. As she sits in her empty house, her mother and sisters arrive with food. Despite everything, her family’s presence comforts her. As Angie wonders how her life fell apart, she is jolted back to the conversation when she learns that the family restaurant is struggling. When they suggest selling it, Angie insists that this is not what her father would have wanted. Livvy is furious that Angie never bothered with the restaurant before, but their mother declares that her husband always predicted that Angie would come home and help. She invites Angie to stay at the family beach house.

One week later, after quitting her job, Angie returns to West End. Driving through town, she is reminded of how everyone knows each other’s business. Instead of going to her mother’s home, she navigates to the beach house. Battling memories of her father, she falls asleep. The next morning, Angie wakes with swollen eyes from crying. She spots her mother talking outside, but no one else is there. Her mother admits to chatting with Angie’s deceased father. When Angie admits that last night was hard, her mother encourages her to focus on one thing at a time. Then, Mira arrives with the restaurant’s accounts for Angie to look over.

Lauren Ribido is a high school senior waiting for her mother to accompany her to a college fair. Disappointed but not surprised when her mother does not show up, Lauren enters with her boyfriend, David Ryerson Haynes, and his mother. David is bitter that his father, who is away on business, is not there either. Lauren thinks about how she has had to fight for everything on her own, including a scholarship to her private high school. When she was little, she worked odd jobs to earn enough for shoes and glasses. Years later, her presence at Fircrest Academy testifies to her efforts. In the gym, they approach the table for Stanford, where Mrs. Haynes introduces her son. Despite David’s effort to present Lauren too, the recruiter is only interested in David, whose family is wealthy and a school legacy.

Afterward, Lauren takes the bus home to her dilapidated neighborhood, where the residents are “down on their luck” (30). When she enters her apartment building, Mrs. Mauk, the property manager, asks for overdue rent. Lauren promises to tell her mother and hurries away. She finds her apartment door ajar and her mother lying on the couch. When Lauren rouses her mother, she thinks about how little the woman works and how often she drinks. When her mother apologizes for missing the college fair, Lauren tells her about a potential scholarship to the University of Southern California (USC). Dismissing the idea, Lauren’s mother claims that she herself planned to get a scholarship but ended up pregnant. She advises Lauren against having sex and warns her not to rely on others.

Angie learns as much as possible about the food industry. When she finally goes to the restaurant, she sees the memorial bench for her father and vows to save the place. Noting the building’s disrepair, she begins a list of needed changes. Inside, she is met with the aroma of Italian food and her mother’s resistance to change, so Angie retreats to her father’s office upstairs. There, she is flooded with memories before tackling the dwindling accounts. Later, Angie is dismayed to find only two customers in the dining room. Angered by Angie’s criticism, Livvy quits and storms out.

Meanwhile, Lauren studies for the SAT before going to work. As she leaves, Mrs. Mauk reminds her about the overdue rent. After taking two buses to get to her job at the Rite Aid pharmacy, Lauren is laid off.

Needing company, Angie drives to Mira’s house. She insists that they need Livvy back at the restaurant, and Mira advises Angie to slow down. Not wanting pity, Angie bolts and drives around town. Eventually, she stops to get sleeping pills. In the store, she watches a mother ignore her children; upset, she leaves immediately. Outside, she sees a red-headed girl—Lauren—putting work-wanted flyers on cars. When Angie approaches, the girl moves away, but not before Angie presses a wad of bills into her hand. At home, Lauren gives the money to Mrs. Mauk, who insists that Lauren keep some for food. Later, David stops by.

At school, Lauren is exhausted but excited when David says his parents are away. She agrees to come over after she looks for a job. Later, with résumés in hand, Lauren is heading out when her mother appears looking for money. Reluctantly, Lauren gives her $5 and reminds her that rent is late. Then, Lauren goes downtown, leaving her résumé everywhere. She does not apply at DeSaria’s, because the place is empty.

Back at her apartment, Lauren worries when she hears her mother singing from the roof. Climbing through the window, Lauren urges her to come inside. She learns that her mother traded her coat for a pack of cigarettes. Once she gets her mother settled, Lauren rushes across town to David’s exclusive gated community. Once he kisses her, Lauren’s problems seem to melt away. Although pizza arrives, they do not eat it until much later.

Angie visits Livvy and apologizes so that her sister will return to the restaurant. Livvy declines, saying she wants to put her own family first, and advises Angie to stop looking back and to start looking forward. Then, she reviews Angie’s ideas for the restaurant and suggests that she hire another waitress because their current one, Rosa, is getting older and slower.

Later, while Angie works as a server, she recalls how her father never made her wait tables. Even with only seven customers, Angie cannot keep up; fortunately, Livvy arrives to help. At the end of the night, Angie laughs at herself but worries that she will not make it. Mira suggests that she find someone other than herself to worry about.

Lauren wakes in David’s arms and imagines a future together. After breakfast, Lauren’s mind wanders to USC and how David will likely be at Stanford. When he suggests that they go ice-skating, Lauren protests, and he deduces that she needs rent. She refuses to accept help, but he insists that they go skating and loans her a sweater to keep warm.