Neil sends Rowan a taunting morning text predicting he will win valedictorian before the school day begins.

Rowan rear-ends Spencer Sugiyama's car while daydreaming on her morning commute, spilling coffee on her dress.

Neil is named valedictorian at the final school-wide assembly, leaving Rowan crushed and humiliated.

Rowan decides to beat Neil one last time by winning Howl, the senior scavenger hunt with a $5,000 prize.

Rowan discovers her assigned Howl target is Spencer, her ex-boyfriend.

Rowan texts Neil to warn him that classmate Savannah Bell is hunting him in Howl.

Rowan proposes to Neil that they team up to eliminate Savannah and her allies before facing each other.

Neil breaks down crying while confessing to Rowan that his father is in prison and the family is struggling financially.

Neil defends romance novels as undervalued literature to Rowan's skeptical writer parents over Shabbat dinner.

Rowan reads an excerpt from her romance novel aloud at a public open mic night.

Rowan reaches into Neil's hoodie pocket and finds a paper with her name, revealing she is his Howl target.

Rowan and Neil exchange cruel insults during a bitter argument and separate to finish Howl alone.

Rowan reads Neil's yearbook message and discovers he has confessed that he is in love with her.

Rowan finds Neil at the Museum of the Mysteries and steps forward to kiss him.

Rowan and Neil race back to school, defeat the remaining competitor Brady, and Neil wins Howl.

On the last day of high school, Rowan Roth learns her longtime rival Neil McNair has beaten her out for valedictorian, setting her on a desperate mission to defeat him one final time in the Howl scavenger hunt. To protect her chance at victory, Rowan forms an unlikely alliance with Neil, and the two spend the day exploring Seattle together, slowly letting their guards down. Neil opens up about his imprisoned father and dire financial situation, while Rowan begins to realize her feelings for him run far deeper than rivalry. Their partnership unravels when Rowan discovers that Neil was secretly assigned her as his Howl target all along, leading to a painful argument that splits them apart. Alone at Pike Place Market, Rowan reads Neil's yearbook message and finds a fearless confession of love, which gives her the courage to find him and share their first kiss. They reconcile, race back to win Howl together, and end the night at Rowan's house, where their relationship becomes fully real.

The central rivalry and love story of Rowan and Neil.

Rowan's mom snaps the traditional first-day-of-school photo with Rowan wearing her old kindergarten backpack.

Teacher Ms. Grable stops Rowan in the hallway to congratulate her on her college admission to Emerson.

Neil hands Rowan a pack of tissues at the front office, teasing that she will cry at the assembly.

Kirby and Mara confront Rowan at the bowling alley safe zone about neglecting their friendship all year.

Rowan overhears Savannah Bell making an antisemitic remark while scheming to eliminate both Rowan and Neil from Howl.

Neil and Rowan agree to split the prize money evenly and make a book report bet regardless of who wins Howl.

Rowan and Neil visit a record shop to find a Howl clue and discover they share similar music taste.

Neil's friend Sean successfully repairs Rowan's broken phone during a quick stop at his house.

Neil grows dizzy from not eating; Rowan sits with him and fetches ginger ale and crackers.

Rowan spots a romance novel on Neil's bedroom shelf that she once mentioned during freshman year.

Rowan and Neil use Neil's keys to sneak into the school library after hours to return her overdue books.

Neil buys marijuana cookies for himself and Rowan while they are out searching for Howl clues.

Rowan tells Kirby and Mara she has been writing a romance novel and plans to confess her feelings to Neil.

Rowan rides the Ferris wheel alone at Pike Place Market, reflecting on everything she experienced that day.

Rowan tells Neil she loves him during a quiet conversation at Kerry Park after the seniors' party.

Rowan's last day of high school is filled with small but meaningful encounters that quietly push her toward growth. At home, her mother marks the occasion with a sentimental photo, and at school, a teacher's kind words briefly cut through Rowan's competitive anxiety. As Howl begins, Rowan navigates the game's obstacles alongside Neil, fixing her phone, discovering shared musical tastes, and nursing Neil back to health when he grows dizzy from hunger. A visit to Neil's bedroom reveals a telling detail — a romance novel Rowan once mentioned — that hints at how closely he has always paid attention to her. After nearly missing her favorite author's appearance, Rowan and Neil find their way to an open mic, and the night culminates in Rowan finally telling her best friends the truth about her novel and her feelings. The day ends at Kerry Park, where Rowan voices the love she has been building toward all night.

The supporting moments that shaped Rowan's final day of high school.

Rowan rediscovers her freshman Guide to High School Success and feels like a failure for not meeting any of its goals.

After the final assembly ends, Rowan cannot bring herself to leave the gymnasium now that high school is officially over.

Neil sincerely asks to sign Rowan's yearbook after the assembly, and she refuses his request.

Rowan runs into one of Neil's friends at lunch, who reveals Neil had a personal emergency but will still compete in Howl.

Rowan pulls the arm band off Spencer during Howl, eliminating her ex-boyfriend from the game.

Rowan gives Savannah Bell false directions when asked if she has seen Neil, protecting him from elimination.

Rowan confesses to Neil that she had a secret crush on him during their freshman year.

Neil reveals he is Jewish, and Rowan invites him to join her family's Shabbat dinner that evening.

After learning about Neil's financial desperation, Rowan privately decides she wants to win Howl and give him the prize money.

Neil disappears at the zoo and Rowan learns from Mara that best friend Kirby has been eliminated from Howl.

Neil finds Delilah Park's Twitter page and discovers she will be attending a nearby open mic that night.

Neil asks to hear Rowan's romance novel, and she allows him to read it aloud for the very first time.

Rowan and Neil lean close to kiss on a bench outside the open mic venue but are interrupted by a stranger.

Rowan calls her parents from Pike Place Market and reveals for the first time that she is writing a romance novel.

Neil sneaks out of Rowan's house in the early morning before her parents wake up.

Rowan's final day of high school is defined by a series of moments that force her to confront who she has been and who she wants to become. Finding her old freshman checklist and realizing she met none of its goals, then watching Neil claim the valedictorian title, leaves her feeling like a failure and desperate for one last win. As Howl unfolds, Rowan makes a series of small but consequential choices — protecting Neil from elimination, covering for him with false directions, and ultimately deciding to hand him the prize money after hearing about his struggles. Neil sharing that he is Jewish like Rowan shifts their dynamic from rivalry to genuine connection, and she begins allowing herself to be truly vulnerable with him for the first time. Rowan letting Neil read her unpublished novel, then nearly kissing him outside the open mic, marks the turning point at which her feelings can no longer be denied. After calling her parents to reveal her dream of being a novelist and reading Neil's love confession in her yearbook, Rowan finally embraces both the unknown of loving Neil and the future waiting for her beyond high school.