Tricks

Whitney goes shopping with her friend Paige. Paige asks if Whitney and Lucas have had sex yet.

Paige does not drop the topic and asks her how far she and Lucas have gone together. Whitney describes how they almost got caught at her house the other day.

Paige parks outside at the mall because her mother warned her about being approached in a parking garage. She tells Whitney that the scariest predators are the ones whom no one suspects.

Paige and Whitney walk to Gap, and Whitney notices an attractive man sitting outside. He smiles at her and checks her out, and Whitney enjoys the attention even though she does not think that she should.

When they go into Gap, Whitney asks Paige if she noticed the man. Paige looks at him and sees that he is still staring at Whitney.

Paige and Whitney try on skinny jeans together, and Whitney decides that she looks good in them, so she buys them.

Paige and Whitney decide to get food. As they walk to the bathroom first, Whitney sees the man again, sitting at a table checking her out.

Whitney goes up to the man to confront him even though she feels nervous.

Whitney asks him why he is staring at her, and he says that she is “special.” Whitney feels intimidated but asks him what he wants. He tells her that his name is Bryn. He asks her to sit down.

Whitney wants to sit down for some reason, but Paige tugs at her arm. Bryn gives Whitney his card and asks her to call him.

In this poem, Ginger writes about how she cannot achieve her dreams because of drawbacks in her life.

Ginger does not think that she will graduate, but she has never stayed in any city long enough to make connections or care about school.

Ginger has made friends with a girl named Alex. Ginger thinks about kissing her sometimes, which surprises her. Alex’s mother is in prison for armed robbery, and Alex lives with her stepfather.

Alex and Ginger hang out after school, smoking together. Alex says that her stepfather has not been with another woman since his ex-girlfriend, Lydia, left. Ginger wonders if Iris found a man who loved her if their lives would become more stable.

Ginger thinks that it must be difficult to be a mother. She hopes that she never has children, but if she does, she knows that she will try to give them a good life.

Ginger decides to go home since her sister Mary Ann is watching the kids alone while Gram is getting her hair done.

As Ginger walks home, an ambulance passes her. Ginger runs, suddenly feeling sick with panic. When she gets to Gram’s apartment, she sees the ambulance and police cars in front of it. She sees her little brother Sandy lying in the street. A police officer tells her that it was a hit-and-run and leads her to Mary Ann.

Mary Ann describes how the ball rolled into the street and Sandy ran after it. A motorcycle ran over him and kept going. Ginger tells her that it is not her fault. The paramedics tell Ginger that Sandy has internal injuries and that they need her to get Iris to the emergency room as quickly as possible.

Ginger tells them that Iris is hard to find but that Gram will come to the emergency room. The paramedic tells her that they need the person who has custody to be in the emergency room.

Ginger feels responsible for what has happened, especially since she knows that she could have been home sooner. Ginger helps the other children inside and calls Iris, who does not answer.

Ginger calls the number of the salon that Gram left for her and tells her everything. Then, she goes outside to the police officer who has finished asking Mary Ann questions and tells him that Gram will go to the emergency room.

In this poem, Cody addresses an unnamed person who appears to him like smoke. He tells this person that they promised never to leave and that he does not know who to trust after this person lied to him.

In his 16 years, Cody has learned that things change. His parents will not talk to him about it, but he knows that Jack is getting sicker.

Cody and Ronnie have been together for three weeks. Cody felt bad when Alyssa saw them kissing at school. Alyssa was furious, but Ronnie did not care.

The first night that they went out, Ronnie got them into a club where her brother was a bouncer. Ronnie’s brother, Vince, let them in, despite them being underage.

Vince is a violent man, but he likes Cody. Vince parties frequently, especially with drugs and alcohol.

Vince invites Cody to come to his weekly poker game because Cody always has marijuana. Cody quickly learns the rules of poker.

When Cody gets home, Jack is sitting in front of the television. His speech is slurred from his medication. He reminds Cody of being on crack, which Cody has tried with Ronnie. Ronnie loves crack, and Cody knows that he should not make a habit of it, but he loves the way it makes him feel.

Cody offers to get Jack a drink when Cory comes in drunk. He gets aggressive and then suddenly faints on the floor. Jack says that Cory will sleep it off, so Cody carries him to his bed.

Cody tucks Cory into his bed and remembers how he used to do that when he was a kid. Cody leaves quickly before his mother comes home from work.

Cody drives to Vince’s apartment while thinking of Cory. He knows that he drinks because of the anger and helplessness that he feels about Jack’s sickness.

Cody gets to Vince’s right as the game is about to start. He gives Vince the marijuana, and then they play poker. Cody wins the game because of his bluffing, and he feels a rush of adrenaline.

Cody leaves with $200. He calls Ronnie and asks if she wants to meet up. Cody drives to Ronnie’s house, and she lets him in through her window.

In Eden’s poem, she describes how she once thought that her life would be a fairy tale, but she knows now that it is much easier to believe a lie than the truth.

Eden dresses up for Easter at her father’s church, but she finds herself distracted by Andrew, who sits in the back.

Eden’s father has noticed Andrew, and she knows that he will want to convert him. Eden’s mother asks her if she thinks that Andrew is attractive, but Eden does not betray her feelings for him. Eden’s mother reminds her that attractiveness is not everything and that if Eden goes for an attractive man, she may find herself sinning.

Andrew, Mariah, and their mother come to Eden’s church, and Eden meets Andrew’s family. Andrew’s mother tells Eden that she has never seen him as happy as he has been since dating her.

Once the service starts, Eden goes to sit in the front row. She has trouble focusing on her father’s sermon because of Andrew. She feels frustrated that his family is accepting of their relationship because she knows that her family will never accept them.

Eden thinks about leaving her family again, but she knows that she will need to wait, as Andrew suggested. She decides that she will have sex with Andrew that week for the first time.

During spring break, Eve has an asthma attack, and Eden’s mother takes her to the hospital, leaving Eden alone. Eden immediately calls Andrew.

When Andrew picks her up, he tells her that his parents are out of town, so they can go to his house and be alone.

Eden feels nervous because she wants to have sex with Andrew. Andrew takes her nerves away by talking about how excited he is for her to see the ranch, which will be her home someday with him. When they arrive at the ranch, Eden feels overwhelmed by how beautiful and peaceful it looks.

Eden meets Andrew’s dog, and she feels overwhelmed with love. She tells him that she loves him, and she realizes that she loves him more than anything, even God.

Andrew leads Eden inside, and she hears a voice telling her that she should wait until marriage, but she pushes that aside. Eden loves the house, and they start to kiss. Andrew leads her to his room and toward the bed.

Eden shakes with nervousness, but Andrew asks her if she wants him to stop, and she says that she wants him to keep going. He asks for her consent for everything, and as they have sex, Eden feels seen for the first time in her life.

In Seth’s poem, he says that nothing feels right when he knows that someone he loves will leave him. He cannot enjoy anything because he knows that he will be alone soon.

Seth cannot stop thinking about how Loren will leave in three weeks. He wonders if anything will matter without Loren.

Seth knows that things have changed between him and Loren, especially in the bedroom. Seth knows that he is not being as gentle with Loren as he used to be, and he knows that comes from a desire to hurt him since he feels hurt.

Loren does not tell Seth to be gentler; he only tells him how sorry he is that he must leave. Seth cries with Loren one night, telling him how sad he feels to go back to his old life. Loren comforts him and then tells him that he wants to take him out to a nice dinner. Seth agrees.

Even though Seth is far from home, he still feels nervous that someone will recognize him or that strangers will realize that he is gay.

Seth realizes that they have not been out for a while because their relationship is about sex.

Loren and Seth go to a restaurant that they love and order their favorite meals.

Loren tells him that he wants to go to a club after dinner. Loren explains that many of the clubs let underage men in as long as they have an older “sponsor.”

After dinner, they go to Fringe, the gay bar that Loren mentioned. The bouncer hardly looks at Seth as he walks in. Loren explains that the bouncers usually do not care about underage drinking but that he should be discreet when he goes inside so that he does not attract too much attention.

Seth sees a younger man flirting with an older man in the bar. Another man walks over and gets angry at the younger man, and Seth assumes that he is the younger man’s boyfriend. The man storms out, with the younger man following him.

Seth wonders if he could be that dramatic in his relationship and if he should try to blackmail Loren. Loren returns with mint juleps.

Seth watches as an attractive young man walks up to an older man and flirts with him. Loren explains that many young men try to attract older men to have a place to live. Loren says that Seth is attractive enough to do that someday if he does not want to work a job. Seth says that he would never do that, but Loren says that people must do many things in life to survive.

In Whitney’s poem, she muses about how people’s choices dictate their entire lives, even when they least expect it.

Since Whitney’s mother does not care about her, Whitney realizes that she can get away with more. She realizes that she can smoke, drink, or go out as much as she wants if she is discreet.

Kyra comes home for spring break, and she decides to go shopping with their mother. Kyra invites Whitney, but Whitney stays home.

As soon as Kyra and her mother leave, Whitney calls Lucas and tells him to come over.

Whitney assures Lucas that no one will come home for a while. She persuades him, and he tells her that he will be over soon.

Whitney showers and puts on lingerie for Lucas.

Lucas does not show up for two hours, which makes Whitney angry. Lucas tells her that he brought something with him, and Whitney can see that it is drugs.

Lucas tells her that the drug in the bag is cocaine. Lucas assures her that he will make sure that it will be a good experience for her.

Lucas shows Whitney how to snort the cocaine up her nose. Whitney feels the sensation immediately. Lucas and Whitney start kissing, and she asks him to come with her to her room.

Lucas lays Whitney down on her bed and takes off her clothes. She tells him to stop, and he says that he does not want to. She says that she is scared, and he promises that he will go slowly.

Lucas and Whitney lie next to each other. She wants to ask him if it was good for him, but she feels too nervous. She tells him that she loves him.

Whitney waits for him to respond, but he only tells her that he needs to leave. He says that she should clean up the blood on her bed. He seems surprised by that, and she wonders if he does not know that women sometimes bleed when they have sex for the first time. Then, she worries that he did not believe that she had never had sex before.

In Ginger’s poem, she describes how her self-harm helps her process her emotions.

Sandy is in a coma, and the doctors do not know if he will make it. Ginger is mad because Iris has only visited him a few times.

Ginger must fill the role of “mom” even more now that Gram must stay with Sandy in the hospital. Ginger worries about Mary Ann, who blames herself for what happened to Sandy.

Iris’s new boyfriend scares Ginger and reminds her of Iris’s ex-boyfriend, Walt. Ginger has a flashback of Walt sexually assaulting her when she was a child.

Ginger remembers how, on that day when she came home, Iris was out with the kids and Walt was in their apartment. He told her to get him a beer and bring it into the back room. When she did, he attacked her, and even though she fought back, he raped her.

Afterward, Ginger cleaned herself because she knew that no one would care or believe her. When she left the bathroom, Walt told her that if she told anyone, he would rape Mary Ann.

Ginger returns to the present as Iris’s new boyfriend, Harry, stares at her lustfully. She already hates him because she knows what he wants to do to her. Iris tells her to be nice to Harry, and Ginger hates how she does not care about what happens to her.

Ginger and Harry get into a confrontation. Ginger tells him that she does not answer to him, and Iris jumps in front of Harry as he lunges at Ginger. Iris tells Harry that Ginger is just a child.

Ginger calls Iris a “whore” and rushes out the front door. Ginger runs to Alex’s house. Alex comforts Ginger as she cries and tells her what happened.

Ginger apologizes for crying, but Alex only kisses her.

Ginger loves the way Alex kisses her, especially how she does not ask for sex afterward. Alex and Ginger talk about running away together, but Ginger does not know what will happen to her siblings. When she gets home, Iris tells her that the doctor called and that Sandy will recover.

In Cody’s poem, he discusses how he is not religious, even though his mother goes to church. However, he has started to pray because he does not think it will hurt.

Cody feels scared because of Jack’s worsening condition. Jack has stomach cancer, and Cody’s parents hardly pay attention to him or Cory anymore.

To deal with his sadness, Cory drinks too much. Cody uses drugs and loses himself in his gambling addiction to cope.

Cody plays online because he loves the rush of adrenaline. He knows that he loses a lot, but he cannot stop himself from trying one more hand.

Cody plays roulette when he cannot focus on poker. Ronnie calls him and asks him to come pick her up.

Cody decides to play one more round of roulette before he leaves. Then, he plays blackjack because he knows it will not take too long.

Cody loses at blackjack. When he looks at his phone, he realizes that two hours passed without him realizing it. He calls Ronnie and lies, saying that he had to help Cory because he was drunk. Ronnie believes him and tells him to come over even though it is late.

Cody drives over, realizing that he is buzzed as he drives. Suddenly, someone runs into the road in front of him. Cody slams on his brakes and realizes that it is Cory. Cory gets into the car and tells him to drive away.

Cody asks Cory what is happening, but Cory does not want to talk about it. Cody sees that Cory’s hands are shaking and that he slides down in his seat when a patrol car drives by them.

Cody focuses on driving straight so as not to attract attention. Cody drives by Ronnie’s house and thinks about how she is waiting for him. He drives home and tells Cory that he must tell him what is going on.

Cory tells him that he broke into a house. Cody asks why, and Cory snaps at him for not noticing how stressed Jack and their mother are about money. Cory says that someone must pay the bills for Jack’s treatment. Cory sobs, and Cody hugs him.

Cody promises Cory that everything will be okay and wonders how he will keep this promise.