Cara
- Cara begins the book by asking why the outward appearance of perfection is more important than the person inside.
- Picking up where Impulse left off, Cara tells us about her twin brother, Conner, who had an affair with his teacher and attempted suicide.
- When he shot himself in the chest, he left a stain on the new white carpet. The carpet guys have come to their house to replace it.
- The new carpet is mint green. Cara's mom chose it, but she's not happy about how they're installing it; she keeps yelling at the carpet guys, calling them idiots.
- Cara tells us there's no way of pleasing her mom. Lord knows she's tried.
- Her parents constantly pressure her to make perfect grades and do all kinds of extracurricular activities. They want her to get into Stanford.
- They like that she's dating Sean, who's a good-looking jock and baseball star.
- Cara's mom is outwardly perfect and looks younger than her age. She has a posse of perfect-looking friends.
- As for her dad, a powerful political lobbyist, he's hardly ever home.
- Cara's afraid of turning out like her mom if she doesn't "find [her] wings." Today, though, she's trying not to think about it.
- She talks about the day she returned to school after Conner's suicide attempt. The rumor mill was in full swing, thanks to her obnoxious neighbor Bobby Duvall.
- She's been lying and telling everyone Conner's okay, but the truth is that he's still in a mental hospital called Aspen Springs.
- Everyone at school has pretty much forgotten about him, except for his ex-girlfriend Kendra, who's still in love despite the fact that he dumped her.