Evie is a girl in the 60's in Texas. She hangs out with an older group of girls. Even though she isn't always comfortable acting like they do, she just wants to fit in. They are all poor kids who don't seem to see a future for themselves, so they just want to have fun. Evie still has compassion for others and also wants to not disappoint her mother and grandmother. But she has to hide these feelings from her friends because they only respect toughness. If the crowd thinks she's a softy, she'll lose their respect and they will tease her and drop her from the group. Then she'll have no one. She has never fit in with any other crowd at school. She has to hide what the group sees as her weakness or else. If they dump her she will have nothing and nobody. And she will never get a chance to see Johnny. Even though he, like every one else, thinks of her as a kid because she's the youngest in the group.