Backstory Timeline
Childhood
Jonesy and Travis are childhood friends, having lived on the same block and meeting in elementary school.
Middle School (6-8th grade)
Francine, Travis, Jonesy, and Seth were all in the same English class in 6th grade (first year of middle school) and got along well, had lunch together, etc. The friendship continued since then, despite them connecting to different social groups according to their interests.
Jonesy is romantically interested in Francine but is afraid to act on it for fear of damaging their group friendship.
HS Freshman Year
Travis goes out for the football team and makes it, starting his high school sports career.
Francine makes the Girls Volleyball team (which is not very good)
Jonesy find friends among the counterculture stoner kids.
Andy is overweight and struggles to make friends in high school.
HS Sophomore Year
Aware of Andy's unhappiness in high school, Jonesy encourages Andy to begin running track and gets fit. Andy loves the track team, finds his friends, and starts getting in shape.
Romantic tension grows between Travis and Francine, which Seth encourages but Jonesy discourages as he has been interested in Francine romantically since middle school.
HS Junior Year
Travis makes Varsity Football and is considered one of the most valuable members of the team.
Francine's friend Stacy tells her Travis wants to date her and would make a great boyfriend. Francine considers Travis an old friend and is reluctant to make the relationship romantic. Stacy tells Travis that Francine likes him and he asks her out. They begin dating.
Andy sets a personal goal to make the Varsity Track team in the Spring. He gets lights and a reflective vest so he can train after dark.
Jonesy, who had been planning to ask Francine to the Junior Prom, is secretly against her relationship with Travis, claiming that it could ruin their friendship if things don't work out.
Travis finished the season at the end of December and is voted MVP. Popularity soars. He begins hanging out with football players and other jocks as his primary friend group. He
Over the winter break.break, Travis and Francine promise each other to attend UC San Diego as their first step to build a life together on the West Coast after high school.
During the spring semester, Travis attends more parties and events with the jocks and drinks more. After one party, a teammate is going to drive very drunk and Travis insists he drive instead. One the drive, the players distract him and he hits Andy who is running along the road in the dark (with lights). Travis and the other passengers swear an oath to never speak of the incident.
Travis becomes depressed but refuses to talk about it.
Francine's older sister Judy,
At Junior Prom, in a moment of weakness, Travis he reveals the hit and run to Francine, but only after swearing her to secrecy. He tells her the car's owner was driving and feared the truth would put him in danger from his violent and alcoholic father. She attempts to console him and the two sex, resulting in her pregnancy.
Francine's cousin sister Judy, visiting for the holidays, helps Francine realize that a Law career would be a perfect match for her interests and encourages her to attend Law school instead of pursuing a teaching job.
Summer after Junior Year
Wracked with guilt over the hit and run, Travis swears off drinking and begins to spend more time doing church and volunteer activities. He claims he wants to be a better person and increase his odds for his college application.
Francine discovers she's pregnant from their sex after the Junior Prom.
Francine contacts Judy for advice. Judy suggests Georgetown as a better path to law school and advises Francine get an abortion. Francine agrees but decided not to tell Travis as he is too fragile to handle the total destruction of their plans.
Francine has a secret abortion, telling Travis it's a road trip with distant cousins he's never met and avoiding questions about the trip.
HS Senior Year
Story takes place on Halloween Night, fall of Senior Year.
College
Notes
High School football season typically runs from late August through December.
Boys Track and Field has a spring season (outdoor track)
Girls' volleyball season is late August through early November
College application are submitted between August and January of Senior Year