Since her mother was institutionalized, sixteen-year-old Celeste has been in and out of orphanages. Celeste is overjoyed when Wade and Ami Emerson adopt her. But when she discovers Ami's real reason for adopting her - a reason that involves a sexual tryst with Ami's father-in-law - Celeste is terrified.

Alice, a teenager who enjoys spending time alone in the attic where her mother plotted the murder of her stepfather, decides to finally come out of her shell, resulting in a date to the prom and a confrontation with the shadows from her past.

After listening to Misty and Star tell their stories in their therapy group, it is Jade's turn to reveal her hidden past, and the shameful act that has haunted her for years.