The main characters in the book are Jessica Donnally, Lori Roberts, Mark Malik and Scott Alexandar. Jess is a normal sixteen-year-old girl with an unsatisfiable curiosity and a great compassion for kids. Lori is Jess's best friend. Mark and Scott have both recently moved to Oakberry, Texas.

Jess is excited when she learns that there is going to be two new students in her school. When she finds out that one of them, Mark, is moving in next door, she jumps at the chance to welcome him. Her mom bakes a cake and when Jess takes it over to the Malik's house, she finds out that they are a little different from most families. Mrs. Malik seems confused and threatened by Jess offering her the cake as a welcome gift. However, Mark seems semi-normal, and he explains that where his family used to live, in New York, people are not neighborly. Jessica likes Mark despite that she does not know much about him. When she calls Lori, Jess discovers that she is interested in a new student also, Scott

On the way home from the lake, Jess walks with Mark and tells him her idea for a volunteer program. She wants to set up a program through their social problems class. It will allow students to spend time helping children in the hospital. Mark thinks it is a great idea and encourages Jess to bring it up to their teacher. They are both excited about the plan, but Jess makes it a point that she cannot carry it through until she asks her mom. Jess's grades in school have not been that great, and she already has an after-school job that takes up much of her time.

During her first day back at school, Jess meets Scott in her journalism class, in which Mark is also. Scott is very quiet and seems to have something against Mark right from the beginning. In class, they often start arguments and glare at each other from across the room.

When Jessica leaves the hospital, she is eager to begin her research on Scott. First she goes to his apartment building. Jess talks to his next door neighbor who knows Scott, but has never seen his aunt. Next, she visits his aunt's place of employment, but the people there have never heard of or seen her. At this point, Jess becomes very suspicious and remembers that when she looked in Scott's apartment, the only things in there were a telephone and a bed. Jess realizes that Scott was lying about living with his aunt. She wonders what else he has lied about.

After school, Jess avoids Mark because he brought up her idea when he knew she was not ready yet. Instead of going with her friends after school, Jess goes straight home to convince her mother to allow her to head the volunteer committee. Her mother is reluctant at first, but agrees to let her do it if she can keep her grades up and handle her job too. To do these things, she has to stop talking on the telephone and watching television.

When she gets to the hospital, Mark and Scott, who has also become involved in the program, have already begun setting the program up. This makes Jess mad because she is the head of the committee and it was all her idea. She does not understand why they are both getting so involved. Mark does not even seem to like kids and is only interested in volunteering so he can establish a good reputation.

The next night, Jess lets her cat, Pepper, go outside while she is doing her homework. After a while, Jess realizes that Pepper has not come back inside yet, and she begins calling for him. When Pepper does not come, Jess grabs a flashlight and searches for him outside. Without any luck, Jess goes back inside. She figures Pepper will turn up the next day. When she finds an open can of tuna in her trash can, she knows that Pepper is gone forever.

That night, Jess sees Mark again and is curious about what looks like tree moss on his shoes. She immediately questions him about whether he has ever been in the woods. However, even when Mark says he has never been in the woods, Jess has a herd time believing him. Something in his voice does not seem right.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jessica Lori, Mark Scott, Mark Jess, Eric Jess, Texas Jess, Mark Mark, Pepper Jess, Jess Lori, Mark Malik, Jess Scott, mark scott, scott alexandar, school jess, mark tells, jess goes, mark woods, jess realizes, day school, lake jess, volunteer program, day school jess, mark woods eric, results internet search, idea volunteer program, scott alexandar jess,
Approximate Word count = 2107
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)