Several short stories in the collection explore the teenage struggle to follow the expectations placed on them by society while also remaining true to their authentic selves.

One conflict faced by characters in the collection is their struggle with their sexuality and how their families will react should they embrace that queer identity. In the story “Kissing Sarah Smart,” Devon has always battled with her queer identity after being discovered kissing a classmate, Leslie. Although they did so under the guise of “practicing” kissing, Devon admits that Leslie was her first crush. However, after a teacher discovers them kissing, her dad reacts with anger. Devon notes that she “never forgot the way his eyes bulged as he yelled ‘GAYS,’” and as a result she “never kissed another girl until [her] friend Amy’s drunken advances” several years later (296). Until meeting Sarah, Devon never had a real relationship with a woman, and even during this relationship she hides it from her mother and grandmother. Kissing Sarah makes her “feel like someone’s turned a light on inside of [her], like [she] was a vacant house and a family has finally moved in” (304). This metaphor—comparing her feelings with Sarah to a finally-occupied house—conveys the idea that being herself and being able to love Sarah makes Devon feel as though there is finally life inside of her that is even bigger than happiness.