The novel opens with the narrator and protagonist Cassidy Blake attending history class during the last week of school before the summer break. Cassidy reminds the reader that ghosts can appear anywhere and at any time, even in the most normal, mundane places, such as the grocery store. She begins to feel a ghostly presence she describes as a tapping sensation and explains this is not the first time she ever felt a paranormal presence. Though she tries to ignore it, she struggles to focus on Mr. Meyer’s lesson on the Vietnam War, knowing there is something else out there. Making eye contact across the room with her best friend, Jacob, Cassidy watches as the popular girls Alice and Melanie make a supply list for their movie night. Cassidy does not consider herself one of the popular kids, as she feels her appearance is awkward, but she is fine with her status because she also finds the popular kids’ lifestyle exhausting.

Cassidy thinks Jacob could be one of the popular kids if he were alive. Instead, he appears as a ghost in the classroom, unable to touch anything or anyone in the class.