Becky, the second Hildebrandt child, wakes up happy and excited after experiencing her first kiss the night before. She decides to work on her college essays, which direct her to write about someone she admires. She chooses her older brother, Clem, the sibling she has always been closest to, and her Aunt Shirley, who died less than a year before from lung cancer.

Aunt Shirley, a former Broadway actress, did not attempt to hide that Becky was her favorite Hildebrandt child. She and Marion, Shirley’s sister and Becky’s mother, did not get along well, however. Shirley was jealous of Marion’s family while Marion assumed Shirley thought less of her for having a “normal” suburban life. Shirley left Becky $13,000 in her will, specifying that Becky should use it to go to Europe. Her parents want her to split it with her brothers instead. She could still take a trip to Europe with her portion, though it would be less lavish.

The money is not the only change in Becky’s life in the weeks leading up to her essay-writing morning. An attractive musician who recently graduated from her high school, Tanner Evans, plays in a band at the restaurant where she works.