Halle Jacobs is one of the main characters and first-person narrators of the novel. The chapters titled with her first name are written from her first-person point of view. Halle is the eldest sister in her family. Her parents got divorced when she was young. After her mom remarried a man named Paul Scott, Halle’s family relocated from New York to Arizona, where Halle assumed the responsibilities of the eldest daughter. Her older brother Grayson Jacobs doesn’t take on many familial duties, leaving Halle to care for her younger siblings and support her mother. In her youth, she became reliant on her friendship with her neighbor Will Ellington, whom she later started dating in college.

Halle is a caring, empathetic character who initially puts other people’s needs first. She “make[s] sacrifices without question because that’s what [she’s] always done” (10). Even after she moves away from home for college, Halle continues to give up her time and needs to support Will and her family. Over time, it becomes increasingly difficult “to know if it’s a true desire to help or just habit” (10). However, after Will breaks up with Halle because she won’t have sex with him, Halle realizes that it’s time to stop “being a passenger in [her] own life” and pursue the dreams and relationships she’s always craved (10).