Nic portrays himself as having experienced a fall from grace. At 17, he was “accepted at prestigious universities across the country” (1); he maintained a 4.0 GPA, was on the swim team, spent precious time with his family, and was even published in Newsweek. However, during this time, Nic admits, he was simultaneously drinking and smoking pot regularly. He felt entitled to “a little partying” (1).

Now, he is 18 months and two days sober and about to relapse. The immediate cause is the fact that Zelda, the woman with whom he is having an affair, is pregnant and refuses to leave her boyfriend. Nic runs into Lauren, a high-school girlfriend who went to rehab for bulimia and cocaine addiction. Though she has also been clean for four months, the two plan to relapse together and purchase crystal meth from a dealer named Gack.

Lauren convinces her parents that she has not relapsed. Nic, on the other hand, knows that his family no longer believes him. He details how he refused to believe that he was becoming an addict even as he began to lie to and steal from his family.