Rinnie is eleven-years-old the year that the Kalowski boys arrive in their rural town. Her sister Lila is thirteen, and their best friend is Shirley, who likes to play make-believe and tries to convince everyone that her tall tales are real. The Kalowski boys, Sid at fourteen and Jesse at twelve, come and change Shirley's thoughts from make-believe to puberty and kissing boys, although she does still try to make believe. Sid and Jesse are from the city and their parents pay them little attention. They like to get into trouble for the fun of it and do whatever they want. They befriend Lila and Rinnie after hearing that their mom and her boyfriend are hippies who swim naked. The kids often go riding on their ponies into the forest and swim in the lake with their clothes on. Sometimes, they swim in an aboveground pool at the Lyalls'. When they go back to school, they still remain friends though they run in different circles: Lila and Rinnie are the gifted kids while Sid and Jesse are put in classes with the "r*tarded" kids. Sid and Jesse's friends like to go around and grab girls between the crotch, though the brothers never do that to the sisters. They end up in detention nearly every day for smart-mouthing the teachers, however, and stare at the girls' forming breasts. Jesse begins dating Marcy, who's Lila's age, and they sneak off from the bus each day to do dirty things. One day, Sid approaches Rinnie and tells her he is going to kiss her. He continues telling her this, as if it is a threat, without actually kissing her. Rinnie is not sure if she wants Sid to kiss her, but she is tired of him not following through. She goes to his house and asks for him. She kisses him, and he kisses her back. Not long after, the sisters find out that Bonnie, Marcy's best friend, committed suicide. Marcy follows suit, saying she wants to be with Bonnie. The boys continue breaking rules after that but less so, and everything is much more somber and full of trauma. Rinnie and Lila's parents transfer them to a different school. The boys go on to live lives of crime involving drugs and teenage pregnancy. Still, Rinnie thinks to herself, they had that one summer, the summer that Rinnie kissed a boy and had a secret.