Oluremi, “Remi,” is a teenage girl who is at the top of her class at a boarding secondary school in Fiditi, Nigeria during the 1980s. After being accepted to the boarding school, she befriends Aisha, Nonso, and Solape; the four bond after Remi is hazed by an older girl.  Oluremi and her friends dream about their futures. Solape hopes to be a lawyer and Nigeria’s first astronaut. A new principal, Mrs. Haastrup, replaces their well-liked principal. Haastrup fires a biology and physics teacher, and drastically cuts back on food portions. Remi, her friends, and her classmates begin to protest the tyranny of their new principal by throwing rocks at the principal’s house.
The police intercept the next day and arrest Wunmi and Solape, two bookish girls who did not attend the protests. Aisha, whose father is the Minister of Defense, attempts to take their place but her family’s prominence prevents her arrest. Wunmi and Solape are arrested anyway. The next day, Wunmi returns without Solape. Wunmi reveals that they were both taken to a maximum security prison and that Solape had a severe asthma attack. The next day, their teacher reveals that Solape died. A new principal replaces Haastrup, the school hires a biology and a physics teacher, and the friends mourn Solape’s death.