The narrator has a best friend who doesn’t like her very much. She recalls a time when they were driving from a hair store to the best friend’s house so that the best friend could braid her hair. In the car, the best friend tells the narrator that she wished she liked the narrator more. The narrator then recalls that they were the only two black girls at Lee Elementary and had immigrant parents. As children, the two of them stick together through the harassment and discrimination faced by the other kids. However, when they get to their senior year, the narrator believes that the best friend changed. Specifically, she changes who she cares about, which ultimately doesn’t include the narrator.

The narrator mentions that the best friend lives in a gated community with both parents. Some days, the narrator hangs out with the best friend at their three-bedroom house, often so that the best friend can do the narrator’s hair while they talk or watch television. One day, while the best friend does the narrator’s hair, the best friend reveals that a boy—which is the best friend’s other friend—likes the narrator. The narrator says that she went on a date with that boy, and the best friend reveals further that she slept with him. In the bathroom, the narrator has all sorts of questions about her best friend’s relationship to that boy. The best friend’s mom then comes home and cooks food for the both of them. The best friend’s dad comes home as well, after which the two parents get into an argument about the best friend’s grades. The narrator then leaves the best friend’s house with hair unfinished, as well as a nice scarf from the best friend’s mother. The two of them have a conversation about how the best friend resents her father, though the narrator thinks she should be grateful to have a father at all. At home, the narrator’s mother points out her unfinished braids, after which the narrator goes to the bathroom to undo them.

The next day, everyone loves the narrator with her new scarf, but the best friend asks for it back. The best friend mentions that she’s organized an ice-skating trip for her and the other boys. Later, at the skating rink, the narrator skates with the only other black boy in their high school, whom others think she has feelings for. Meanwhile, the best friend is skating with the boy whom the narrator went on a date with. When the narrator and best friend sit down together, they get into a small argument about how the best friend doesn’t like how the narrator looks at her. The boy from the date sits down with them, and the three of them talk. The narrator looks at the tender moment of a mother undoing her son’s skate. She then overhears the best friend talking about his father’s cheating and feels betrayed that she wasn’t told. Later that night, the best friend and the narrator talk in a Subway. They argue again. The best friend says she feels like she’s not allowed to have a bad day. The narrator says the best friend has everything, which makes it hard to see her complain. When the narrator goes home, she gets scolded by her mother and, in bed, thinks about the mother she glimpsed at the ice rink.