Hayley is the new girl at her school; she's been there for about three months already but she was homesick. She misses her best friend back in San Fransisco, but at the same time she is developing new friendships and crushes where she is now. Her and her family take a trip back to San Fransisco for a Thanksgiving getaway. On the way home her little brother put gum in her hair, the weather is bad, and the car breaks down. While it is getting looked at, Hayley's mom takes her to nearby salon to cut the gum out; she's really not happy about her new look and refuses to see it in the mirror. Her father buys a new car and her mom is not happy about it and argues a great deal before reluctantly getting in. The whole way home she thinks about all the drama at her new school of being the new girl and how everyone is watching her to see if she'll make a right or wrong move. She finally looks at the damage of her new haircut Monday morning before school and realizes it's not so bad, that it actually suits her. She goes to school and notices that the popular clique is missing one of the girls, but why? One of her new crushes is also missing from the clan, what's going on? And how will the rest of the girls react to her hair?
The authors' style of writing explains each chapter, but at the end raises different questions about what is to come. They also give you options and let you decide where the story will go: "if you want this to happen go to pg 12, but if you want this to happen go to pg 19."
