Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
From Bad to Worse
Bart's having the worst year of his life. His father dies in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks after having abandoned Bart and his mom six months earlier. Bart has lots of feelings and no one to talk to as his mom slips deeper and deeper into depression. With that, the grim stage is set for the rest of the story.
Rising Action
The Boys' School Blues
Bart gets a scholarship to Baileywell, a prestigious boys' school. But instead of this being a positive development, at Baileywell (a.k.a. Bullyville) he meets his nemesis, one Tyro Bergen. And Tyro bullies him big time. We're talking everything from stuffing him in a locker to death threats. Unwilling to add to his mom's misery by sharing his own with her, things are officially getting tense for Bart.
Climax
Nola Bergen, R.I.P.
After snapping under the emotional load he's carrying and keying Tyro's car, Bart finds himself stuck doing community service at the local hospital. And while hanging out with sick kids is kind of a bummer at first, this leads to Bart forming an unlikely friendship with a girl named Nola. And with this, Bart's loneliness starts to subside; finally he has someone to talk to.
Before we start celebrating, though, Nola dies. And right before she does, Bart discovers that she's Tyro's sister. Whoa.
Falling Action
Fisticuffs
Bart thinks he and Tyro are going to bond over the loss of Nola, but instead they get into an epic fistfight. And with that, Bart gets what he's wanted all along: He's no longer welcome at Baileywell, expelled effective immediately.
Resolution
Life Returns to Normal(-ish)
Things look up for Bart once he leaves Baileywell. He happily returns to public school, and eventually his mom remarries. We even see that down the road he's the happy dad of two kids who never get bullied. (Wow, talk about a dream come true.) It almost feels like life has returned to normal.