- The prologue begins with a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien: "Not all who wander are lost."
- And now onto the pants: They are a soft and faded pair of jeans that Carmen bought in a thrift store near Georgetown (a university in Washington, D.C.) while shopping with her friend Lena and Lena's sister, Effie.
- Carmen bought the $3.99 pants to prove a point—thrift shops aren't just for dirty and poor people (like Lena's mother believes).
- Once home, though, Carmen threw the pants in her closet and pretty much forgot about them.
- So that's the pants for you, and now we meet the rest of Sisterhood: Lena, Tibby, and Bridget—friends since birth, who usually spend every summer together.
- Each girl has their own stereotype: Lena is the pretty one, Tibby is the rebel, Bridget is the athlete, and Carmen says she's the one who will keep the group together.
- Though their mothers were all friends once, their friendships deteriorated over time—the girls swear they will never let the same thing happen to their group because they love each other too much.
- Carmen admits, however, that she almost throws the Pants away. We thought she cared about the friendship the most?