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
So, About that Buick…
Talk about a story that dives right into the tough stuff: Deanna's in the backseat with Tommy in the first sentence. When her dad finds her, you might think we've gone straight into the conflict, but we're actually in a flashback. We need to know what happened when Deanna was thirteen to know why she is like she is at sixteen… and it's not a pretty picture.
Her dad has barely spoken to her since that fateful night, and the rest of her life is pretty sucky too. Her parents are poor; her house is falling apart; her brother, his girlfriend, and their illegitimate infant daughter are living in the basement; and to top it all off, she's in love with her best friend. As initial situations go, this one's pretty bleak.
Rising Action
Picasso's Pizza is for Lovers
What could make a girl feel more conflicted than getting her first job only to find out that she'll be working with the guy who ruined her life? Because that's exactly what happens to Deanna. On her first day at Picasso's, she sees none other than Tommy Webber behind the counter. If Deanna's going to save the money to move out of her house, she's going to have to deal with him, because jobs in Pacifica are pretty scarce.
Just to make things even more complicated, her best girlfriend Lee comes into Picasso's one day for a little heart-to-heart sex talk with Deanna—she's thinking about losing her virginity with Deanna's best friend Jason. Suffice it to say that what goes down at the pizza place is not exactly great for Deanna's mental health.
Climax
Somebody Hand That Girl a Tissue
We know things are changing for Deanna when she suddenly starts crying for the first time in years and can't seem to stop. Sure she stops for a few minutes—she doesn't have some kind of exotic disease that makes her overproduce tears or anything—but you get the picture. Once the floodgates are open, Deanna can't hold back.
She cries about the jerks at the pizza place, she cries about the bullies in the mall, she cries when she confronts Tommy, and she cries when her mom strokes her hair. But most of all, she cries when she finally gets fed up with her dad, who actually thinks she's fooling around with her forty-six-year-old boss. Sometimes anger and sadness can look a lot alike, and Deanna's (righteous) anger is finally coming out.
Falling Action
Wait, You're Forgiving that Guy?
When Deanna starts forgiving people, herself included, we know we're heading toward resolution. But there's work to be done first: she has to tell people she forgives them—namely Tommy. After their confrontation in the lot where they used to park (that's Park-with-a-Capital-P), Deanna realizes she doesn't hate him anymore. She broke his spell over her when she took away his power to both seduce her and make her feel worthless.
She also owes Lee an apology, but in order to face Lee, she has to forgive herself for kissing Jason. When Deanna realizes she doesn't have to be like her dad, and that his lack of forgiveness has caused him to live a miserable life, she writes to Lee and asks her to meet on the first day of school. Deanna hasn't quite taken control of her destiny yet, but she's on her way.
Resolution
Meeting Lee Beneath the Tree
As much as she loathes Terra Nova, Deanna has to go back. She also has to face Jason and Lee. When Darren drops her off on the first day of school, Deanna is dismayed to find that Lee's not waiting for her, but then Darren sees Lee standing under a tree in front of the building.
When Deanna gets out of the car, there's no big confrontation—just three old friends hesitantly greeting each other. Jason asks if Deanna's ready to be a junior, and they go inside to face the year in which Deanna's reputation will (hopefully) start to improve. It's not a resolution in the sense of a happy ending, but Tommy no longer haunts her and Lee's still her friend, so Deanna's life is way better than it's been thus far.