The sun had barely gone down on Sunday, March 17, 2002, and Rachel Alcroft had just left her home in Redlands. She was biking over to her boyfriend's, Tommy Pickles, house in the neighboring town of Yucaipa since she had not seen him over the weekend. It usually took around forty minutes to get to Yucaipa since she had to maneuver through many different neighborhoods in Redlands and even cross a bridge over Interstate 10. Her father, Joshua, would usually take her over to Tommy's house but he was busy that day. When she reached her boyfriend's home she found him and his best friend, Chuckie, working on Tommy's science project. They were building a maze that they expected a huge rat could maneuver. She would have pointed this out, but seeing that Tommy was preoccupied with a school assignment, she and Tommy agreed to see each other next week. Biking back home wasn't usually as hard as it was this time since she had not rested, but Rachel made it back home around 8:30 PM. When she entered her home she found her father and her sisters, Rebecca and Lisa, sitting in the living room.

"Ah, Rachel, come here. I've got some news I need to tell you girls," Josh said.

Rachel sat in the longer couch next to her younger sister, Lisa, as she said, "Okay, what's going on?"

Josh sat in the smaller adjacent couch and said, "As you girls know, I've been away from the house a lot these past couple months. The reason I've been so busy is that I've been looking for a new job."

"A new job, but you're doing fine. Aren't you, dad?" Rebecca, the oldest daughter, asked.

"Oh, no, this isn't about the money, I mean, look at this house. No, this is about what I want to do for the rest of my life. Girls, there comes a time when you look back at your life choices and ask yourself if you are happy with your life. I had fun making video games, but I always saw myself using my degree for something more meaningful," Joshua replied.

"So, what does this mean?" Rachel asked.

"I asked an old friend of mine to get me an interview at Cal Poly Pomona, and after a series of interviews, I got the job," Josh said.

"That's great," Rebecca said as she hugged her father.

Ah, thank you, but, here's the thing, It would be a lot cheaper to live closer to the university than to commute, so we're going to move," Josh said before Rebecca leaned back from her father in shock, but she and Lisa accepted the fact that they would be moving.

Rachel just sat there, her father's revelation had taken her by surprise, to which her father responded, "Shayna Punim, don't worry, it will be alright. You'll make new friends at your new school."

The fact that she would lose all of her old friends and go to a new school was one thing, but she would have to break up with Tommy. Josh had told the girls they would be moving on April 8th, but that was not enough time for Rachel. She meant to tell Tommy that she was moving bust she couldn't bring herself to tell him. She would rather play the role of the helpful girlfriend for the two weekends after she learned the news. During those dates, Tommy talked to Rachel about the fact that two of his friends, "the twins" as Rachel referred to them, were having a joint birthday party, after having separate parties the year before. Tommy told her that they had made up the year before, but ever since then he also felt as if the male twin's relationship with the female one had changed.

After talking to Tommy about his friends, the two left to the park for their date. The local film club was showing a fifties sci-fi-horror film about mutated bees that Tommy found cheesy in the park. At first the two were having a great time watching the movie, but when Tommy leaned into Rachel she knew she had to tell him. She tried to tell him what was going on but he insisted that she wait until the movie ended. He was pretty sure that she was going to break up with him and he wanted to put it off for as long as possible. Rachel agreed but by the time the film was over she had become terrified of telling Tommy the truth. They agreed to meet up again the next day at the Java Lava and Rachel told him that her family was moving. At first, Tommy didn't see how this would impact their relationship but once she said that this was like breaking up he realized that they were going to break up. When Rachel told Tommy she would be leaving the next day he was taken back, meaning that this was their last night together. She didn't want to become even more emotional than she already was, so she just told Tommy "bye," kissed him on the lips, and left.

Once she returned home she finished packing the last small things in her room and moved them to the living room so that the movers could start loading as soon as they arrived at their home. As soon as school was over Rachel and her sisters returned home to make sure that they had packed up everything. Once they told their father that they were ready they got in the family car and left for their new home. At first, Rachel did not feel at home in Pomona, but she soon made new friends, thanks to her great personality. By the end of the week she was adjusting well, but Thursday afternoon she got a call from one of Tommy's friends. Kimi had called her to invite her to a party; she said she and her friends would pay for the transportation. She asked her father if she could go, and when he said yes she told Kimi to call her back with the details.

The following morning right before class, Kimi called her back and told her how to make it to the club in San Bernardino. As soon as school was over, she rode her bike over to the train station and took a train into San Bernardino. After that she then took a bus and walked the remaining distance. Once she made it into the club she got excited when she spotted Tommy with his friends. She found it odd that his friends began to leave as she approached Tommy since they had organized her transportation. But once she got to Tommy she realized why, he had brought a date with him to the event, a girl he had met only days after they had broken up. Something happened inside Rachel when she saw the other girl; she had been so nice to this guy, even after he lied to her in order to get her to like him and he repaid her by going out with another girl. After the other girl Anita, told Tommy off, she proceeded to do the same. She didn't want to listen to his excuse and made it clear that she never wanted to see him again. Rachel was so mad that she did not notice she stormed out of the club and back onto the street. She boarded the next bus back to the train station and waited for three hours for her train back to Pomona. She spent those three hours contemplating what had happened. She was no longer angry, but she felt embarrassed, and she realized the only way for her to never have to go through such an event again was to become a pessimist.