A young would-be writer is forced to confront her past upon the return of her angry, wayward brother.

A young woman named Paige is forced to confront awful memories when her brother Trevor comes home after a long absence. Before the siblings and their father finally face reality, they engage in a variety of conversational games that bring humor to a potentially gloomy topic.—Anonymous

High school student Paige Fleming and her widowed father Ross Fleming, a used car salesman, have lived alone with each for the past two years. Outwardly, this existence of just the two of them has simplified what was previously their complicated and troubled family life. Still, Paige quietly tries to deal with what is the pain from that previous life on her own, not confiding in her closest friend Danielle Whitaker, or Jeff Simm, her boyfriend who she recently dumped and who continually pesters her to get back together. She copes through writing, generally fantastical stories which she may or may not realize are some sort of allegory of her life. As her writing is her salvation, she asks her English teacher, Ms. Sheila Newlands, to help her prepare a story for a writing contest, busy Ms. Newlands who reluctantly consents. Paige's life is turned upside down with the arrival back on the scene of her older brother, Trevor Fleming, who she feels is a large contributor to that pain, most specifically by an incident involving him that happened just before he left two years ago. Despite believing that Trevor is taunting her at every turn, Paige may come to a better understanding of the reality of her troubles purely by his presence, and of what steps to take at least to get "out of the hole" to use her vernacular.—Huggo