The narrator, Mary, recounts her life story, from growing up with a cranky grandmother to being abandoned at an orphanage. She meets Gianna, a kind girl who becomes her best friend and protector. The two plan to escape the orphanage, but Mary gets caught and Gianna doesn't show up at their meeting spot. Mary assumes the warden caught Gianna and runs away.
Mary is taken in by a kind woman and her daughter Zoe. Mary and Zoe become close, and Mary starts to learn makeup from Zoe's mom. Mary is eventually adopted by the family and starts attending school with Zoe.
Mary is reunited with Gianna at school, but their friendship is complicated by Gianna's increasingly erratic behavior. Gianna starts to cause trouble, including accusing Zoe of bullying her and sabotaging Mary's makeup. The situation escalates, and Gianna's true nature is revealed: she has a personality disorder and has been manipulating Mary and Zoe.
In the end, Gianna's adoptive mother takes her away for rehab, and Mary is left to process her complicated feelings about their friendship. Mary and Zoe reconcile, and Mary realizes that Zoe is her true sister and friend.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. The narrator, Mary, never knew her parents and grew up with her cranky old grandmother.
2. Mary's grandmother left her at an orphanage when Mary was eight years old.
3. Mary was ecstatic to be at the orphanage and made friends with a girl named Gianna.
4. Gianna protected Mary from a bully and they became best friends.
5. Mary and Gianna planned to escape the orphanage together.
6. The warden caught them and punished them.
7. Mary decided to try to escape again, but Gianna didn't show up at the agreed meeting spot.
8. Mary was caught by the warden again and ran away from the orphanage.
9. Mary was devastated to leave without Gianna, but vowed to return for her.
10. Mary met a kind-looking lady who took her in and introduced her to her daughter, Zoe.
11. Mary was officially adopted by the lady and her family.
12. Mary started attending school and made friends with Zoe.
13. Mary discovered that Zoe's mother owned a beauty salon and learned about makeup.
14. Mary became popular at school after a model she worked on posted a picture with her on Instagram.
15. Mary met Gianna again at school and they became friends, but Zoe was uncomfortable with their friendship.
16. Zoe and Gianna got into a fight during a football training session.
17. Mary's English teacher, Miss Amy, got married and Mary was her makeup artist.
18. Gianna helped Mary with Miss Amy's makeup, but something went wrong, and Miss Amy's eyes and skin started burning.
19. Mary discovered that the makeup spray she used was actually pepper spray.
20. Mary accused Zoe of switching the spray, but Zoe denied it.
21. Gianna and Zoe got into a fight again, and Miss Amy kicked them out of her wedding.
22. Mary decided to kick Zoe out of the football team, citing that she couldn't lead a team that couldn't work together.
23. Gianna revealed that she had been pretending to be Mary's friend and had been manipulating her to hate Zoe.
24. Gianna admitted to faking being hurt in the bathroom and messing with Mary's makeup.
25. Zoe recorded Gianna's confession and revealed that she and Mary had been pretending to fight to get Gianna to admit the truth.
26. The principal called Gianna's adoptive mother, who revealed that Gianna had a personality disorder and had been in therapy before.
27. Gianna's mother took her away to rehab for some time.