If I Was Your Girl

Grant is Amanda’s love interest once she moves in with her dad in the South. Grant is a football player, but Amanda is attracted to his compassionate nature. He’s not like the other, stereotypical brash boys at the school, and Amanda immediately feels connected to him. This feeling solidifies when Amanda realizes that Grant used to be best friends with a boy who identified as gay, and Grant stood up for him when everyone else harassed him.

Grant initially hides his home life from Amanda. His mother has had mental health issues ever since his dad left, and he’s ashamed that they live in a run-down trailer. He works multiple jobs to support his mother and sisters, and he drives a dilapidated car. When he eventually shares all of this with Amanda, she’s understanding and supportive because she loves him. 

Bee is Amanda’s first friend at the high school. She’s an uninhibited rebel who rails against the forced normality she sees as a façade all around her. She smokes pot openly and embraces the bad names that people in school call her. She identifies as bisexual and is dating another girl at school. However, she secretly develops a crush on Amanda.

Bee and Amanda tell each other their deepest secrets. Bee reveals that she was once a beauty pageant queen who was raped by a serial rapist. She admits to feeling guilty over not reporting the rape because the perpetrator went on to rape other women.

Bee reveals Amanda’s secret to everyone because she feels vengeful after Amanda rejects her affection. This moment unravels their friendship, but it’s also the catalyst that allows Amanda to live honestly with her friends.

Parker is the football player who first has a crush on Amanda when she arrives in Lambertville, but she doesn’t return his affections. This causes him to harbor feelings of resentment towards her. When the truth about her past is revealed, this resentment boils over into violence against her.