The story takes place in Winfield, Texas, although this is not the traditional home of either of the main characters. Tracy is transplanted there when her mother is killed in a New York City mugging, forcing her to live with her mother's sister and her husband while her actor father is on location in Europe. She vows never to get close to anyone again and views Winfield as a temporary stopover in her very unsettled life. Brad's home is in Albuquerque; his search for his "kidnapped" half sister has brought him to Winfield. The fact that both Tracy and Brad are outcasts of sorts is what unites them. Winfield is foreign territory to which neither teen-ager has any attachment at the book's beginning.