The story begins with the main character, Starr, feeling out of place at a party with her friend, Kenya, who fits in seamlessly. Kenya gets annoyed that Starr won’t go dance and says, “People already say you think you all that.” (ch 1) This begins a conversation about how Starr acts like she’s all that just because she goes to Williamson Prep, a mostly white school. Then Kenya starts talking about how she hates Denasia Allen because she started talking about Kenya trying to get with DeVante. During all of which Starr acts interested even though she doesn’t even know who DeVante is while continuously ignoring messages from her boyfriend Chris. Some of Kenya’s friends show up and once they all start talking about school Starr fades into the background because she doesn’t know who any of the people they’re talking about are. When Kenya goes to get another drink they all leave Starr and she begins to feel very judged until an old friend, Khalil, finds her. They begin to catch up…show more content… Lemuel gets his money by stealing it from his mother’s collection of missionary money. He uses this money to treat himself and his friends to flapjacks, movies, and even baseball gear. Lemuel becomes, “the king of the neighborhood.” (pg 172) Khalil on the other hand is also getting his money in a not so good way, gang work. However, Khalil’s reason for joining the gang comes from a good place, he does it, so he can pay the bills and feed his family. Khalil tried to use money from his paychecks when he worked at Big Mav’s store, but it wasn’t enough to support his family after his grandma got fired while going through chemo. When Khalil’s tells Starr, he’s been busy she knows, “When you grow up in Garden Heights, you know what ‘busy’ really means,” (ch 1) just like how all the kids in Lemuel’s neighborhood, “…knew everybody’s else’s cry.” (pg