Melinda went to a party with her friends, there she met Andy Evans a senior. He raped her which led to her calling the cops. Melinda didn't tell any of her friends what happened. By the time school started all of Melinda's friends had ditched her. She began to isolate herself and stop talking. Her only friend was the new girl Heather.
Melinda goes to art class which is her only escape from reality. She has to create different trees for the whole year. The art teacher Mr. Freeman sees that Melinda is struggling and encourages Melinda to speak up.
Melinda became friends with her lab partner David Petrakis after he stood up against Mr.Neck. He helped her when she didn't want to give a voice presentation on suffragettes. After he told her that by not speaking up she is just letting the bad guy win.
One day at lunch Melinda's friend Heather told Melinda that she was too depressed and they couldn't be friends anymore. Then a few weeks later when Heather needed help she asked Melinda and Melinda spoke up and said no.
After Melinda found out that her ex best friend Rachel was dating Andy she realized that she had to tell her about Andy before she got hurt too. Rachel didn't believe Melinda and said that she was just jealous.
When Andy found out that Melinda told Rachel he cornered Melinda and tries to sexually assault her again. Melinda stands up for herself and he backs away and leaves. Melinda realizes that her getting raped wasn't her fault. She goes to show Mr. Freeman her final drawing of a tree and gets an A plus. The book ends with Melinda telling him about what happened to her.