Smart, sincere, and excruciatingly self-conscious, Evan prefers to hover in the background, a supporting player in his own life, too afraid to step forward into the spotlight and risk ridicule or, what might be worse, no one noticing him at all.

Evan’s mother. Overworked and stretched too thin, Heidi loves her son fiercely, but fears they have begun to grow apart. She is prepared to do anything to repair the damage. 

Sensitive and sophisticated, with a sharp sense of humor, Zoe could care less about the status games and popularity rites of high school. She feels a terrible ambivalence over her brother’s death. 

An angry, disaffected loner, Connor has been a troubled kid for as long as anyone can remember, an enigma and a source of endless consternation to his long-suffering parents. 

Connor and Zoe’s mother. To Evan, she seems to be the perfect mother, nurturing, available, and willing to talk about anything. To her own children, it’s a bit more complicated. 

 Connor and Zoe’s father. Though often tense and taciturn, Larry shows a different face to the world, representing for Evan the dad he always wished for: strong, confident, and more than anything, reliable, someone to be counted on.

Droll and sarcastic, Jared covers his own insecurities with a well-practiced swagger and a know-it-all arrogance.

Earnest to a fault, prone to melodrama, Alana hides a deeper loneliness beneath an ever-present smile and an almost aggressive friendliness.