On graduation eve, art senior Celia Voss gives herself to Duncan Keene, her boyfriend of four years - only to hear him murmur another woman's name. His dating page then leaks: a four-year "Sisterhood Strategy Plan" that used Celia as a springboard to her stepsister Blythe Sorrell, the real prize. Shattered, she is pulled from a lake by Gideon Pryce, the football captain, who tells her to stand tall. Humiliated at Blythe's party, Celia blurts out that she is dating Gideon - and the captain plays along, agreeing to a fake romance on her rules. Behind the act he is serious, hiding a photo and a hair tie from long ago. When Blythe slashes her own painting and frames Celia, leaving her suspended, disowned by her father Martin, and taken to the police, Duncan buys her a juror's award only to engineer her downfall and withdraws her evidence. With friend Wes and Gideon's protection, Celia obtains footage exposing the impostor, then overhears Duncan call her only practice - and hits record.
