Before I Fall characters

Appears from the start

A senior at Thomas Jefferson High School and one of its most visible popular girls. She moves through school with Lindsay, Ally, and Elody, enjoying the privileges of their status while ignoring much of the harm they cause. On Cupid Day she expects an ordinary round of roses, classes, and parties, but the night ends in a fatal car crash.

Appears from the start

Sam's forceful best friend and the informal leader of their group. Confident, mocking, and reckless behind the wheel, she has a long history of hostility toward Juliet Sykes that the others have accepted without examining.

Appears from the start

One of Sam's three closest friends. Elody is sociable, impulsive, and often drunk at parties, joining easily in the group's jokes and cruelties while remaining an important part of Sam's emotional world.

Appears from the start

A wealthy member of Sam's close group whose home provides their comfortable gathering place. She shares the friends' social assumptions and gossip, though her quieter manner can make her seem less openly aggressive than Lindsay.

Appears from the start

Sam's popular boyfriend. She has built up the prospect of having sex with him as an important step, even though his inattentiveness and drinking suggest that the relationship matters more to her image than to either of them emotionally.

Appears from the start

A kind, unconventional classmate who has known Sam since childhood and hosts the Cupid Day party. He treats her with a degree of attention and concern that she has largely dismissed while pursuing popularity.

Also known as Psycho

Appears from the start

A withdrawn student who has endured years of ridicule, especially from Lindsay and her friends. She arrives at Kent's party soaked from the rain and publicly confronts the girls who have made her a target.

Appears from the start

Sam's much younger sister. Affectionate and imaginative, Izzy still looks at Sam without the judgments and status calculations that govern Sam's school life.

Appears from the start

A student outside Sam's popular circle who becomes a target of the girls' casual gossip and exclusion. Watching how Anna is treated helps expose the ordinary, cumulative cruelty Sam has learned not to notice.

Appears from the start

A young teacher whom Sam finds attractive. Her fantasy about his approval is part of the glamorous adult identity she imagines for herself, though their actual relationship is shaped by his position and her wish to be noticed.