Along For The Ride - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Auden West is used to slipping out at night after her mother goes to sleep. Auden heads to a diner, just off the highway, to do schoolwork. After being accepted into Defriese University and graduating high school, Auden is not sure on how to spend her summer. After receiving a package from her brother Hollis who is touring Europe, she decides to take up her father's offer to spend her summer before college in the beach town Colby. When she arrives she hopes to spend countless hours talking with her father about books and college. However, she is disappointed to find out that that will not be the case since her father spends all his time working on his novel. One night Auden heads down to the Tip, a stretch of beach where all the teens hang out. At the Tip she runs into a guy who had whistled at her earlier in the day. She ends up fooling around with him . Before he gets too far Auden leaves for home. Early in the morning, she helps out her step mother by taking her half sister Thisbe out for a walk while Heidi takes a shower and sleeps. In the afternoon Auden runs to down to Heidi's boutique Clementines to deliver a check book and muffins. There she meets one of Heidi's employees, Maggie. While waiting in store for the checkbook, Maggie's friends Leah and Esther walk into the store. They reveal to Maggie that her ex-boyfriend Jake ( who she is still in love with) hooked up with another girl last night at the Tip. Auden realizing that she's the girl tries to act nonchalant while she make her way towards the door. After briefly explaining to Maggie that what she did with Jake as a mistake and that he meant nothing to her, she walks out after Maggie's okay. The next day their family decides to head down to the Last Chance for dinner. It clear that Auden's father is irritated since he does not want to leave the house so he can finish his book. Heidi has to go to her boutique on the way to dinner since something went wrong with her employees' checks, which makes Auden's father even more irritated. While waiting for Heidi at the diner Thisbe starts to cry loudly. Auden, prompted by her father, takes Thisbe outside to try to calm her down. A guy a little older than her who she had seen twice previously helps her out by calming down Thisbe. Heidi comes over and greets him and thanks him for calming her down. He then leaves. Heidi tells Auden that his name is Eli and that he runs the bike shop next to her boutique. She also mentions that Eli has a little brother around Auden's age named Jake. Auden quickly realizes that Eli's little brother Jake is the same Jake she fooled around with. At dinner a dispute rises between Heidi and Auden's father which they leave unresolved to finish dinner. Realizing their fight is not over Auden does not go home until two hours later. However, Auden arrives at the peak of the fight. Auden stays on the porch and overhears he father say that the only reason he invited Auden was so she can help out with Thisbe. She also overhears Heidi say that the reason Auden is here is so she can spend quality time with her father. Auden leaves for another three hours and is grateful for Heidi defending her. Later that night after everyone was asleep Auden spends the night fixing Heidi's finances. Grateful, Heidi offers Auden a job working on the store's books. After a remark from Auden's father, Auden accepts the job much to her fathers disappointment. While Auden works she's treated kindly by the other girls. After a few days Auden's mother Victoria comes down to visit. She is highly critical of Heidi and the store for all the pink and shallowness it projects. Victoria notices that Auden has changed and once Auden defends Heidi, Victoria makes a rude remark. Since she does not sleep at night, she spends most her nights driving aimlessly around town. The employees at Heidi's boutique encourage Auden to go to a party with them and there she has an encounter with Elli. They keep bumping into each other, they eventually find out that both of them have nocturnal habits. They start hanging out with each other when night time comes. The start getting closer and eventually they kiss for the first time at a bar dancing to a song. Jason, Auden's ex prom date had to come around and break the friendship between Eli and Auden. Jason asks Auden to go with him to the Beach Bash, a event Heidi had planned for the end of Summer. Their theme was Prom, Jason ended up asking Auden and she accepted. When the Beach Bash comes, Jason turns Auden down by ditching her for the second time. Auden goes and asks Eli to go with her. He rejects her and it takes a toll on Auden. Eli regrets his rejection towards Auden when they meet again. They go to the Beach Bash together. Few months later, Auden is found in Defriese, she drives to Ray's (coffee shop) where she meets up with Eli. The book is finished by them sitting across from each other. A smile on both their faces and her hand slipped in his.