Free-spirited Bridget is more confident, courageous, and daring than all her friends put together, and she hurtles through life on high spirits and adventure. With energy to spare, Bridget loves playing soccer, and she excels at it, winning the respect of her teammates and sometimes the frustration of her coach, who recognizes Bridget’s potential but also her tendency to show off. Bridget hates being indoors, preferring to spend all of her time outside doing something physical, such as running or swimming. She never slows down—and she has the enormous appetite appropriate to such an active person. Bridget applies that same energy and enthusiasm to her romantic pursuits. She knows she’s attractive to men, and that attention gives her a high. In the rare cases when someone tells Bridget “no,” she takes it as encouragement to try harder. Bridget is the kind of girl who won’t stop until she gets what she wants.

Beneath all this energy, determination, and verve, however, is a girl who has lost her mother and who, at times, feels very much alone. Readers don’t know exactly what happened to Bridget’s mother, other than that her death was connected to “bad depression” and was probably a suicide. Bridget fills her life to the brim with excitement and activity, never giving herself time to stop and reflect. She keeps herself afloat because she doesn’t have any opportunity to sink. Good decisions and bad decisions pile up on top of one another, and Bridget isn’t the sort to consider the wisdom or consequences of her actions before she plows ahead. The result of her headstrong way of living is trouble handling the consequences of her actions. When she does get Eric, for instance, and finally stops to think about what she’s done, she can’t handle the reality and retreats to her bed. Bridget’s highs are very high, but her lows are very low. In the low times, she relies on her friends to support her and remind her that she will never be alone.

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