Vicenza, known as V, hates being called "FOB" (Fresh Off the Boat). A recent Filipino immigrant, she misses her lavish lifestyle in Manila and has a difficult time fitting in with the wealthy girls at Grosverner, her private girls school. Vicenza is hard pressed to admit to her limited means financially and wants a social life like Whitney Bertoccini and her clique, the most popular girls in the freshman class. Refusing to see her life as it is leads to treachery and deceit as V emails Peaches, her best friend in Manila, with fanciful information about her life in San Francisco. Her emails tell of what she wants, Claude Caligari, while her narration shows the reality of her initial disappointment in America. V tries to become someone she is not in her attempts to gain popularity, even though her new friend Isobel accepts her as she is. She looks past Paul, a guy who spends his breaks with her in the Sears cafeteria her mom runs, until she realizes, almost too late, that it is actually him that she likes and understands.