Tess finishes a summer fling with an older guy. She enjoys the power she has over him. She turns 16, regretting many of her previous life actions. School saves her. With her AP credits and good grades she graduates from high school at Christmas during her junior year. She enrolls in community college. Pregnancy fuels her desire to finish college. Her family offers their support. Her granddad asks for her help to locate her own dad's biological father. She meets Craig, and they fall in love. She graduates while raising her daughter. Tess and Craig marry. They thrive, she as a teacher and he as a Native American farmer, loving her and the land.