not do a thing" (380). Connie does not want to live with her oppressive mother any longer. She does not want to be anything like her family. She has to live a sort of double life away from home; she, like her jersey sweater "look[s] one way when she [is] at home and another way when she [is] away from home" (308). Her only refuge from her confining home life is nights out with her best friends, eating and spending time flirting with young boys her age. This is the only time she really feels accepted. She does not enjoy her home life, and wishes she could be something else; she wishes to get away from it all. Arnold Friend, a complete stranger takes Connie, to start a whole new life where she does not know if she is safe. Connie likes to flirt so she "smirk[s] and let her hair fall loose over one shoulder" (383). Connie's flirting makes Arnold even more motivated to take her away with him. Connie does not realize that flirting with boys may be harm less, but flirting with a grown man can be a mistake. She knows
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