Things are getting more involved in the novel When the Streetcars Come Back by Stanley Gordon West. Cal Grant, the main character likes this girl Lola and at this point in the book Lola's boyfriend can no longer see her because of his father. Cal gets the opportunity to go to some dances with her but instead of going as a genuine date Cal is acting as fake date. By doing this Lola can meet up with Tom at the dances and his father won't find out that the two are still going steady. Albeit acting as a double, Cal becomes very excited. After several fake dates Cal and Lola become close and Cal's dream of kissing her comes true (West99).
On the contrary to Cal's fortune with Lola, Cal's situation with Gretchen Uttermam, the strange girl with an abusive father, gets more complex. Cal begins to visit her at her place of employment, the bakery, every Sunday at her lunch break. We begin to see how Cal becomes attached to her when he buys her a pair of loafers (West 66). His anger with her father grows in magnitude as Cal learns of Gretchen's new injuries. She tells him how her dad beat her as she says, "With a cane" (West 92).
Among all the intense drama, Cal and his high school friends still find time to have fun. For a thrill, Cal and his friend Scot decide to bring their unknowing friends to the doorstep of a crazy guy that chases kids. After they ring the doorbell, Cal's friends Jean and Susan are unpleasantly surprised to find an angry senior chasing them across the neighborhood (West 58). Cal's final year of high school is full of surprising and dramatic events.
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