Olivia "Liv" Hughes was the most popular girl at Grace Hills High. Sylvia Merwin was one of its most put-down outcasts. And then Eddie Cleary brought his gun to school, and everything changed.

Ten years later, these two women's worlds have dramatically diverged: Sylvia lives a seemingly perfect life in Los Angeles, with a terrific job and loving boyfriend, while Liv is a recovering addict. They arrange to meet under mysterious circumstances, and Liv reveals a shocking, forgotten artifact from their shared past - evidence possibly proving that Sylvia knew about her boyfriend Eddie's dark intentions, and perhaps even pushed him towards them. A shatteringly brutal showdown ensues as Sylvia and Liv attempt to reconcile their bloody history with their present lives. Innocence, guilt, honesty, deception...When evil deeds happen, who is truly responsible?

"The Girlfriend" is a cutting examination of gun violence in America, specifically of the psychological factors that contribute to it. Why do so many angry young white men decide to punish the world for its seeming injustices? Is it some internal derangement, or a fault of society that drives them to kill? And what about those left behind, the survivors and other figures from their lives, especially the women, who are forced to put together the pieces of their lives?