The novel begins with the terrified girl Lucia searching for the brother who has disappeared from the house, in the midst of a storm followed by the heavy thunderstorm. She found him on the side of the road, wet and frozen, after he had set out to find his missing mum. The anguish that then crept into Lucia's heart and "spread throughout her body like a snotty frost" will remain forever remembered. Lucia is also tormented by some love problems, which is usual for every regular eighth grader. The relationship between woman and man is something she knows little about, but she often talks with her friend Petra, who will also bring a sense of doubt into the loving, or extramarital and complicated, adult relationships. Thus, Lucia will be full of fear that her father may not be calling her to Bavaria for that reason, even though she has been waiting for the invitation for weeks. Her experience with the boys she meets on the lake, especially with one Jakov, will slowly awaken her feelings of infatuation.