How to Deal

How to Deal is a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Clare Kilner and starring Mandy Moore, Allison Janney, and Trent Ford. The film is based on Sarah Dessen's novels That Summer and Someone like You. Plot Halley Martin is a 17-year-old high school student who is disillusioned with love after seeing many dysfunctional relationships around her. Her parents are now divorced and her father, Len Martin, a radio talk show host, has a new young girlfriend that the entire family despises. Her mother, Lydia, is now always alone while her sister, Ashley, is so overwhelmed by her upcoming wedding with Lewis Warsher that she barely exists in the house. The shallowness of all the teens at her school convinces Halley that finding true love is impossible. When Halley walks in on her best friend Scarlett having sex with her boyfriend, the high school soccer champ, Michael Sherwood, Halley tries to warn her of the complications that lie ahead. Ignoring her advice, Scarlett embarks on a summer fling with Michael. In the meantime, Halley must deal with Ashley and the rest of the Martins must deal with her soon-to-be in-laws, Lewis' overbearing Southern parents, who have an African American maid. In the meantime, Halley runs into classmate Macon Forrester, a slacker who never shows up for biology and is more interested in having fun than school work. He is Michael Sherwood's best friend. Then a few weeks later, Michael dies of a heart defect on the soccer field while Halley, Scarlett and other classmates watch helplessly. This event changes the lives of Halley and Scarlett forever. While Scarlett does her best to look beautiful for Michael at his funeral, Macon gives a moving speech about his friend. Struggling with Michael's death, Scarlett, at age sixteen, soon learns that she is pregnant with his child. With Halley at her side, Scarlett reveals the pregnancy to her mother.