The inciting incident, the humiliating rejection and beating of Jeremy Melton at the 1988 school dance, still occurs, scarring him deeply. However, instead of five popular girls, Jeremy's humiliation involves a tight-knit group of friends – three girls (Kate, Paige, and Shelly) and two boys (Adam and Brian) – who all participate in the bullying, albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

Thirteen years later, in 2001, these five friends, now in their early twenties, are living in different cities but remain connected by a shared secret and a lingering sense of guilt. The Valentine's Day murders begin, not with a disastrous date, but with a series of targeted attacks that exploit each friend's deepest insecurities and fears. The killer, still masked and clad in black, uses personalized Valentine cards containing twisted, poetic threats that allude to their past actions and hidden flaws.