Character Relationship Map: Cheats

Characters

• Handsome (played by Trevor Fehrman) — protagonist

  Co-founder of a high school cheating ring. Steals answer keys, bribes classmates, and manipulates teachers to secure grades. Leads the operation alongside Sammy and Victor, fakes a confession to avoid...

• Sammy (played by Elden Henson) — supporting

  Handsome's longtime partner in academic dishonesty. Initially funds the operation by stealing adult tapes for a classmate, but later seeks tutoring to quit cheating. Serves as a student court member a...

• Victor (played by Matthew Lawrence) — supporting

  Key member of the cheating crew. Specializes in copying answer keys and managing accomplices. Has a strained but reconciling relationship with Applebee. Executes a prank on a teacher's sons, participa...

• Julie (played by Maggie Lawson) — supporting

  A diligent and principled student who tutors Sammy. Resentful of academic dishonesty, she successfully rallies the female students to stop sharing notes with the boys. Becomes a target of intimidation...

• Applebee (played by Martin Starr) — supporting

  The group's expert crib sheet maker. Reluctantly joins a break-in to protect his psychological file from being read. Faces ongoing tension with Victor and is suspected of writing an anonymous letter f...

• Greedy (played by Dixon Cohee) — supporting

  One of a teacher's adopted sons who helps the cheating ring obtain a final exam answer key. Demands a $400 payment and a date in exchange for his cooperation, earning his nickname from the crew.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Sammy → Julie (Professional Tutor And Student) — Julie briefly provides Sammy with an honest academic alternative.

  Julie tutors Sammy, and her influence leads Sammy to consider stopping his cheating.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Sammy → Victor (Alliance Protective Ally) — Sammy protects Victor while secretly working to help his friends.

  Sammy uses his student-court position to offer Victor a plea bargain that allows him to retake world history in summer school.

• Handsome → Greedy (Alliance Transactional Ally) — Their cooperation is based on payment and access to an exam key.

  Handsome helps negotiate with Greedy, who demands $400 and a date in exchange for the answer key.

• Victor → Greedy (Alliance Recruiter And Accomplice) — Victor turns a hostile interaction into a transactional partnership.

  Victor apologizes after the prank and helps recruit Greedy to obtain the teacher's final-exam answer key.

• Handsome → Julie (Conflict Opponent) — Handsome views Julie's principles and organizing as a threat to the cheating ring.

  Julie organizes resistance to the boys' cheating, after which Handsome intimidates her by threatening her reputation at graduation.

• Handsome → Applebee (Alliance Co-conspirator) — Their cooperation is undermined by suspicion and the exposure of Applebee's private file.

  Handsome works with Applebee during the school break-in and later suspects him of writing the anonymous letter.

• Victor → Applebee (Conflict Strained Teammate) — Victor distrusts Applebee's reluctance and repeatedly pressures him.

  Victor argues that the group should cut ties with Applebee, and tensions remain high after Applebee hesitates during the break-in.

• Handsome → Victor (Alliance Operational Partner) — They become the central active leaders of the high school cheating crew.

  Handsome and Victor participate together in copying answer keys, cheating on the physics midterm, and stealing the grade book.

• Handsome → Sammy (Alliance Co-founder) — They are longtime partners who jointly build and operate the cheating ring.

  The plot states that Handsome and Sammy have been stealing teachers' answer keys since kindergarten and later co-found a high school cheating operatio...

Story Analysis

A lifelong cheating partnership grows into an organized school operation before betrayal, investigation, and graduation force its leaders to face consequences.

Plot Progression

1. A Lifetime Of Cheating — Handsome and Sammy begin cheating as children and turn their misconduct into a high school business. Victor and Applebee later expand the operation.
2. The Operation Under Pressure — The stolen master key threatens the group's business when the school announces new locks. A break-in involving Teddy Blue's psychological file nearly exposes Applebee's fear.
3. Cracks In The Crew — The physics midterm intensifies divisions between Victor and Applebee, while Julie's tutoring gives Sammy a possible path away from cheating. Handsome nevertheless keeps the group active.
4. The Final Exam Scheme — Julie organizes resistance against the cheaters, but Handsome and Victor recruit Greedy for the history answer key. The crew replaces crib sheets with an obscene memorization song.
5. The Grade Book Reckoning — Handsome and Victor destroy the grade book, provoking an anonymous accusation and a student-court investigation. Testimony forces both leaders to accept summer-school plea bargains before graduation.