This resolve is tested when Ken, the school's football captain, asks Jessie to help him win over Bridget, a good girl that has already rebuffed his advances.

Pete has cerebral palsy and as a result, has a limp, an asymmetrical face, a huge problem with low self-esteem, and a massive chip on his shoulder regarding what he sees as people (including his own sister) being nice to him only out of pity and his parents constantly comparing him to Bridget, who they view as practically perfect.

At this point Pete steps forward and divulges that Ken had Jesse investigate her and set the two of them up, which causes Bridget to grow disgusted with both boys.

Spears began writing Sway with the intent to focus on the friendship between two main characters, Jesse and Pete, and to use the book's romance as a secondary plot device to create tension between the two of them.

[3] Spears also drew upon biblical history classes she took during college and has also described the book as "my imagining of what a friendship between Jesus and St. Peter would look like in a contemporary high school setting—with loads of artistic license, of course.