The novel’s primary conflict originates from the evolution and dissolution of Cleo Baker’s friendship with Layla Sorenson. When Cleo starts to lose her best friend, she begins a complex emotional journey towards self-discovery, which inspires the novel’s related thematic explorations. Throughout both the narrative past and the narrative present, Cleo tries to make sense of why her relationship with Layla has begun to change. Because the characters have been friends since childhood, multiple places in New York remind Cleo of her best friend, and she begins to see Layla as the ghost who is now haunting her. Determined “to unhaunt [her] whole life” (7), Cleo soon realizes that she has learned to define herself according to her connection with Layla and is therefore unsure how to rid her life of her friend without compromising her own identity. Layla was always the person who helped Cleo when she needed advice or support. Therefore, when Layla starts to make new friends and to pull away from Cleo, Cleo starts to question who she is and what she has without her friend.

The gradual dissolution of Cleo and Layla’s friendship complicates Cleo’s journey towards self-discovery. Because When You Were Everything is a coming-of-age story, the narrative focuses on Cleo’s attempts to redefine her world as she grows up and matures.