Foxfire (1996 film)

Plot

Maddie is a high school senior living in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. But after learning that a teacher has been sexually harassing and abusing fellow student Rita Faldes, she becomes involved in a physical altercation between said teacher and other female students led by an unknown girl who turns out to be a drifter.

Afterwards, the girls learn that the drifter's name is "Legs" and they take her to an abandoned house where she can stay. When the students end up being suspended for threatening the teacher despite their case against him, they return to the house which has become a hang out for them. Bonding over ideas of feminism and female empowerment, the group commemorates their friendship by giving themselves tattoos of a flame on their breasts. Their acts of rebellion also become increasingly bolder, including breaking into their school and stealing a car from a gang of boys who had been harassing them.

During the car theft, the girls run into police, which leads to a high-speed pursuit that ends in a crash. Legs is caught and placed into a correctional facility; and the other girls drift apart without their leader. Goldie, who is adopted, has a mental breakdown and begins using heavier drugs to numb her pain but is recovered and taken back to the house hide-out by Maddie in order to help her detox.

Upon her release, Legs returns to the hang out and is shocked by the state her friends find themselves in. In an effort to help Goldie, she leads the girls to Goldie's parents' house to demand $10,000, which they claim will be used to rehabilitate their daughter. The situation escalates when the father refuses and Legs, holding him at gunpoint, forces the he and the other girls to take him back to the hide-out. He is tied to a chair while the girls try to think of what to do next and the tension rises as Legs begins taking her own paternal frustrations out on Goldie's father. Throughout the chaos, Rita, who was told to hold the gun on Goldie's father, accidentally shoots him in the shoulder.

Panic ensues and the girls resolve to get Goldie's father to the hospital. When Rita, Goldie, and Violet leave with Goldie's father, Maddie realizes Legs is missing. She finds Legs walking along the bridge, looking for a ride to another town. Both girls make proposals - Maddie for Legs to stay in Portland with the gang and Legs for Maddie to join her on the road. Sad but resolute, the two go their separate ways. Legs gets a truck to stop and boards as Maddie watches it disappear.

In a voice-over, it's revealed that Maddie finishes high school and goes onto art school. She travels the world, always stopping at airports and bus stops along the way, while never forgetting about Legs. Although the girls never see Legs again, they still get together once in a while and reminisce about their past.