For the idea I'm working on, I'm setting up this situation where someone close to the MC has been accused of a serious crime. Whether or not the person actually did it is irrelevant. (And I don't know how it will play out at all.) But people in town and at school know about it. Many of them believe what the news is saying. Everyone has opinions.
Obviously, the MC is going to have issues as a result. Not only that the accusation was made in the first place, but that perhaps, deep down, she doesn't know what to believe, either. And it's really hard because people have already made up their minds and maybe they actually see her differently, treat her a little differently as a result.
I have pretty solid ideas about what I'm going to do with the storyline related to the crime itself and how the MC will have to come to terms with it and realize that she is still herself despite whatever [X] might have done.
To go along with this, I'm imagining an arc where there is something she's been working toward at school perhaps. Something that requires the approval of her peers? Something where her antagonist can use things against her because s/he wants this from her/himself. Something that will be jeopardized because of what's happened. Something that, at the climax, she will have to make a decision of whether it's even worth still trying for. And, of course, she will find the strength and show everyone that she deserves this no matter what they think. (Whether she succeeds or not is unknown to me at this time and irrelevant as well. Because the point will be that she won't give up.)
The most obvious choices I can think of are, like, Homecoming Queen or some type of student government position. The former culminates with the voting and the dancing and all. The latter is election day. But what am I missing? Is there something else I can use? Those options seem a little overused, you know?