Cindy la Regia: The High School Years follows a teenager named Cynthia as she navigates friendship, romance, and growing up in a conservative society. The show is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Cynthia, nicknamed Cindy, has big dreams. She, along with her friends, will be going to a coed high school now, and she plans to excel at everything.
Cindy’s cousin, Angie, is sent to San Pedro Garza García to live with Cindy’s family after she sets her mother’s boyfriend’s car on fire.
Cindy tries her best to get along with her cousin, and soon, Angie becomes part of Cindy’s friend group, which includes Lu and Tere.
The Black and White Gala is an annual event where the most popular girl is crowned the queen of the Monterrey Casino.
Cindy’s plans for the year include being crowned the queen at the gala. After winning, she will make her relationship with Max, the boy she likes, official.
Cindy is crowned the queen at the gala, but her happiness is short-lived. A compromising picture that she had sent Max goes viral.
San Pedro’s conservative society frowns upon young girls exploring their sexuality, so Cindy loses the crown. On top of that, she is shamed and judged wherever she goes.
Cindy then comes to know that Max did not leak her picture. He lost his phone a few days before the gala and had even filed a complaint to get it back.
Additionally, Angie, who is gay, finds out that LGBTQ+ people are ostracized at school, so she decides to keep her sexuality from her soccer team.
All these instances lead to Cindy deciding that they should bring about the change that they want to see in society. She then encourages Angie to come out to the team.
When Angie’s homophobic team captain comes to know that Angie is gay, she starts treating her differently, but Cindy stands by her side.
Apart from Cindy, the rest of the team also stands up for Angie. The incident upsets Angie because she thinks that she is just a project for Cindy.
Angie decides to return home, but she eventually chooses to stay when Cindy sincerely apologizes. The two girls then develop a strong bond.
People at school still ignore Cindy, and she realizes what it feels like to be excluded. To change things, Cindy decides to invite everyone to her birthday party.
With the help of her friends, Cindy throws a great party. As a result, she is no longer treated as a pariah, and she starts dating Max after he serenades her at the party.
She also befriends a girl named Brenda and meets Brenda’s brother, Juancho, who is later assigned as her tutor.
Every chance encounter with Juancho makes Cindy like him, and Cindy realizes that she does not like Max nearly enough.
The day Cindy decides to break up with Max, she catches Max kissing her best friend, Lu, who had grown close to Max while helping him win Cindy’s heart.
Meanwhile, Angie breaks up with her girlfriend, Irene. She develops feelings for Tere, who wishes to be a nun one day.
There is miscommunication between Angie and Tere, which leads Angie to believe that Tere wants to come out and needs her help to do that.
Angie is left disappointed when she finds out that Tere only sees her as a friend and that she is not gay. Angie then decides to end their friendship.
However, a piece of advice from Cindy helps Angie understand that she wants Tere in her life, even if she cannot have her as a girlfriend.
While dealing with the fact that Max cheated on her with Lu, Cindy joins the physics club at school and grows close to Juancho, who is in the same club.
Lu regrets losing her best friend. The two girls talk, but Cindy is too hurt by Lu’s actions to go back to being her friend, even though she keeps missing Lu.
Max and Lu start dating. At the same time, Cindy and Juancho’s romance develops as the physics club focuses on winning at the Nationals.
The physics club has to spend the night in Saltillo for the competition. There, the two competing teams party and get drunk together.
Cindy tries to sleep with Juancho, but he rejects her advances. Disappointed, Cindy drinks alone, and that is when their teacher, Esteban, approaches her.
Esteban comforts her and takes her to her room. He then kisses her, which makes Cindy very uncomfortable.
She pushes him away, and the next morning, she drops out of the competition and returns home on her own.
Ending explained:
A friend in need
After what happened with Esteban, Cindy needs her friends more than anything. She returns home to find Lu waiting for her.
Lu also needs her best friend, as she has discovered that she is pregnant. When she informs Cindy of her pregnancy, Cindy lets go of their differences to be there for Lu.
Cindy and Angie then help Lu. They plan to go to Mexico City the next day so that Lu can get an abortion without her mother’s knowledge.
The girls lie to their parents and catch a bus to Mexico City. Tere also joins them when she is told that they are going to the city because Angie wants to meet Irene.
Having no regrets
Angie takes her friends to stay at her ex-girlfriend’s house. Seeing Angie and Irene together, Tere gets jealous.
It becomes evident to Irene that Tere and Angie are in love, but Tere herself is not aware of it. When Irene points that out, Angie tries to talk to Tere about her sexuality.
Tere is not prepared to accept her sexuality, so she refuses to admit to herself and to Angie that she is gay.
Angie then takes her friends to meet her mother, who helps Lu get an abortion. Angie’s mother also tells her that she wants Angie to return home.
When Tere finds out that Angie is moving back to Mexico City, she realizes that she will forever regret it if she does not act on her feelings.
On graduation day, Tere plays the cello and sings for Angie. She likes Angie, so she kisses her before Angie moves back home.
Cindy’s bold move
Cindy tells Lu about Esteban kissing her. Cindy refuses to take action against him because she does not want to be shamed and judged by everyone again.
Lu thinks that Cindy should speak up, and all of Cindy’s friends encourage her to file a complaint with the principal. Cindy then takes her friends’ advice.
She complains to the principal, who promises to resolve the matter before graduation day. Cindy makes it clear that she does not want to see Esteban at graduation.
Additionally, Cindy is chosen as the most academically distinguished student. Juancho also apologizes to her for the way things ended between them.
When graduation day comes around, Cindy sees Esteban sitting with all the teachers and realizes that the principal did not take action against him.
The principal makes excuses, and Esteban claims that Cindy is exaggerating the truth, which distresses Cindy.
When it is time for Cindy to give a speech as the most distinguished student, she fails to maintain her composure and runs out.
Cindy then wrecks Esteban’s car, and her friends join her. All the parents, teachers, and students witness this and grow suspicious of Esteban.
Angie had earlier asked Cindy whether she would like to go to New Mexico with her, but Cindy had refused because she did not want to run away.
Surrounded by a crowd, Angie asks her the same question once again, and Cindy smiles, indicating that she is ready to move with Angie, before continuing to wreck her teacher’s car.
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