Just my interpretation... (Spoilers)

Having never read the book, just the movie. Always found it to be one of those movies which, every time it would come on, I always find it easy to sink back into.

I always seem to come away from it with the idea that Connie creates the entire Arnold fantasy in her head. Not that she's literally psychotic - but more that the story itself takes on an allegorical (for lack of a better word) element.

A few reasons why:

- She's obviously a dreamer, and at that time when she going to fantasize about (possibly) that first love.

- Arnold never interacts much with other characters in such a way as to place him among the real settings.

- Something about Arnold's long conversation with Connie from the other side of the screen door, somehow in my mind, seems to keep him "ghostly."

- When they reach their destination after their ride, we only see the empty car, and never the two of them. (And what a great use of the closeup of the car's headlights! ...eyes looking upon a scene which we are not allowed to see)

- At the end, Arnold's pal is standing at the mailbox when Connie and Arnold return from their ride. Soon we see that Connie's family had already returned home from the picnic, yet there's no suggestion that they saw him.

- At the end, Connie first tells her sister that she went for a ride with a man, then changes her story to, "I just went for a walk." She had also told her dad that she just went for a walk. ...maybe the actual truth, which I sort of like to think, after many moments of rebellion with her folks.

Some talk about interpretations involving rape, etc etc. I lean toward the opposite end of the spectrum - the retention of her innocence.