Jennifer Rose Horton is born during a snowstorm in 1976. In 1979, her mother's mental state deteriorates and she puts little Jennifer Rose in danger by putting her on a bus alone. In 1985, Jennifer returns to Salem as a teenager in deep trouble. She has become a rebellious runaway, a compulsive liar, and is being stalked by a rapist. Her brother Dr. Mike Horton comes to her rescue. By the following year she gives up on her runaway lifestyle and moves back in with her grandparents, Tom and Alice Horton. During the summer of 1986 she begins a non-intimate romance with a high school classmate Glenn Gallagher.

However Jennifer inadvertently exposes Glenn's plan to uncover his coach's drug dealing. Jennifer trails Glenn to the park and finds the coach holding a gun to Glenn's head. Jennifer then enlists the help of classmate Frankie Brady. Later when on a class trip, Jennifer and Frankie discover they have feelings for one another. Jennifer rejects Glenn's pressure to have sex and turns to Frankie. Together, Jennifer and Frankie foil a robbery attempt and help bust a prostitution ring. In 1987 Jennifer's father Bill returns to Salem and tries running Jennifer's life. Jennifer rebels by becoming engaged to Frankie, however she breaks the engagement when she learns of her mother and grandmothers mental problems. Thinking she'd develop the same problems and pass it on to her own children. They reunite briefly, but Eve who has a crush on Frankie, spills the beans about an affair Frankie had while separated from Jennifer.