Ava James is not a typical high school senior. Smarter than most her age but often absent from school, she lives a life of superficial ease and profound difficulty. Her parents are usually nowhere to be found, leaving Ava to care for her younger sister-although those roles are often reversed. As Ava struggles to navigate the twists and turns of adolescence, she finds herself experiencing forbidden attraction to an older woman. Never one to follow the rules, Ava decides to see where the budding romance will lead. Through challenges of sexual identity, alcohol abuse, and bearing responsibility for others, she must balance her romantic journey with her personal one.