This is a story about Addison Erhard, an affluent young 17 year old growing up in McLean, Virginia who feels pressured to be successful. She wants to be a journalist who makes an impact on the world, and wants to attend Columbia University. Her family is split in their support, the pressure in the community and from her father is to attend an Ivy League school, to become a successful lawyer, doctor, politician or banker; her father would like her to become a banker. Her mother, an artist who does not fit in with the McLean society as well as her father, supports her desire to follow her dreams. While pursuing her dream to write, she also is striving to break the state record in track for the 800 meter run.
She meets a young man, Mason Gentry, who wants to buck high society McLean by following his family's legacy and become a farmer. While investigating her story about kids who pursue non-traditional college and career paths, the young journalist falls in love with Mason.
In March a student at Chain Bridge High School and friend of both Mason and Addison, Jamison Randall, is struck down during a hit-and-run accident early one morning. The driver of the car has fled and Jamison is in a coma. Addison, who works for the news magazine decides to investigate the accident on her own, and what she find is more than she can handle.
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