All Jake Ledger wanted was to be happy and have a place he could call home, but his mother's criminal activity kept them on the run making it impossible to plant roots. However, life changes for the Ledgers when they move to the small town of Kernersville NC to live with Aunt Hazel the summer before Jake's senior year of high school. With a high IQ and a budding romance with Sammi Sullivan – the most beautiful girl at East High – Jake's future seems laden with possibilities. But two things stand in the way: his mother, whose dark demons refuse to remain in the past; and Scott Robertson, who is determined to have Sammi for himself at all costs, even if it means killing the new guy in town. Suddenly, Jake's senior year becomes much more than just school dances and ballgames. It becomes his journey into manhood.