Bret Waller

A teen drops out of a gang when they mug his father for his pencil.

Mel, a high school student who thrives on gossip and stirring conflict, pushes his luck when he targets the school’s star quarterback. Faced with the backlash of loyal classmates, he may finally be forced to reckon with the harm his words cause.

Former childhood friends Sarah Inman and Ron Johnson have drifted apart in high school. Ron hosts open parties every Friday, but Sarah never attends, preferring to stay home with her homework and dismissing her classmates—especially popular class president Bill Tyler—as shallow. Her aloofness has earned her a reputation as a snob, though she doesn’t realize it. When Ron reluctantly invites her at his mother’s urging, Sarah agrees to go, setting the stage for a clash between her world of isolation and Ron’s world of popularity.