Charlie, the main character, is starting out as a freshman in high school. He doesn't have any friends because his best and only friend, Michael, committed suicide just the summer before. Someone tries to beat up Charlie, but he actually ends up winning the fight. Because of this, everybody else thinks of him as weird and a freak. Charlie also starts to think a lot about his Aunt Helen, who had passed away on his birthday when he was younger. Attempting at normalcy, he decides to go to a school football game. It is there that he officially meets Patrick, a kid he's familiar with from shop class. Patrick then introduces Charlie to Sam, who is Patrick's sister. He is instantly attracted to her and thinks she is incredibly beautiful. This trio then starts to hang out more often, and eventually becomes the best of friends.