Conrad is lighting firecrackers with his son Eric. Conrad lets him burn the last one when
his neighbor comes to say hi. She says she is going for a walk. Conrad nudges his son,
giving him the confidence to ask her if he could join her. She gladly agrees,
and Conrad leaves with her. Conrad smiles seeing his son's first love blossom, and is
reminded of how he was back then. Suddenly he is reminded of an incident, and his face gets solemn.
Conrad was sixteen years old that summer when he met Grace Turner.
Conrad is standing on the bridge when Grace walks by. She asks him what he is doing. He
says he's throwing the bridge in the river. She is intrigued, so she leaves her bike and
climbs on the bridge with him. He gives her a rock to throw in the river. She asks if
the fish gets bothered by it. Conrad explains it doesn't because fish keep moving, and they
forget they've been moving in the first place. Grace confesses she'd hate to live like this,
not being able to remember things, and losing all the good memories. Conrad is fascinated
by her vision. Grace has to leave. Before leaving, she turns back and asks Conrad,
what he'd say to her if she told him he was going to be her first love. Conrad
doesn't know how to answer that, so Grace asks him to think about it, and get back
to her once he does. Grace just confessed her feelings, but Conrad is a clueless teenager.
He and his two best friends, Hunter and Tim, are bored, so they have decided to
commemorate July fourth, as the day of the greatest act of rebellion since 1776. They
have a competition among themselves about who will win the race to the third base first?
They get a large tub of ice cream, collect all the toilet rolls from the supermarket,
and flirt with the cashier while she prints out the bill. In the evening,
they throw the tissue rolls on a large tree, making it look like it is covered in white drapes.
After their shenanigans, they all sit together, eating ice cream. Conrad discusses what Grace
told him with his friends, and they encourage him to go for it. Once they're done eating ice cream,
they chunk the bucket on the ground, creating a mess but feeling proud about it.
Conrad's dad left them five years ago, and since then, his mom, Mrs. Stevens, has been very
protective of him. Conrad finds it suffocating and avoids his mom whenever he can. Like the
other day, when she calls him for breakfast, he jumps out of his window to avoid meeting
his mother. He makes his way to Grace's place because he has an invitation he can't refuse.
Grace invites Conrad in, and they join Mr. and Mrs. Turner and their elder son Eric in their
backyard, for some home-grilled burgers. They inquire about his parents, and Conrad tells them
his mom is out of town on a business trip. Before he can say anything about his dad, he accidentally
spills ketchup on his shirt. Eric pulls Conrad's leg with a harmless joke, and Grace gets defensive
and asks Eric to stop it. This leads to a slight squabble between the two, so Mr. Turner
intervenes. Grace feels her brother is trying to embarrass her in front of Conrad, and leaves after
the argument. Conrad leaves after her. Eric comes calling behind him, and gives him tips to approach
his sister. He wishes him luck, and Conrad goes to talk to Grace, sitting on the front porch.
She apologizes to Conrad for her family's behavior. Conrad thinks otherwise. He finds
her family great. Grace asks him, if he will be joining her and her family
to see the fireworks in the evening. But Conrad declines the invitation,
saying he has promised his friends he'd be with them. They sit in silence for a
few moments before Conrad leans to kiss her, but she pulls away. He stops when he hears his
friends' voices. Grace reluctantly says hi to Timmy and Hunter, and the boys being mockers,
start passing remarks on them. Conrad asks them to stop, and apologizes to Grace for their behavior.
Hunter and Timmy start mocking Conrad for taking Grace's side, and not meeting them
at the stipulated time. Grace asks Conrad to go. Conrad pushes Hunter annoyingly for poking fun
at the girl he likes. They discuss their plans for the evening. Hunter says his grand-dad is
taking the night off, so they'll take his truck to drive around the town. Conrad is unsure as
Hunter can not drive, but Hunter assures him he has a permit. As much as Conrad doesn't want to
be a part of all this, he cannot ditch his friends now that he has declined Grace's invitation too.
The three friends drive around the town, stealing ornaments from the gardens of people's houses.
They laugh as they feel the adrenaline rush of doing something like this. Hunter almost
gets caught scaring Conrad, but Tim and Hunter remain unbothered. Instead, they start making
fun of Conrad, telling him he has become sensitive since he's started spending time with Grace. They
ask him to prove himself, and remind him that no real man would pick a chick over his best buddies.
Now it is Conrad's turn to prove himself. So he asks Tim to take them to Grace's house.
He swiftly reaches her front porch, and picks up a plant pot to steal. As soon as he does,
Hunter blows the horn, and suddenly the light turns on in Grace's house. Conrad runs towards
the car and gets in. Eric comes out, and Hunter yells at him before their vehicle takes off.
Eric is not going to let it go that easy, and chases them in his car. They all panic,
seeing Eric coming behind them. He chases them for quite a while before
a deer comes in front of their car. They make a sharp turn to avoid it,
but Eric is not so lucky and hits the deer before crashing into a tree. They all look
horrified as Eric's car alarm goes off. They all get down to check if Eric is fine. Eric
lies severely injured with his head resting on the steering. Tim starts to cry, thinking Eric
has passed away. Hunter takes a closer look and says he is still breathing. He proposes they get
out of there as it is a public road, and anybody crossing it might see Eric and call an ambulance.
Conrad protests that they cannot leave Eric like this. Hunter shouts at him, saying Eric will not
die. But when Conrad doesn't agree, he says they'll take a vote. Hunter votes to leave,
but Conrad is not willing to do that. Timmy takes Hunter's side. It is decided they'll
leave. Hunter assures Conrad everything is going to be fine. Conrad's conscience doesn't
allow him to leave as he sees a dead deer and Eric lying injured. He also spots another deer
in the bushes staring at him. It is too much for him to take, and he flees with the boys.
Everybody is too stunned to talk, while riding back to where they
ditched their bicycles. Hunter says he'll take care of the ornaments,
but neither Conrad nor Tim says anything. Conrad picks up his bike and rides the
rest of the way. Grace and her family enjoy the fireworks, unaware of what awaits them.
Conrad comes back home and finds his mother sleeping on the couch. After a long time,
he wishes for her to comfort him, and tell him everything is going to be okay. Conrad
couldn't sleep after the last night's ordeal. He is suddenly woken up by his
mother calling him. She is disappointed as they had the whole day planned. Conrad
explains he got tied up with Tim and Hunter. He apologizes but cannot bring
himself to say anything else. Mrs. Stevens sighs and asks him to have his breakfast.
Conrad is not in the mood to eat. He fidgets with the spoon. His mom spots the ketchup stain on his
shirt and asks if it is blood. Conrad looks at his mom, stunned, when their phone starts
ringing. Conrad picks it up, and the caller asks for Mrs. Stevens. He gives the phone to his mom.
Conrad stops doing everything when he hears his mom's reaction, and knows something is wrong. He
paddles to the tree house and meets Hunter and Tim, who are already there. He tells them that
Eric has passed away. The environment turns solemn. The whole town is talking about it.
Conrad asks what they are going to do. Hunter warns him that nobody needs to know anything,
as Eric's car hit the deer, which resulted in the accident. Conrad argues they should
have done something, but Hunter says they can't do anything now. Conrad
and Hunter get into a scuffle, and Hunter punches Conrad giving him a bloody nose.
That day Conrad distanced himself from Hunter and Tim. He was angry about what happened to Eric,
angry with Hunter, and hated the pain. But he knew he had it coming. While walking back,
trying to stop the bleeding, he runs into Grace sitting on the steps. She's crying alone. Conrad
wants to comfort her, but she doesn't let him. She puts up a brave face and holds back her tears.
Seeing him covered in blood, she takes out her bandana, gives it to Conrad,
and asks who did it. She knows it must be one of the guys. Conrad tells her it
was Hunter, and Grace asks him why he hangs with those troublemakers.
She takes him inside her house to clean up. Conrad asks where her parents are. She says,
probably upstairs. She apologizes for yesterday, and explains that she was mad at her family,
and wanted their first kiss to feel right when it happened. It is not that she hasn't kissed
boys before, but she has feelings for Conrad, and wants everything to be special with him.
She offers him juice as he has lost a lot of blood. Conrad asks if he can tell her something,
but the doorbell interrupts them. It is their neighbors who have come to give their condolences.
Conrad meets them and says he'll let Mr. Turner know. At that moment, Mr. Turner comes downstairs
and meets the neighbors. He asks Conrad to go home and clean himself. Conrad turns towards Grace and
tells her to call him if she needs anything. To his surprise, Grace kisses him and says goodbye.
Conrad was not invited to the funeral, but he came and watched from a distance the consequences of
his actions. In the evening, he sits in his usual spot. Timmy comes to meet him and sits with him.
He confesses he has been thinking about Eric's family. Conrad reminds him to get used to it,
because they will be thinking about them for the rest of their lives.
It is one of those nights where Conrad cannot fall asleep. He is in deep thought when his
phone rings. It is Grace. She asks him to come over as she wants to talk to him. He quickly
rides his bike to her place, and finds her by her window. She asks him to climb through
the window. Conrad makes his way in, and she takes him to her room. She sits on the bed,
and Conrad sits next to her. With her eyes welling up, she starts recollecting the events
of the picnic day. Conrad starts saying something, but Grace asks him to listen,
because she needs to get it out. On the day of the fireworks, she and Eric got into a
fight. She can't remember why, but she told him she didn't want him to come to the fireworks.
Grace breaks down and looks the other way, because she doesn't want Conrad to see her
in such a vulnerable state. Conrad starts crying too, and tells her it is not her
fault. His guilt makes it difficult for him to control his emotions. She turns towards him and
hugs him to find comfort. He holds her feeling responsible for her misery. The emotional rush
makes them give in, and they kiss. As they lie down on her bed, Conrad stops and apologizes.
Grace asks him to sleep next to her, because she has not been able to sleep for days,
and she thinks his sleeping next to her might help. He agrees.
The following day, finding Conrad's room empty, his mother is disappointed again. Conrad and Grace
cautiously make their way downstairs. Mrs. Turner is sleeping on the couch,
and Conrad leaves the house unnoticed. He walks back home in a daze. He is hit with a
realization that one day Grace will be older than her older brother, but he will always be nineteen.
Conrad visits Grace's house. He finds a knocking sound coming from the backyard and goes to find
out the source. He sees Mr. Turner dismantling the swing. Conrad offers to help and takes down the
remaining structure. Eric was supposed to do this. For Conrad, it is a way of redemption. Mrs. Turner
sees her husband and Conrad working, so she pushes herself to come out of her grief, and prepare
lemonade for them. This is probably the first time after the accident she made an effort to
do something. She is reminded of Eric when he was Conrad's age. She tells him how Eric and Grace had
a different relationship when they were younger. She asks him never to forget that part of himself.
Grace comes back from her bike ride. Conrad and Grace go out for a walk. Grace asks him
about his mom, and he says she is a freak. With his dad gone, she thinks of him as his
replacement. All he wants is to be a kid. They talk about how till a certain age,
their parents are like God to them: invincible and have answers to all their questions. But one day,
they get up and realize their parents are as crazy as they are.
He takes her to an abandoned place, and she asks if this is his friend's meeting spot.
Conrad tells her that the guys don't even know about the place, because they won't get it as
he does. Grace confesses she likes him, which brings a big smile to his face. He also admits
he feels different around her than he does with the guys. She laughs and jokingly says she hopes
so. Conrad lets out a chuckle and defends himself saying, not in the way she is thinking. He can be
himself more with her. Grace adds she likes how he cares about her. They walk around the house,
which once used to be somebody's home. Conrad jokes the place is not as bad as Grace's room,
even in such a state. They both laugh, and Conrad asks Grace to pick anything she likes. She picks
a wooden horse, and Conrad takes it outside to light it on fire. They both sit on an old couch as
the wooden horse burns. Conrad talks about how, despite being an object, the wooden horse has
so much history. He finds it weird because once the object is gone, everything goes with it. All
that is left are memories. Grace finds Conrad fascinating, and she kisses him on the cheek.
Mrs. Stevens visits Grace's house. Mrs. Turner opens the door, and invites her in once she
knows the visitor is Conrad's mom. Mrs. Stevens hopes Conrad hasn't been too much of a problem
for them. Mrs. Turner praises Conrad. Taking the opportunity, Mrs. Stevens asks if Conrad is here,
leaving Mrs. Turner puzzled. Mr. Turner joins them and asks Mrs. Stevens about her business trip,
as Conrad had told them. Mrs. Steven has no idea what they are talking about.
At the abandoned house, Conrad and Grace get to know each other better, and show each other their
scars, which they are afraid to show anybody. They feel closer to each other than ever.
Once home, Conrad is confronted by his mom about the lie. He is furious she went to the Turners.'
Mrs. Steven is also angry because she doesn't want her son to spend every moment with Grace.
She warns him till he's going to stay under her roof, he is answerable to her. Conrad has had
enough. He pushes his mom out of his way and runs from his home. He rides his bike in the darkness,
and goes to the abandoned house, but ends up sleeping in the graveyard.
He spends some more time in the abandoned house till it is time to meet Grace. He
takes her to their treehouse. But they soon leave when Hunter and Tim
walk in. Hunter is still mean, so Tim pushes him and tells him to grow up.
Conrad apologizes on his friends' behalf. He walks her to her home and sees his dad loading the
trunk. He asks where they are going. Grace tells him her parents are going to Eric's college to
clear his dorm room. She is not going and proposes they can have the whole house to themselves.
Conrad is not very enthusiastic. He is holding back, but Grace urges him to think about it.
Conrad goes to the store to buy some things. He runs into Hunter, and Hunter apologizes
for what happened between the two. He says they were supposed to be in this together,
and now Tim is also not talking to him. Conrad gets angry at Hunter's selfishness. Now that
he has lost his two best friends, he is reminded of friendship and relations. He
is the same person who left another Kid dying. Conrad punches him, making Hunter clear he has
nothing to do with him anymore, and leaves him lying on the ground from the impact.
Conrad climbs through the window into Grace's house, and lands in Eric's room.
He sits on his bed for a while, and tries to dissipate the guilt. Once he feels alright,
he goes into Grace's room and finds her waiting for him. He compliments her on
how beautiful she looks. They lie down and talk about how the summer would have been different,
if their paths had never crossed. Grace admits he makes her very happy.
In the morning, Grace gets ready to go to church, and asks Conrad to make himself home,
as her parents will be back until night. But her parents are home early. Conrad comes out
of the shower and finds them waiting for him. Mr. Turner throws his clothes at him, and asks him to
leave. Embarrassed, Turner puts on his clothes as he runs from their house. He runs towards
the abandoned house, and spots a deer in the way. The memories come back, and he is unable to move.
Hunter meets Grace outside the church, and asks for a minute to talk to her. He apologizes for
everything and that he needs to get it out, but Grace doesn't get what he is trying to convey.
Grace gets into a heated argument with her parents for betraying their trust. She is
not ready to listen to them, or stop seeing Conrad. Mrs. Turner's actions make her leave
the house crying. She goes to find Conrad. She is relieved to find him in the abandoned
house. She declares he is the only one she cares about, and proposes they run away.
Conrad is overwhelmed by all this, and starts crying. He cannot handle the guilt anymore,
and tells Grace he let her brother die. He tells her about the accident, and Grace can't
believe what she is hearing. She slaps him and pushes him out of anger. She feels betrayed,
as all this while she thought Conrad was the only one who understood her, but she didn't
know he was behind her brother's demise. She tells him she never wants to see him again and leaves.
Conrad sits there alone, crying. The pain of losing the person he loves, and the guilt
of letting somebody die, when he could have done something makes him break down. He goes back home,
and confesses everything to his mom. His mom hugs him as he cries his heart out.
Grace is disgusted with the thought of spending the night with someone who left her brother
to die. She returns home, and not finding her parents, has an emotional meltdown. She throws
things in her room, takes out the bedsheet and the duvet, and burns them outside her house.
Seeing a fire, her parents rush towards her and hold her while putting out the bedding on fire.
Conrad decides to tell everything to Eric's parents. He wants to find
closure. So he takes the plant he stole that day from the front porch and goes
to Grace's house. He shakes with nervousness as he waits for someone
to answer the door. Mr. Turner comes out, and Conrad says he is very sorry.
Thinking back at this moment, Conrad doesn't remember what he
said to Mr. Turner, or how he reacted. Such circumstances make one's memory clouded,
and only a feeling is left that one can never shake.
At present, Conrad sits on his front porch, thinking about what happened that day,
and his time with his first love, Grace. He never met her after that day, and hopes she will be okay
wherever she is. His thoughts are intervened when Eric comes back home. Conrad asks about his walk,
and he says it went fine. Conrad is happy for his son. He thinks that sometimes it
is impossible to make peace with one's past, and they are left with no choice but to live with it.