The first scene shows Sutter Keely, the protagonist,
writing an e-mail to the Dean of admission. He talks about how he had a girlfriend up until
yesterday whom he felt a connection with. He claims it all changed when he tried to get his
friend Ricky to hook up with a girl. He put his friend with a girl on a boat and makes an excuse
that he forgot his cellphone in the car. Sitting with the girl’s friend in the car,
he gets accused of cheating by his girlfriend Cassidy who breaks up with him.
He enters a party in order to get his girlfriend to forgive him, but sees her
sitting with a boy named Marcus West. Sutter bids them a pleasant evening and leaves.
Brokenhearted, he goes to a club, takes part in underage drinking and drives back drunk.
The next scene shows a girl looming over a sleeping Sutter’s body, who is sleeping in
the middle of a stranger’s yard. She wakes him up and helps him.
She introduces herself as Aimee Finecky. Sutter offers to help her with her paper route but
she politely declines his offer. He says he needs her help because he
doesn't know where his car is either. They drive around the neighborhood delivering
newspapers and making small talk. They start having a little fun with
throwing newspapers on people’s yards. They make plans to have lunch on Monday.
Back home, Sutter eats a bowl of cereal. She notifies him of the dinner in the fridge and
lets him know she wont be home till late. Later, Sutter and Ricky are walking out a
store and Ricky reminds him that he has to go to lunch with Aimee. He criticizes Sutter’s choice
for a rebound to which Sutter clarifies that he has no interest in dating Aimee,
but she is a nice girl. In class, the teacher asks
to have a word with Sutter. Sutter did not turn in homework. He stops Sutter
after school and makes him do the homework. Sutter rushes to the cafeteria and sits with
Aimee. They talk about their past experiences. Sutter asks her for her own life story,
she tells him she doesn't have one. She says she wants to believe that there is more to a
person than just one story. Aimee’s friend walks up to her
table and calls her to her french club. Sutter asks her to tutor him in geometry,
she agrees and tells him to call her. Next scene shows Sutter at his job selling
bow ties. He meets his older friend and tells him about his breakup with Cassidy,
his friend says he thought she would be able to yank him out of neutral.
Sutter goes to Aimee’s house and meets her little brother Shane. They go up to her room to study.
She tells him she really like science fiction books. Sutter points to a drawing in her room and
asks if that is her. She laughs and tells him its one of the characters from the books she likes.
She calls her interests stupid, to which Sutter tells her that its not stupid if she likes it.
She teaches him but he doesn't understand why he needs to learn angles, because that's not
going to be asked when he does a job. Aimee’s mom asks her to get milk and she
apologizes for cutting their study day short. Sutter invites Aimee to a party,
to which she says yes to. Back at home, Sutter reads up the
comic that Aimee likes. He gets a message from Cassidy that says she misses him.
He asks where he can see her and she hints that she’ll be at the party.
Aimee and Sutter go to the party. He tells her not to go into the water as it is probably
contaminated and introduces her to some boys who have also read the comic she likes.
He walks over to Cassidy and asks her to grab a beer with him. Marcus walks over and takes Cassidy
away. Sutter seems very disappointed. He takes Aimee away from her conversation
with a boy and asks her to walk with him. She tries strong alcohol
and does not find the taste appealing. Sutter tells her that the first time he tried
beer was with his dad. He tells her his dad is a pilot but his mom divorced him a long time ago.
The controlling characteristic of his mother resonates with Aimee and she tells him their
moms must be similar, further explaining that she has gotten into college in Philadelphia
but there's no way her mom will let her go. Sutter gives her a little pep talk,
tells her shes a genius person but there are people in her life bringing her down.
He tells her she needs to stand up for herself, and that he’ll teach her. He makes her say a few
affirmations out loud that involve cussing. Shes a little reluctant to do so but with a
little prodding she gives in and lets loose. She tells him she doesn't have an ex boyfriend. He
can’t believe it because he says shes absolutely beautiful and surprises her with a kiss.
The next morning he wakes up and cant stop thinking about the kiss from yesterday.
He remembers that in his drunken state, he asked her out to prom.
Later on Ricky and Sutter sit with their feet in the water having a conversation.
Ricky tells him its a big deal that he’s making ‘plans’,
something he doesn't do. Sutter then says that hes only helping the girl out.
He gets a voice message from Aimee where she asks him if they'll study geometry today.
She further says that she had a great time last night and thanks him for it.
Sutter gets on the computer and messages Cassidy, she tells him to come over.
They sit on the bed and talk about how they feel a connection with each other,
Sutter tells her that his responsibilities disappear when they are together, but Cassie tells
him that he cant just have fun all the time. He explains to her that he has everything he
needs right here; a job, a car and a beautiful girl sitting next to him. He is seen to be the
type of person to live in the moment, he hasn’t even applied to college.
She cries and tells him she doesn't wanna live in the moment, that she wants a future,
and he cant give her that. She cries harder and tells him to leave.
Back at his place of work, he gets a visit from Marcus. Marcus asks him why Cassidy
doesn't have fun with him. Sutter uplifts his mood by highlighting his plus points.
Marcus thanks him for the advice and apologizes for the way he barged in the shop.
Back at school, Aimee’s friend tells him they're not a good match with the way their
personalities are so different. He ignores her and walks away.
Sutter visits Aimee’s house again and this time, he invites her to his sister’s dinner
party. They leave immediately. At Sutter’s sister’s house,
they have dinner where Sutter talks about how every couple gets divorced these days.
Aimee tells him its not true, and that her dad had died because of his addiction to painkillers.
She tells the people at the table that she’s sure her marriage will work out.
She has already thought of an elaborate plan where she and her husband will live on a ranch farm,
she will work for NASA while he will do something completely different to offset each other.
Later that night, Aimee and Sutter are at a park and she asks him if he really meant it when he
said he wanted to go to prom with her. He tells her he wouldn't have asked her if he didn’t want
to go to prom with her. They share a kiss. Later, at school, Sutter tells Ricky that
he finds Aimee beautiful and once someone talks to her they’ll see who she really is.
Ricky says he’ll break her heart, Sutter does not acknowledge that.
At Aimee’s house, they confess to each other and share passionate moments together.
After that, Sutter tells her that he doesn't know where his dad is and what he does.
They make a deal that if Aimee stands up to her mom, Sutter will stand up to hers.
After, the next scene shows them ready for prom, sitting on top of their car.
Sutter gives Aimee a present and they take a drink out of their flask together.
At prom, Sutter looks towards Cassidy and Aimee sees him looking that way.
He lies about not seeing her. Cassidy walks over and asks them to dance. Aimee
refuses and tells Sutter she can go on ahead. Sutter comes back to sit with Aimee and realizes
that this is the youngest they'll ever be. He expresses his love for
people and tells Aimee to dance. They take to the floor and dance to
a slow song. Later, Aimee tells him that her sister might be able
to get her a job at a bookstore in Philly. She tells him to come with her to Philadelphia.
She tells him her plan to move in with him and they both get jobs downtown, he says its great.
Next morning, Aimee tells Sutter that she stood up to her mom and it felt great,
she prompts him to do the same, reminding him that they had a deal.
Sutter visits his mom in the office and asks to call his dad. She refuses
and he leaves, angry and disappointed. He visits his sister next and tries to talk
about his dad’s positive points. They talk about him for awhile before Sutter asks her what he did,
his sister tells him that he cheated on their mom, but he wants to hear both sides of the story.
Sutter’s sister tells him that she knows his number and gives it to him.
He hugs her and leaves. He calls his dad and they have
a conversation. Sutter asks if he can visit, and his dad says of course.
He takes Aimee with him to see his dad. He’s a little awkward at first
and stutters a bit. He takes them to a pub where he was already headed.
He tells them about his time in Key West, a place with a beautiful sunset. He says
he left because he ran out of money. Sutter plays a song on the jukebox while
his dad gets him a fresh pitcher of beer. He asks his dad if he likes the song playing.
Sutter’s dad says this type of music was his mom’s thing. Hearing this surprises Sutter as he cannot
think of his mom as a fun person. Sutter’s dad seems to be quite protective of her as well.
Sutter then asks him what happened between him and mom. His dad confesses that he left the house
on his own, he was not kicked out. He says something about living in the
present instead of the past, and then tells his son to pay for the beer.
His dad leaves to drop Roberta, his girlfriend and asks to meet them back at
his place. This is really rude as Sutter and Aimee drove 3 hours to see him.
They return back home with a gloomy Sutter. Aimee tells him she loves him, but he refuses
to believe it. He denies it viciously. They almost get into a car accident but manage to
turn the wheel and stop the car. When Aimee asks him if he’s okay, he snaps at her, telling her
he’s bad for her and that she should stay away. He tells her to get out of his car. She does,
but she is hit with a car. The next scene shows Sutter sitting
in the hospital. Sutter’s mom comes to pick him up and they go home.
The next day, Sutter’s teacher hands him his grade, a D+. Sutter asks his teacher whats so
good about being an adult and leaves the class. Sutter visits Aimee and apologizes. She forgives
him immediately and kisses him. At their graduation, Sutter and
Aimee sit on the bleachers and share a drink. Sutter surprisingly refuses.
Aimee leaves to meet her friend while Sutter talks to his ex girlfriend. She tells him shes proud of
him and that shes going to California. He responds with disbelief and offers to
visit them. Cassidy tells him that's not a good idea. They hug and she tells him
he’ll always be her favorite ex boyfriend. At his job, Sutter talks to his manager who tells
him the only way he can stay at the job is if he stops drinking. Sutter says he cannot do that.
Aimee, sitting at the bus stop calls Sutter. They are supposed to go to
Philly today. But he does not go with her. Dejectedly, she gets onto the bus.
Now at a bar, Sutter asks an old man if he did the right thing by leaving her.
They drink together. Sutter drives him and
knocks over their backyard sign. His mom comes out and he argues with her, says she
never loved him because hes just like his dad. His mom refuses and tells him he has the biggest
heart she knows. She reminds him how special he is and tells him that everyone loves him.
The next scene shows Sutter writing his personal statement and answering a question
about the hardships he has faced. He realizes that his biggest hardship is himself. He admits
that he has been afraid of everything; getting hurt and hurting others.
He finishes the sentence by saying that he’s going to make tomorrow count.
Sutter visits Aimee in Philadelphia and she smiles with uncertainty.