It's the fall of 1983. David Chalmers is a high school senior who hangs around with a group of fellow science-fiction fans, but feels few attachments to them. Alison Hughes runs with the popular crowd, but she's as smart as she is pretty, and wonders if they're becoming predictable.

Over the course of a few weeks events will cause David and Alison to think about what it means to be friends. Are friends just people you spend time with? What does it mean when you're someone's friend? Why should any of that be important?