Told from alternating points of view, Trudy and Rob are high school students at St. James Luck Academy, in a world where luck has been quantified. Trudy thinks that Rob is an ideal boyfriend, the only son of the oldest luck family in America. Yes, his parents wish that Rob would go back to his old girlfriend Laura who came from an old luck family and was more suitable. But Rob always defends her and treats her well. Rob, on the other hand, has a secret he has been keeping from his family all his life, and from Trudy, too. When Laura threatens to "out" him, Rob has to do whatever she says, including betraying his best friend Art, and handing over Art's new science project that will change the world of luck completely—for good or ill, depending on who has control of it.