Beautiful creatures, morphing into womanhood, eager to spread their wings and fly.

The year is 1965, and three 17-year-old best friends, Violet Johnson, Cecily Brooks, and Shirley Williams from Harlem, New York, the Mecca of Black culture, are navigating the racial and political unrest sweeping the nation. It's senior year at Harlem High School, and as they prepare for life beyond the cocoon, tragedy strikes, testing their resilience, love, and friendship.

The journey to self-discovery will force the friends to make decisions that will shape the course of their lives. The egg cracks, the caterpillar will crawl, and the chrysalis must split before the slow unfurling of the butterfly's wings.