Lindsay Picou is sixteen going on thirty. She's been forced to not only take care of herself, but to raise her little sister, too, because their mother, Gloria, is a part-time prostitute and a full-time wanderer. Then, Gloria meets Ben. He not only changes her life for the better, but Lindsay's, too. These changes come with a set of challenges Lindsay isn't equipped for; she has to learn to be a student, a friend, and a daughter. In short, she has to learn how to be herself in a completely new world, and she is forced to learn things about the people in her life that both hurt and free her. Just when she starts to feel like she's getting a handle on things, she meets Micah, Ben's best friend, and things get a lot more complicated.