17岁的Mark住在一个海边工业小镇。他刚刚拒绝了一所私立学校的奖学金，转而在小镇高中上学。在学校他要面对专制、试图控制他的校长。回到家他要面临刚从监狱放出来的哥哥、重病的祖母以及酗酒的母亲。他还要保护他年幼的妹妹。当Mark遇上了他生命中的初恋，他想要和她一起逃离原有的生活....

In the real world you can't just do what you want. In the real world you have to compromise. Mark Blazey does not want to live in the real world. Living in a semi-industrial coastal town, seventeen-year old Mark is a smart kid from a chaotic family who has just thrown away a scholarship to a private school and found himself at the local high. At school Mark is zeroed in on by an overbearing principal who dominates everything around him. At home Mark is dealing with a jail-bound brother, his grandmother is fighting for her life, and a mum who's short fuse is kept doused with cask wine. His little sister is someone he wants to protect. When Mark finds his first real love he tries to escape all the forces in his life with her. But his love is with the daughter of his nemesis, the school principal. Simmering tensions boil over between the student and the teacher, between the son and his mother.