Good boy Mike Mayer is looking at a fine future and enjoys life with Wisconsin small town friends and steady girlfriend Carrie Beal, unaware that she's been questioning their very young love for a long time. After a terrible sudden accident leaves Mike a quadriplegic and his bitterness pushes Carrie into further uncertainty, she eventually does what none of the gang could imagine: she breaks things off and finally leaves him. Carrie departs for New York to pursue an undefined 'ambition', moving in with classmate Simon Rhodes. She starts a love affair with Paul Elliot 'Kilroy' Fraser. However he has his own nagging secrets, and her past needs dealing with.