A high school boy desperate to escape the idiocy of the people in his hometown trys to create a way in which he can move to New York, attend the college of his dreams and do something other than live in the foot steps of his drunken, divorced mother. Along the way he blackmails his fellow students into contributing to his literary magazine and discovers what its like to feel accomplished. Does he get accepted into the college of his dreams? Is he going to make a difference and follow his life goal?

Mary is a good Christian girl who goes to a good Christian high school where she has good Christian friends, mainly Hilary Faye, and a perfect Christian boyfriend, Dean. Her life seems perfect, until the day that she finds out that Dean may be gay. After "seeing" a vision of Jesus in a pool, she does everything in her power to help him turn straight, including offering up her virginity. But none of it helps because Dean's caught and sent to a "degayification" center and Mary ends up pregnant. It's during her time of need that she becomes real friends with the school's set of "misfits," including Cassandra, the school's only Jewish girl; Roland, Hilary Faye's wheelchair-bound brother, and Patrick, the skateboarder son of the school's principal, Pastor Skip; whilst Hilary Faye turns her into a social outcast.