A story about the dark side of suburban paradise and the loss of innocence centers on two deeply troubled, dysfunctional families during the late 1970s. Awkward, sensitive 15-year old, Scott Bartlett’s family life is turned upside-down after an outbreak of Lyme disease hits the community spreading illness and paranoia. Scott’s parents—a workaholic father, Mickey and an overprotective mother, Brenda –are on the verge of divorce as his older brother Jimmy is about to ship off for war. Complicating matters, Scott has fallen in love with his next door neighbor, Adrianna Bragg. Adrianna seems to be the only person in the world who understands Scott, demonstrated by her equally troubled, less affluent family including an uptight mother, Melissa, carrying on a not-so-clandestine love affair, and a father Charlie, who is slowly slipping away from the effects of Lyme disease.