Can the wistful dream of a romantic "someday" ever become "forever?" Such is the question in the heart of shy teen Trisha Garrity during her last two years of high school in the '60s. She finds her search filled with emotional ups and downs, from a painful first crush to something more promising with Jamie Vega. Their relationship is complicated by Trish's growing friendship with his pal JoJo Rodriguez, who eventually realizes his platonic feelings are heading in a direction he hadn't anticipated. Trish herself had not expected the path their friendship would take until traumatic events force her to the brink of womanhood, where sweet dreams become bitter reality, and JoJo becomes her support.

As Trish tries to deal with an uncertain future, her mother Eleanor finds her life entwined with her daughter's when she comes face to face with the past, and unfilled dreams of her own.