When a new student enrolls in Jenny's school, Jenny knows her days as queen bee are over. After all, she's your typical cheeleader captain with the boyfriend everybody wants, and the new student is your typical shy, quiet, steal-your-boyfriend nerd. So Jenny decides to do the opposite of what movies and books taught her: befriend the nerd. Except, her life isn't a book, and nothing in life goes according to the plot.

Standing in aisle three of the local pharmacy on a random March day in 1994, high school junior Melissa Anderson has a realization. Her life is like a stick of deodorant; it is slowly disappearing, little by little, day by day. But unlike deodorant, she can't buy a new life when this one runs out. So Melissa decides that maybe it's time to step out of her comfort zone and get a little bit sweaty. The first thing she does is get a job at the local video store which leads to the idea of trying out different lives, the way you would rent videos. With the help of her best friend Tara, and her co-worker, the cute college-freshman Jason, they pick different popular teen movies for Melissa to cast herself in for three days in a row. As she signs up for dancing classes, trolls the local dojo, attends an all boys' school dance, gets detention on purpose, and does other things inspired by her favorite 80s films, Melissa explores who she is and what it means to live life as her most authentic self.