Emily Webster has lived in Southport, North Carolina all of her life. Being born and raised in a loving and compassionate family had its perks, and so did living in such a peaceful, calm town along the mouth of the Cape Fear River.
Emily couldn't have really asked for a better life. She was home schooled with her older brother, Tyler, and her younger brother, Connor, and at the age of 15, she began to work as a hostess at their local seafood restaurant. But everything changed a year later.
The little town of Southport went through severe flooding due to the harsh rainfalls, leaving most of the town in ruins and a wet mess. The family had no other choice but to move up north to Bethany Beach, Delaware, where Emily's grandmother lives in a beach house along the sandy dunes of the east coast.
Although, due to this sudden transfer, Emily must now attend a regular high school with regular people and regular classes. How will she cope, especially with the cute guy as her neighbor.
Jamie Prescott has been coasting through life for the past 18 years. With an outgoing older sister of only one year, she has always known where to go, what to do, when to do it, and how to get there.
But a tragic event at the beginning of the summer before her first year of college sends Jamie to a small beach town in North Carolina to live with her unfamiliar aunt and uncle.
Suddenly, with no shadow to protect or guide her, Jamie can no longer coast in the background.
It's Wyatt Fletcher, a goofy, charismatic, spontaneous boy, and his crazy group of friends, that help Jamie see there's more to life than just always being a follower.